SigmaOS launches a contextual AI assistant for its browser

While OpenAI launched an official ChatGPT app for iOS, most of the AI-powered chatbots are still best accessible through the web. And that’s why browsers are stepping up to integrate AI-aided features within their apps. LocalGlobe- and Y-Combinator-backed web browser startup SigmaOS launched its own AI assistant on Thursday to a limited set of people.

The company says that the unique thing about Airis, its AI assistant, is that understands a page’s context and gives you answers based on that. Here’s a good example: if you are reading about Manchester United, ask Airis to explain “United” or ask questions about it, the bot understands that you are asking about the football team and not just the word.

A nice thing about Airis is that you can easily call it by right-clicking on a text selection rather than having to open a side column or another tab. But if you want to have a contextual conversation, you can always press A to open the assistant in split-screen mode.

Additionally, Airis can rewrite or reword sentences or paragraphs. There are pre-written prompts like “Make it simpler,” “Written by a child” and “Add humor”. You can also use your own prompts like “Write this in 200 words.” There are also some fun options like “Write it like a pirate” and “Write it like a cat.” SigmaOS’s new assistant can also effectively translate articles and webpages in multiple languages using the GPT-3.5-Turbo model.

The unique thing about these functions is that you will see Airis “rewriting” or translating the words on the pages. SigmaOS says that with agents like ChatGPT, you can only run one thread at a time.

However, with Airis, you can assign multiple rewriting or translation tasks on different pages and you don’t have to wait for one to finish. The startup says this is possible due to the clever implementation of token usage within its algorithm. Airis is currently based on OpenAI tech but the team is open to integrating other models like Claude and Alpaca.

SigmaOS is not the only browser toying with the idea of integrating assistants. Microsoft Edge integrated the GPT-4 powered Bing AI bot in March. Opera is experimenting with integrating multiple chatbots in its sidebar. Mozilla is reportedly working on integrating a chatbot within Firefox as well. Mircosoft is also preparing to launch the Bing AI plugin for other browsers such as Chrome and Firefox.

Mahyad Ghassemibouyaghchi, one of the co-founders of the startup, said that people currently have to sign up to a waitlist to get access to Airis — but the company is admitting new people every day. He also mentioned that, in the coming months, the startup aims to train Airis to understand whole websites. Customers will also be able to ask any question about the service and perform tasks like creating a SigmaOS workspace for an upcoming holiday, and help users with questions about the browser it self.

SigmaOS launches a contextual AI assistant for its browser by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch