Rabbit r1 Updates: The AI Assistant Evolves, But Doubts Persist | Generative ai use cases in financial services | Free generative ai tools for images | Best microsoft generative ai tools | Turtles AI

Highlights

• Rabbit r1 introduces an improved conversational mode, "beta rabbit," for handling complex instructions.
• The usefulness of the new features in daily life remains a topic of discussion.
• The device has received improvements in alarm and timer functions, but with some concerns.
• The wait for the "large action model" continues, with no confirmed release date yet.

Rabbit r1 Updates: The AI Assistant Introduces New Features, But Doubts Persist. The device attempts to evolve, adding more advanced conversational modes, but its everyday utility remains uncertain.

Rabbit, the AI-powered assistant device that garnered much attention at CES, has recently received a significant update, but it may not be enough to win over critics. The new "beta rabbit" mode introduces more sophisticated conversational capabilities, designed to handle complex or multi-step instructions. Among the new features, the device now better understands when it needs to ask follow-up questions to provide more accurate responses.

One practical example of these new capabilities is the possibility to ask "beta rabbit" to suggest three books similar to "The Power of Now," including page length, year of release, and ratings, and to save this information as a note titled "reading list." The device can also be instructed to add images of the authors and later provide summaries of the selected books. However, as is often the case with such demonstrations, the practical usefulness of these functions might be limited.

Problems arise, for instance, when using AI assistants to create travel itineraries or compare product specifications and prices: the information gathered is often inconsistent or difficult to manage on a small device like Rabbit. Additionally, the reliability of recommendations for books or products, based on not always clearly sourced data, may leave more discerning users questioning the device’s effectiveness.

The device has also improved some alarm and timer functions, but these additions sometimes raise more questions than excitement. For example, asking "beta rabbit" to set a timer for baking chocolate chip cookies might generate unanswered questions like the temperature or the quantity of cookies—details crucial to avoiding culinary disasters. A more specific request, such as "How long should two dozen chocolate chip cookies bake at 300 degrees?" might yield a more appropriate response.

What many users are eagerly awaiting, however, is the much-promised "large action model" (LAM), which the company claims would enable Rabbit to autonomously navigate web and phone app interfaces to complete user-chosen tasks. Despite the excitement generated in January, this feature has yet to be demonstrated outside of presentations, or if it has been used, it is indistinguishable from what an API or ordinary action scripting could accomplish.

Despite having had few occasions to use it since purchase, the author remains cautiously optimistic about the device’s potential, acknowledging that Rabbit r1 has yet to fully justify expectations. It remains to be seen whether future updates will address current limitations and demonstrate the device’s real value.