Meta launches AI agent Muse, but trust may slow its use

Meta has launched a new type of digital assistant called Muse. It is intended as a personal AI agent that can carry out tasks for the user, such as ordering groceries online, calling customer service, sending emails, booking appointments and planning trips.

Muse went live on September 8, and the app quickly rose to the top of the list of free apps in Apple's App Store in the US. Meta is also working on expanding Muse to Canada and connecting it with services such as Spotify, Shopify, PayPal and Instacart. At the Meta Connect conference, Mark Zuckerberg also showed a small key fob called Muse Charm, which makes it possible to use the assistant without a phone in hand.

To use Muse, you have to give the app access to several of your private apps and services, such as calendar, payments, health and shopping. That is exactly where the challenge lies. An AI agent that acts on your behalf needs access to a lot of personal information to work, and that requires trusting the company behind it.

Meta is trying to address the concern with what it calls Muse Secure VM, a kind of isolated, secure computer in which Muse works. According to Meta, this means the assistant cannot see the user's passwords or payment information directly.

But trust in big tech companies is generally low. A Gallup poll from July showed that 41 percent of Americans have very little or no trust at all in large tech companies. Analysts point out that this may become a barrier to how widespread Muse becomes in everyday life, even though reactions to the technology itself have otherwise been positive.

For regular users, the point is that Muse can save time by handling practical tasks automatically, but the price is that you have to give a large tech company access to more of your personal data and accounts than usual.

What it means for you

If you want practical tasks like shopping, emails and bookings handled automatically, Muse can save you time in everyday life. In return, you have to give Meta access to your private accounts, such as calendar, payments and health, so think carefully about how much you want to share before you start using it. Feel free to wait and see how other users experience the security if you are unsure about giving a tech giant such broad access to your life.