[HN Gopher] Cognitive AI for ADHD
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Cognitive AI for ADHD
        
       Author : jasoncurry
       Score  : 74 points
       Date   : 2023-08-03 19:30 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.comigo.ai)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.comigo.ai)
        
       | thereisnojesus wrote:
       | [dead]
        
       | dwb wrote:
       | That looks great but there is exactly zero chance I would run
       | this on a computer I didn't own, in my apartment. Call me
       | paranoid, but that's just how I feel right now.
        
         | LesZedCB wrote:
         | with llama.cpp it's easier than ever too. i have used these
         | models even just to vent about stuff or to rubber duck. it's
         | pretty helpful, but i'm right there with you, local or nothing.
        
       | Racing0461 wrote:
       | What backend model does it use? (chatgpt or something local).
        
       | qrio2 wrote:
       | I will give this a shot. So far it seems like a planning app that
       | includes tasks that i _think of_. I need something that alerts me
       | of calendar events or upcoming things so that I don 't forget
       | about them. The app tells me it can set reminders and notify me
       | but I don't think that is true from what i can see here.
        
         | tcmb wrote:
         | Can't your regular calendar already remind you of scheduled
         | events? That particular function doesn't seem like it needs an
         | AI.
        
           | gtowey wrote:
           | Google calendar is actually terrible for people with focus
           | problems. Or at least I haven't found a good way to manage
           | its alerts in a helpful way.
           | 
           | For one, basically all alerts are the same. Meaning there's
           | no good way to make noisy alerts for critical events and
           | quiet ones for mundane things. You can set multiple alerts
           | for an event, like 1 week before, 1 day before, etc. But it's
           | manual every time.
           | 
           | Something more like PagerDuty style alerts that let you set
           | up classes of alert patterns would help. Alerts that blow up
           | your phone until you get them would help. It's so easy to
           | have the calendar alerts go completely unnoticed with just a
           | chime if your phone is in your pocket or in another room or
           | if your alert volumes don't happen to be perfect, which is
           | pretty much impossible since background noise levels change
           | throughout the day.
           | 
           | Even such minor things, like when you snooze an alert and you
           | can configure it to notify X minutes before the event, if you
           | select 0 minutes it _still_ alerts the minute before the
           | event which is enough time for me to get distracted again.
           | 
           | No, it's one of my biggest disappointments of technology
           | today is that such basic tools are so poor at their job and
           | lack such straightforward configuration controls. The tools
           | are made to work for Google, not for you.
           | 
           | So of course people are going to points loads of third party
           | add ons, and hacks to get calendar to be marginally more
           | useful, but WHY should we need to jump through hoops to make
           | our devices serve some actual useful purpose for us?
        
           | thewataccount wrote:
           | From my experience with ADHD - calenders are excruciatingly
           | hard to use consistently. Either it "takes too much time" or
           | I completely forget I was trying to use a calender.
           | 
           | Having a tool that can automatically add items from
           | infodumps/todolists would be useful.
           | 
           | I don't udnerstand the chrome extension part though.
        
             | lacrimacida wrote:
             | Keep an notepad file open; only when you remeber add stuff
             | to it. At some point it will become a hardened habit and
             | honestly much better than some AI crutch. There are better
             | uses for AI in my opinion..
        
               | thewataccount wrote:
               | I have many files and many pages of an actual notebook.
               | For the most part dates are near useless because I rarely
               | refer back to todo-lists. I've tried todo lists but they
               | just end up being a pile of todo items I never look at,
               | get around to, remember what they're for, or don't have
               | time/priority to do it.
               | 
               | Obsidian helps a lot for actual notes. That's the only
               | thing keeping me remotely organized.
               | 
               | > At some point it will become a hardened habit and
               | honestly much better than some AI crutch. There are
               | better uses for AI in my opinion..
               | 
               | That's very true, what I would love to see is have it
               | intelligently pull todo items from my obsidian notes. I'm
               | personally not a fan of using AI for anything if it's not
               | local though, especially with access to all of my notes.
        
               | viraptor wrote:
               | > Keep an notepad file open; only when you remeber add
               | stuff to it.
               | 
               | "Keep using X, remember to interact with it" is exactly
               | the problems people struggle with in the first place.
               | This is not an actionable advice on its own.
        
               | klausa wrote:
               | > At some point it will become a hardened habit and
               | honestly much better than some AI crutch.
               | 
               | One of the symptoms of ADHD is borderline impossibility
               | of forming habits, in the way that neurotypical people
               | think about them.
        
       | lampshades wrote:
       | [flagged]
        
         | RankingMember wrote:
         | The vast majority of startups will fail, but this isn't super-
         | constructive feedback- you're essentially saying "I think this
         | sucks"
        
       | ThinkBeat wrote:
       | As a person with ADHD I hate these fancy high tech super slick
       | promo products / sites. They all appear to made by people who are
       | do not have ADHD (might be wrong) but they figure they know what
       | such people need. And that is yet another calendar / task list
       | with some spices. they can use to go after grants / stipends etc.
       | 
       | Aside from a privacy nightmare. Yeah I am giving a presentation
       | to the board about this new confidential product and i dont know
       | how to structure it
       | 
       | > Tell me all about this new product and how it will work. > Can
       | you tell me the name of the company and its stock ticker?
       | 
       | They dont even say what the price is. Or how they monetize it. Or
       | the source code Or ...
       | 
       | I think the best way to help is to fund basic research,
        
         | kalupa wrote:
         | "all you need to do is focus" is what I read when I see an
         | "ADHD help" tool/article/lifestyle/pleasegiveusmoneyscheme
         | about 90% of the time.
         | 
         | not just that it's made by people that don't have adhd, but
         | people that haven't even read the modern science literature on
         | the treatment and condition itself.
         | 
         | it's frustrating!
        
       | pmarreck wrote:
       | Looks great, is there a Firefox version?
        
       | tcmb wrote:
       | Can you explain how this is specialized for the needs of people
       | with ADHD? How does it differ from a "general purpose" AI bot
       | like ChatGPT? To me it looks like a spin for marketing.
        
       | kojiromike wrote:
       | While I empathize that companies have to choose a release pathway
       | that limits cost, I will not be a customer of a product whose
       | release pathway is just a Chrome plugin. From where I'm sitting,
       | that's less cost limiting and more customer limiting.
        
         | burnte wrote:
         | I'm in the middle of some AI startup telling me my clinicians
         | don't need to do their own notes anymore if I pay $1000 a month
         | for a Chrome plugin that records the session and runs it
         | through some unnamed, unknown, undetailed LLM they run in
         | Google Cloud, and they're acting like I'm stupid for having
         | issues with it.
        
           | notjoshjames wrote:
           | A project of mine is evaluating Rev AI for HIPAA-compliant
           | transcription for case notes.
           | 
           | https://www.rev.com/blog/rev-spotlight/announcing-rev-ai-
           | hip...
        
             | burnte wrote:
             | This isn't just transcription, it's also summarizing the
             | entire 30/60 minute visit. Well, supposedly. I just have a
             | hard time seeing how this small company is so far ahead of
             | everyone else, while being able to run on Google Cloud and
             | AWS.
        
           | neteresy wrote:
           | It's totally unacceptable. These people are clearly only
           | interested in making profits, and I would like to believe
           | that they will hardly make any. I want to take them down!
        
           | ianbutler wrote:
           | I tried that idea back in 2015/2016 and physicians were just
           | as skeptical then, with good reason mind you.
        
             | burnte wrote:
             | I WISH my clinicians were skeptical. One thinks it's
             | perfect and is trying to overrule IT's reservations about
             | the system.
        
       | neteresy wrote:
       | Who could think that making you open the browser is a good idea
       | to help people concentrate. They took the "release as soon as
       | possible too seriously". A Mental Health App has to be created
       | responsibly. This is unacceptable. It's Buggy and has GPT-3.5, We
       | don't need a dumb assistant that causes more confusion. It
       | started telling me that I have a meeting I don't, and a couple of
       | other hallucinations. Made me lose time, and now I am angry! I
       | will go back to "h.m.m" (a CLI mind map). If you don't have the
       | money or talent to make the previous experiments properly before
       | releasing, at least don't advertise it claiming that you help
       | people who suffer from something.
        
       | btilly wrote:
       | I have moderately severe ADHD, and have good reasons to not use
       | medication.
       | 
       | My first response to this is that it solves problems that I don't
       | have, and ignores the ones I do have.
       | 
       | Organizing my day on paper is trivial. I'm also married to
       | someone with a good partnership, and we offload different types
       | of tasks to each other. She might enjoy having software
       | assistants to be more productive, but I don't need that. I have
       | her.
       | 
       | The trick for me is that it is important that my life be
       | organized around engaging with things that I want to do. And
       | thereby having my wants reinforce executive control so that I can
       | do what I think that I should. This involves a lot of managing of
       | my emotional state, and a lot of REJECTING of outside demands by
       | the world that I conform to how the world wants me to be. I see
       | nothing about this app that helps me do either thing.
       | 
       | Yes, yes, I know the idea of eliminating distractions so that I
       | can focus. Honestly, that's crap that leads to disasters every
       | time I try it. If I have positive motivations to do X,
       | distractions are easy to set aside. If motivations are negative,
       | I will be unable to resist creating distractions. And a
       | straightjacket that prevents that leads to insanity.
       | 
       | Which returns me to my point. The key, for me, in handling ADHD
       | is emotional tools to find positive motivations, and social tools
       | to resist the world attempting to load me with tasks through
       | negative motivations.
        
         | simplemts wrote:
         | You nailed it on the end for me as an Adult with ADHD diagnosed
         | in my 30s.
         | 
         | Motivation has been my biggest A-Ha with ADHD and trying my
         | absolute best to align what I do with what I want to do
         | otherwise I am setting myself up for failure and others for
         | disappointment with me.
        
           | acchow wrote:
           | Learning to create motivation is the ultimate hack for
           | insufficient executive function.
           | 
           | People tend to think of motivation as some innate property of
           | your person. But it's actually an emotional response to
           | inputs.
        
         | worstname wrote:
         | This hits the nail on the head for me and why productivity apps
         | usually aren't worth much.
         | 
         | > This involves a lot of managing of my emotional state, and a
         | lot of REJECTING of outside demands by the world that I conform
         | to how the world wants me to be.
         | 
         | A hallmark of ADHD is emotional dysregulation and impulsivity,
         | so what exactly does rejecting "outside demands" look like? How
         | exactly are you managing emotional state if not with
         | medication? Ironically the only way I've managed my emotional
         | state off medication is by conforming to outside demands and
         | ignoring my individual desires/motivations as much as possible.
        
           | btilly wrote:
           | An example of rejecting outside demands is seeking out work
           | environments where I can cooperatively seek out tasks, rather
           | than having someone try to order me to do what they want me
           | to do. If I encounter someone who wants to order me around,
           | I'll ignore if possible. And if not possible, I'll change
           | jobs before complying.
           | 
           | Trying to do things because someone is pushing me to do them
           | will result in my becoming resentful, and losing my ability
           | to get into an effective state of flow. But enough places in
           | tech provide enough flexibility that I've been able to find
           | places where I can be productive. And, in a virtuous cycle,
           | productivity can make all sorts of oddities acceptable in an
           | employee.
           | 
           | As for emotional dysregulation, let me address that. ADHD is
           | caused by weak executive function. People with ADHD are slow
           | to realize that we SHOULD do X, and the SHOULD is fairly
           | weak. Therefore it becomes hard to resist emotions telling us
           | we want to do Y instead.
           | 
           | I have two tools to address that.
           | 
           | The first is that at a purely emotional level, I strive to be
           | fairly balanced. I work to address things that cause me
           | negative emotions, like resentment, so that I don't have
           | negative emotions to fight against.
           | 
           | The second is that I attach my "shoulds" to my understanding
           | of what I actually want and care about. As a result the idea
           | "I should X" is reinforced by a DESIRE to do X. And this
           | emotional reinforcement makes it easy to do it.
           | 
           | Ironically, it is always easier to motivate myself in the
           | short term with negative emotions. But the effect of doing so
           | is a breakdown of the positive feedback loop that I'm using
           | to maintain myself. Thus forcing myself only works for a
           | limited time, and then falls apart. And so that short-term
           | solution is toxic for me. I suspect that it is toxic for most
           | people - but my ADHD makes it harder to deal with for me.
           | 
           | That said, everything that I do for me involves doing the
           | opposite of what society pushes me towards. This makes for an
           | interesting balancing act.
        
         | mrcncpt wrote:
         | I've never heard this take before but it makes a lot of sense.
         | Do you mind clarifying the kind of emotional tools you refer
         | to?
        
           | btilly wrote:
           | Mostly a lot of mind-body stuff to develop self-awareness,
           | and adjusting my life, routines, and priorities to fit the
           | needs that I find are not being met.
           | 
           | I can ramble on for ages about it. But it is also a highly
           | personal journey - what works for me won't for the next
           | person and vice versa. However KNOWING that it is important
           | is huge.
        
             | thereisnojesus wrote:
             | [dead]
        
         | ryanklee wrote:
         | I'm hesitant to make any assumptions about your decision to not
         | medicate, but if it has anything to do with addictive
         | properties, you should look into guanfacine. I have very severe
         | ADHD and was unable to use the common medications for the
         | reason listed. This last year I stumbled upon guanfacine, which
         | is usually a blood pressure reduction med, but is prescribed
         | off-label as an ADHD med. It has no noticeable effects other
         | than having basically been a miracle for me in its reduction of
         | my ADHD symptoms. No addictive properties. YMMV but it changed
         | my life after 41 years of struggling with ADHD.
        
           | btilly wrote:
           | I have not tried guanfacine.
           | 
           | My problems are loss of appetite, trouble sleeping (leading
           | to sleep deprivation that itself causes loss of executive
           | control), and irritability. This is in addition to the fact
           | that I have high blood pressure, and would rather not have to
           | increase the cocktail of medications that I'm taking for
           | that.
        
             | gochi wrote:
             | You might already be taking it if you have high blood
             | pressure, potentially under a branded name. One of the
             | things it's used for is high blood pressure, and due to not
             | being a stimulant and also not being FDA approved for ADHD
             | adults specifically (only children for now), doctors are
             | far more likely to prescribe it under the high blood
             | pressure umbrella for adults.
             | 
             | Believe one of the brands is called Intuniv.
        
               | btilly wrote:
               | It isn't in my current list, but I saw that. And find
               | this fact interesting. If it can potentially replace
               | another medication, that would be nice.]
               | 
               | It certainly seems better for me than a stimulant.
        
           | beardedmoose wrote:
           | I was previously on Guanfacine in combination with Adderall
           | for my blood pressure so I don't have experience taking it
           | solely. I did learn I cannot take stimulants at all, it takes
           | my anxiety to 1000 and makes me a complete a-hole around my
           | house which helps nobody.
           | 
           | Can you elaborate which ADHD symptoms it has helped the most?
           | I'm currently not taking any meds but I can't focus or
           | concentrate to save my life which makes a demanding IT job
           | difficult at times.
        
           | copperx wrote:
           | As someone in the spectrum with Demand Avoidance, guanfacine
           | has been a godsend. It's cheap, not controlled, and for me,
           | it works better than any stimulant in regulating my
           | attention.
        
           | Aurornis wrote:
           | > but is prescribed off-label as an ADHD med
           | 
           | Guanfacine is approved to treat ADHD in the United States and
           | several other countries.
           | 
           | Technically, extended-release Guanfacine is approved because
           | that's what was used in the trials. The brand name is Intuniv
           | and the generic is Guanfacine ER.
           | 
           | The generic guanfacine (non-ER) can also be used, though
           | technically off label. The only difference is that it must be
           | dosed twice a day instead of once a day and the absorption is
           | different so you can't do a 1:1 translation of your dose to
           | the ER.
           | 
           | Now that Guanfacine ER is generic and cheap, you might want
           | to consider it for once daily dosing.
           | 
           | The non-stimulant medications are very good, but require some
           | patience to get started with. Too many people give up in the
           | first week or month because the side effects haven't settled
           | yet. Straterra (Atomoxetine) is another one that can take 1-2
           | months for good efficacy. Clinical trials show the positive
           | effects continue to build over the course of a year.
           | Surprisingly, Atomoxetine has a lower relapse rate after
           | discontinuation too, suggesting it might be making some long-
           | term positive changes to the brain. This is a nice contrast
           | to stimulants, where the patient becomes essentially
           | dependent on the medication and can go through a protracted
           | rebound if they ever have to discontinue.
        
         | claviola wrote:
         | > If I have positive motivations to do X, distractions are easy
         | to set aside. If motivations are negative, I will be unable to
         | resist creating distractions. And a straightjacket that
         | prevents that leads to insanity.
         | 
         | How do you deal with chores?
        
           | btilly wrote:
           | First, a direct positive emotion - I'm aware of how much my
           | doing routine chores helps my wife and family. And it is a
           | trade, I'd much rather do the chores than the routine
           | paperwork that my wife does instead!
           | 
           | Second, I use doing routine chores as meditation and thinking
           | time. It does lead to doing the chore less efficiently - I
           | might break off loading the dishwasher to pace, think, and
           | jot down a note. But it is also personally productive time
           | for me.
        
             | beardedmoose wrote:
             | These are really good tips which have an added benefit
             | mentally with the positivity you are bringing to your own
             | headspace.
             | 
             | I think meditation is overlooked in favor of medications as
             | a valid aid in folks with executive function disorders.
             | 
             | I personally just listen to music with noise cancelling
             | headphones while doing chores. It also helped that I took
             | the time to explain to my family that I am not trying to
             | ignore them but sometimes I need to unwind after a mentally
             | taxing day at work with some distraction free cleaning.
        
         | pmarreck wrote:
         | > but I don't need that. I have her.
         | 
         | Yeah, about that. I fell into the same trap. Now I have someone
         | who thinks her relative superpower makes her more mature and me
         | more infantile even though she grew up dyslexic and still
         | cannot distinguish to/too/two (and even though my income, while
         | more highly variable than hers, is also far, far greater).
         | Apparently it's fairly common for this to very negatively
         | affect relationships. How in the heck did you manage that??
         | (assuming you did)
        
         | brianjking wrote:
         | I'd love to hear how you get around not taking medication and
         | if you're comfortable sharing why you choose not to.
        
           | btilly wrote:
           | See my other answers for more on that.
           | 
           | I will say that it isn't easy. But the flexibility that can
           | come with being a programmer really helps.
        
         | tivert wrote:
         | > My first response to this is that it solves problems that I
         | don't have, and ignores the ones I do have.
         | 
         | That's the hallmark of applying technology for technology's
         | sake, which is a lot of what engineers and tech entrepreneurs
         | do nowadays. Especially for technologies that are getting a lot
         | of hype. AI is blockchain all over again, a lot of "let me try
         | to shoehorn this sexy tech where it doesn't really belong."
        
         | ilc wrote:
         | In reading your replies.. you've got it straight, from another
         | long time ADHDer.
         | 
         | Tools are useful in as much as they help you control your
         | attention.
         | 
         | The only ones I've found truly useful are ER4SRs. (In ear
         | monitors, -35DB to the environment. I listen to music while I
         | work, at ~70DB. If you do the math about the only thing I can
         | hear is a fire alarm... and that's about right. :) )
        
         | MisterTea wrote:
         | Do you have any comorbidities with ADHD? My issue is moderate
         | ADHD with severe anxiety. Wonderful combo.
        
           | btilly wrote:
           | My son has anxiety. That's no fun. I'm glad I don't have
           | that.
           | 
           | I'm sure a psychologist could load me down with some list of
           | diagnoses if I was particularly curious. I haven't been
           | curious, and I'm rather skeptical about the current state of
           | psychology.
        
       | whoomp12342 wrote:
       | I almost installed this, but then I decided to cut the grass, and
       | then I played with legos, and then I did some jumping jacks.
        
         | lyapunova wrote:
         | This is hilarious. If only I had some kind of app to help me
         | focus long enough to download this app.
        
         | euroderf wrote:
         | I advise you to get a trampoline and a biofueled jetpack.
        
       | jasoncurry wrote:
       | Hi, we just started building a few weeks ago but have about 700
       | beta users. We are building the most effective specialized AI for
       | ADHD. We're in private beta but feel free to see our site that
       | links to our Chrome extension and try it out if it sounds like
       | something you need.
        
         | digdugdirk wrote:
         | I mean... It sounds like a cool idea, but could you explain
         | what it is and how it works? The website is remarkably sparse,
         | on mobile at least.
        
         | tivert wrote:
         | > Hi, we just started building a few weeks ago but have about
         | 700 beta users. We are building the most effective specialized
         | AI for ADHD.
         | 
         | I'm sorry, but that statement just irks me. If you're only a
         | few _weeks_ into development, how can you honestly say what you
         | 're making will be the "most effective specialized AI for
         | ADHD"? It's an unrealized aspiration stated as an
         | inevitability. I don't think stating that you're "trying to
         | build" or you're "goal is to build" would be so irksome.
        
         | xrisk wrote:
         | I wanted to use this but the privacy policy doesn't give me
         | much confidence. Are you going to be storing my prompts (and
         | then later using it for training)? Medical data, especially
         | mental health data, is pretty sensitive.
        
           | ghotli wrote:
           | For something like this the privacy policy should be rock
           | solid first, product mvp second. The brevity of the one you
           | have in place seems like you haven't done any work on gdpr /
           | ccpa, etc.
           | 
           | If the profit model requires a loose privacy policy then let
           | me pay for an airtight one. This seems like the needed model
           | for anything in this realm ongoing.
        
         | thereticent wrote:
         | What are the cognitive assessments, and what normative data set
         | do they use?
        
       | overnight5349 wrote:
       | The entire content of this website is six bullet points and three
       | or four sentences. You really need to do a lot better than that.
       | It looks like the cheapest, shadiest, slapped together "I hooked
       | ChatGPT into google calendar" project, same as all the other "AI"
       | projects coming out these days.
       | 
       | You've offered no compelling reason to use this, nor explained
       | what it does or how it can help me except in the vaguest of
       | terms.
       | 
       | It seems to be an effort to game you into being a more productive
       | worker, and not actually _helping_ you live with ADHD.
       | 
       | Additionally, while I very desperately want an AI personal
       | assistant to help me manage my ADHD, there is absolutely no way
       | in hell I'd _ever_ use something that doesn 't run on my hardware
       | in my house that I physically control. Such an assistant would
       | know _literally everything_ about me, and that is not something
       | anyone should _ever_ trust to a company.
        
         | fragmede wrote:
         | > It seems to be an effort to game you into being a more
         | productive worker, and not actually helping you live with ADHD.
         | 
         | Where ADHD leads to problems being productive despite having
         | the intelligence to do the job, and that jobs tend to, y'know,
         | fire you if you're not productive, and you go homeless without
         | money, which you get from having a job, isn't helping ADHD
         | people be productive the same thing?
         | 
         | As far as your trust issues go, that's for each individual to
         | decide. Some people are able to see past their cynicism and
         | derive value from the products companies make.
        
           | throw2291 wrote:
           | [dead]
        
           | overnight5349 wrote:
           | > isn't helping ADHD people be productive the same thing?
           | 
           | Sure, if you believe the meaning of life is working as hard
           | as you possibly can for no benefit until you die.
           | 
           | Real people in the real world have passions, desires,
           | hobbies. Chores, relationships, responsibilities. We have
           | _lives_. If you 've ever met someone with severe ADHD, you'd
           | see that it affects your life deeply and can greatly decrease
           | your quality of life. And that's mostly _because of_ the
           | 'work til you drop' mindset.
           | 
           | > As far as your trust issues go, that's for each individual
           | to decide.
           | 
           | Trusting companies who have over and over done everything
           | they possibly can to turn your trust into money is not really
           | a sane or logical stance to take. Giving enormous detail
           | about your personal life, or confidential work data to a
           | company that blatantly does not respect you or your privacy
           | is not wise.
           | 
           | So to sum up, you're mansplaining my own disability to me and
           | gaslighting me about not trusting openai.
           | 
           | Don't stop now, my 'shitty dudebro' bingo card is nearly full
        
           | mattstir wrote:
           | I'm quite curious about this sentiment because I've seen it
           | more than a few times here on Hackernews.
           | 
           | I have ADHD and have been very successful in my work life so
           | far. I'm on a prescription medication for when my focus is
           | necessary but that seems to be either dismissed or heavily
           | frowned upon here.
           | 
           | Is there a reason why the answer to ADHD seems to be "use AI
           | to do your work" rather than "use the proven medications to
           | allow you to focus"? It just seems strange to me.
        
           | lyapunova wrote:
           | You only have to look as far as big social media to see proof
           | of the damage that corporate motives can cause on the mental
           | health of average internetizens.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | chrsig wrote:
       | I've been actively trying to find ways to offload tasks to
       | software assistants -- I've slowly been getting a bit more
       | comfortable using siri.
       | 
       | My first impression is that the results tracking will just be a
       | report of failures and wind up causing disinterest in the
       | application as a whole.
       | 
       | I also am concerned that the AI may wind up placing demands on me
       | that I may think I want in one moment, but don't wind up engaging
       | with...leaving a bunch of stuff piling up.
       | 
       | The example of the presentation just sort of leaves it at "About
       | the presentation ...", at which point it seems like the user is
       | expected to ...tell the ai about the presentation. So I haven't
       | really been shown how it solves any problem that I have.
       | 
       | Also remember that AIs are biased on the training set and you're
       | targeting a minority of a population. It's probably not going to
       | know "how" to speak to me, what tones actually work, etc.
       | 
       | I hope that all amounts to useful feedback -- I do really want an
       | effective product to offload stuff to -- but if it's not
       | effective, it has negative value in my life.
        
         | shostack wrote:
         | I personally want something at the level of Samantha from Her
         | for managing my life. When I think about the data inputs needed
         | to have an AI that effective, it's made me increasingly aware
         | at how much I lack from tools like Google Tasks and reminders
         | etc. for keeping track of all the things I need to do.
         | 
         | It's easy to have them slip off the list and be forgotten
         | about, or not be able to do small things to move them ahead and
         | have that progress reflected in the task. But I desperately
         | want this.
        
           | euroderf wrote:
           | I'm seriously impressed by the level of integration across
           | the Apple ecosystem. If they can find a way to hook AI into
           | every corner of it, you might be able to approach the point
           | where you get your wish.
           | 
           | The apparent stagnancy of Siri might be just that.
        
           | overnight5349 wrote:
           | I desperately want this. But yes, the amount of data required
           | is insane. Just off the top of my head: - browser history -
           | SMS and call transcriptions - calendar - passive audio stream
           | from my phone - interactions on social media - my diary - my
           | work, or at least commit messages
           | 
           | It's a lot, and you'd need a pretty clever model in the
           | middle of it to make sense of.
           | 
           | I don't know much about AI today, but I get the sense that
           | you could string together a bunch of different systems today
           | to achieve this, but no one has done it yet.
           | 
           | Also, if the dataset is exposed, it'd be an unthinkable
           | privacy breach. Something like this _has_ to run on dedicated
           | hardware that you own. Feeding every intimate detail of your
           | entire life into the cloud should be completely untenable.
        
       | walterbell wrote:
       | https://goblin.tools/About
       | 
       |  _> a collection of small, simple, single-task tools, mostly
       | designed to help neurodivergent people with tasks they find
       | overwhelming or difficult. Most tools will use AI technologies in
       | the back-end to achieve their goals. Currently this includes
       | OpenAI 's models. As the tools and backend improve, the intent is
       | to move to an open source alternative..
       | 
       | > goblin.tools is offered free and available to all. It will stay
       | free without ads or paywalls. Mobile apps of the tools are
       | offered at a low price (on Android and iOS), which will help
       | cover the running and maintenance costs so the website can stay
       | completely free. Keeping the tools freely available in a
       | convenient form is a foundational principle to us._
        
         | lacrimacida wrote:
         | How can free be sustainable? Data harvesting?
        
           | kristjank wrote:
           | Privacy policy says no data harvesting from the website
           | itself. OpenAI (who provides the tools) is a different story
           | though.
        
           | walterbell wrote:
           | From the text above, mobile is paid, web is free.
           | 
           |  _> Mobile apps of the tools are offered at a low price (on
           | Android and iOS), which will help cover the running and
           | maintenance costs so the website can stay completely free._
        
           | falcolas wrote:
           | From the post you're responding to:
           | 
           | Mobile apps of the tools are offered at a low price (on
           | Android and iOS), which will help cover the running and
           | maintenance costs so the website can stay completely free.
           | 
           | If you're not looking for stereotypical growth, it's
           | sustainable.
        
         | kristjank wrote:
         | Thanks for this, this seems to solve a decent amount of issues
         | I commonly encounter.
        
       | zackees wrote:
       | Too limited as a chrome plugin. I need an ADHD app that works
       | across devices and watches me from my phone/watch.
       | 
       | If I have to go to my desktop then most of the value is missed.
        
       | notjoshjames wrote:
       | The first thing I look for when I see a new app in the cognitive
       | space is the privacy policy. Here it is in its entirety
       | (https://www.comigo.ai/privacy):
       | 
       | * Information We Collect: We collect information you provide when
       | you register for our Service, including your Google account data.
       | This data includes, but is not limited to, your name and email
       | address.
       | 
       | * Use of Information: We use this information to personalize,
       | understand, and improve our Service, communicate with you,
       | respond to your requests, and enhance the overall user
       | experience.
       | 
       | * Sharing of Information: Comigo will not share your personal
       | information with third parties.
       | 
       | * Security: We prioritize protecting your data and have
       | implemented technical and organizational measures to ensure its
       | safety. However, no method of transmission or storage is entirely
       | secure, thus we cannot guarantee absolute security.
       | 
       | * Changes to this Privacy Policy: We may update this Privacy
       | Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by
       | posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.
       | 
       | I've been working on my own similar, local-first solution for
       | several years, because I simply cannot introduce a significant
       | external dependency to my mental stack. Behavioral data is some
       | of the most sensitive and dangerous data to leak.
       | 
       | There's irony with these types of apps: the more utility I can
       | gain from them, the more risk I have should they introduce dark
       | patterns, become defunct, or even make well-intended changes that
       | break my personal workflows.
       | 
       | The scenario outlined on Comigo's home page begins with the user
       | prompt "Hey Comigo my board meeting is in 4 hours and I wasn't
       | able to work on my presentation slides..." - a context-aware
       | agent would certainly have pre-empted this well before the same
       | day, right?
       | 
       | Sorry if this seems overly critical. I have a lot of passion for
       | this space, and there's a huge need, but there's something like
       | 20,000+ "mental health" apps out there, and nearly every single
       | one I've encountered has big red flags.
        
       | falcolas wrote:
       | I'm trying to imagine writing prompts for a chat bot after the
       | novelty wore off, and failing miserably.
       | 
       | This would be like every other "ADHD focus" tool, where after the
       | hyperfocus on it wears off (during which I get no actual work
       | done other than making lists and schedules and...), I never touch
       | it again.
        
       | lyapunova wrote:
       | I think it's clear at this point that hackernews types don't want
       | to see these thin wrappers around ChatGPT anymore. It was a cool
       | genre of hacker project in February, but I'm not so sure anymore.
       | We are already dropping into the trough of disillusionment, and
       | it hasn't been more than 6 months. which says a lot about the
       | lack of inertia behind projects withe generic LLMs at their
       | core...
        
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