Shop for shorts and handle email via an agent
That much power over my life needs supervision. Task: That much power over my life needs supervision When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Copy link Facebook Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Meta’s new Muse AI platform would like the keys to your digital life to help run it for you. Muse is a personal AI agent that Meta built to complete tasks on your behalf, including sending emails, filling out forms, shopping, and pretty much any other activity with an online component. The AI is available in the U.S. as an app, or through WhatsApp or the Muse.ai portal. It's a familiar idea in some respects. Muse matches OpenAI and other AI developers in being able to open a browser inside its own cloud-based virtual computer and move between connected services. It returns when it has finished, encounters a problem, or needs permission to do something sensitive. Meta describes the experience as having an agent that understands your goals and advances them independently. That can come off as sinister, even before it starts asking for permission to essentially be you online by having you sign in to all your online accounts. Getting started is straightforward, although Muse is currently limited to U.S. adults. You can install the Muse app from your phone's app store, open Meta's Muse website or access it through WhatsApp. There is a free usage tier, while heavier users can pay $20 per month for Power or $100 for Maximum. Mark Zuckerberg's Muse personal AI agent is a work accessory designed by people who don't do real work Meta Muse could read your private messages without permission, report finds I asked Meta's Muse AI to save me $1,000 Muse shops for you Once you open the app, the first thing the AI does is suggest you pick a nickname for it so you know when it is messaging you. I went with one of the suggested choices, and "Scout" proceeded to ask me what I'd like to do with it, offering a handful of popular options. I asked Scout to do some shopping for me first, as the AI made it seem like a much smoother process than with other AI tools. I asked it to find me a pair of shorts. It asked my size and went off on its own for a couple of minutes, coming back with a couple of options and pointing to a sale on one particular set. I said okay, and it asked for my Amazon login to make the purchase on my behalf. For an everyday purchase, it was surprisingly pleasant to delegate. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. That little interruption was reassuring and unsettling in almost equal measure. Meta says credentials entered this way are routed directly into secure credential storage and are not visible to the main Muse agent. Once stored, they can be inserted into the browser when needed without exposing the actual credentials to Muse's browser subagent. Muse does the legwork, while I remained the person responsible for deciding whether money actually left my account. This is probably the easiest Muse task I would recommend trying yourself. Give it a product, let it browse, and take over whenever a login or other sensitive interaction appears. It demonstrates the agent's capabilities without immediately granting it access to years of personal correspondence. Naturally, that was exactly what I did next. I gave Muse access to my personal data, and now I know why personal agents are probably going to change the world The Meta Muse AI agent just revealed a private address without permission Meta Muse has already broken a record: it beats all competitors in data collection, Surfshark warns Getting Muse to handle my email I took the plunge and told Scout I wanted help with my email. I had to give it permission to go through my inbox and to write on my behalf, and it asked to use it to learn about me. With some trepidation, I okayed that, and it put together the kind of distorted image of my life you'd expect from someone basing their impression of you solely on your emails. Scout also brought up an unopened email from the power company about needing to check my solar panels. It offered to write a reply if I could pick from the dates suggested for when they would visit. I did, and a minute later there was a draft pending my approval. It looked fine, and suddenly another little online errand was done.; tools: Meta Muse. Human role: The original post does not say how a person stayed involved.; limitations: Access is currently restricted to U.S. adults. Users must grant extensive permissions, including inbox access and login credentials, raising privacy concerns. The agent may misinterpret personal context, and browsing activity can indirectly influence advertising. A free tier exists, but heavier usage requires paid subscriptions ($20-$100/month). Human approval is mandatory for sensitive actions like purchases or sending emails..
Tools
Published on Agent Work Atlas:
Overview
That much power over my life needs supervision
Workflow
That much power over my life needs supervision When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Copy link Facebook Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Meta’s new Muse AI platform would like the keys to your digital life to help run it for you. Muse is a personal AI agent that Meta built to complete tasks on your behalf, including sending emails, filling out forms, shopping, and pretty much any other activity with an online component. The AI is available in the U.S. as an app, or through WhatsApp or the Muse.ai portal. It's a familiar idea in some respects. Muse matches OpenAI and other AI developers in being able to open a browser inside its own cloud-based virtual computer and move between connected services. It returns when it has finished, encounters a problem, or needs permission to do something sensitive. Meta describes the experience as having an agent that understands your goals and advances them independently. That can come off as sinister, even before it starts asking for permission to essentially be you online by having you sign in to all your online accounts. Getting started is straightforward, although Muse is currently limited to U.S. adults. You can install the Muse app from your phone's app store, open Meta's Muse website or access it through WhatsApp. There is a free usage tier, while heavier users can pay $20 per month for Power or $100 for Maximum. Mark Zuckerberg's Muse personal AI agent is a work accessory designed by people who don't do real work Meta Muse could read your private messages without permission, report finds I asked Meta's Muse AI to save me $1,000 Muse shops for you Once you open the app, the first thing the AI does is suggest you pick a nickname for it so you know when it is messaging you. I went with one of the suggested choices, and "Scout" proceeded to ask me what I'd like to do with it, offering a handful of popular options. I asked Scout to do some shopping for me first, as the AI made it seem like a much smoother process than with other AI tools. I asked it to find me a pair of shorts. It asked my size and went off on its own for a couple of minutes, coming back with a couple of options and pointing to a sale on one particular set. I said okay, and it asked for my Amazon login to make the purchase on my behalf. For an everyday purchase, it was surprisingly pleasant to delegate. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. That little interruption was reassuring and unsettling in almost equal measure. Meta says credentials entered this way are routed directly into secure credential storage and are not visible to the main Muse agent. Once stored, they can be inserted into the browser when needed without exposing the actual credentials to Muse's browser subagent. Muse does the legwork, while I remained the person responsible for deciding whether money actually left my account. This is probably the easiest Muse task I would recommend trying yourself. Give it a product, let it browse, and take over whenever a login or other sensitive interaction appears. It demonstrates the agent's capabilities without immediately granting it access to years of personal correspondence. Naturally, that was exactly what I did next. I gave Muse access to my personal data, and now I know why personal agents are probably going to change the world The Meta Muse AI agent just revealed a private address without permission Meta Muse has already broken a record: it beats all competitors in data collection, Surfshark warns Getting Muse to handle my email I took the plunge and told Scout I wanted help with my email. I had to give it permission to go through my inbox and to write on my behalf, and it asked to use it to learn about me. With some trepidation, I okayed that, and it put together the kind of distorted image of my life you'd expect from someone basing their impression of you solely on your emails. Scout also brought up an unopened email from the power company about needing to check my solar panels. It offered to write a reply if I could pick from the dates suggested for when they would visit. I did, and a minute later there was a draft pending my approval. It looked fine, and suddenly another little online errand was done.
Reported result
The agent successfully located product options and drafted an email response, reducing manual effort for these errands. However, the user reported significant discomfort regarding privacy and data access, noting the agent formed a 'distorted image' of their life from emails. No quantitative metrics on time saved or cost reduction were provided, and the experience was described as a mix of convenience and unease.
Human role
The original post does not say how a person stayed involved.
Limitations
Access is currently restricted to U.S. adults. Users must grant extensive permissions, including inbox access and login credentials, raising privacy concerns. The agent may misinterpret personal context, and browsing activity can indirectly influence advertising. A free tier exists, but heavier usage requires paid subscriptions ($20-$100/month). Human approval is mandatory for sensitive actions like purchases or sending emails.
Try it
Act as a personal AI assistant using Meta Muse to handle two specific tasks: 1) Find [replaceable product, e.g., running shoes] under [replaceable budget] and identify any current sales. 2) Review my inbox for [replaceable sender, e.g., utility company] and draft a reply to [replaceable topic, e.g., schedule maintenance]. Steps: 1. Initiate the shopping task. Browse the web, select options, and pause before purchase to request my Amazon login. 2. Initiate the email task. Scan for the specified sender, summarize the request, and draft a response. 3. Present the shopping options and email draft to me for review. 4. Do not execute the purchase or send the email without my explicit confirmation. Success Criteria: The agent must accurately identify product options and relevant emails, and pause for human approval before any irreversible action. Handle missing inputs by asking clarifying questions. Ensure no sensitive data is exposed in the final output.
Source reports are not independently verified. Publication date is the catalog publication date, not the original article date.