Purposefully Limited AI Assistance // True Ethos Question

[ToBeMoreHuman]

Hey y'all,

I have been toying with the idea of a purposefully limited AI assistant. I currently have a working version on the emulator with a Claude API Key. It allows users to ask a question and get a concise, direct answer from the Haiku or Sonnet models; it does not behave like a chat so context is purposely thrown away. Each ping the model gets tells it to limit the size of its answers and not ask follow-up questions. These purposeful limitations are meant to keep it feeling merely like a "crap, I need some info right now" type of tool rather than chat bot. You ask it one thing, it answers, the conversation dies; you then have to ask another question and it will answer with zero context...purposeful friction.

I want to see what the community thinks about this and would love to see what recommendations come through. If y'all think this directly opposes the ethos, please let me know; I am truly open to ideas.

Note: I own an LP3 and it is my only phone. I love that, as I traveled for work, I relied less on the directory (as it is more of a search than catalog type of interface) and more on asking strangers around me where the "best place to eat" might be. The Light Phone did its thing! However, I believe I would have done the same thing even if I had this mildly annoying-to-use AI assistant Tool I am designing. I find I carry my iPad around more than before because of some important features the phone currently lacks. Nonetheless, I think we are moving in an incredibly exciting direction. Intentionally built phone, were we come!

Here is what it looks like:

[cmg-ops]

I personally think one of the best parts of the Light Phone 3 is the fact that you cant just search something "real quick". Me and my wife chose to get Light Phones to be more present with our kids and each other, and I find that all the time in conversation we talk about possibilities, or "what ifs", or "I wonder" things, things that could easily be searched for an answer. But instead we talk and converse and wonder and go find out. I pull out books more for reference. I kinda feel bummed when we are with "normies" with smart phones and they just google it, kinda takes the fun out of it and kills the conversation.

In the apps I have been working on, I ask myself if it is a tool or a distraction. I think some people might find your app a tool, I know for me it would be a distraction.

Hope my honest opinion helps.

[ToBeMoreHuman]

Thank you for your input! That is precisely the same thought process I am having; nonetheless, I keep thinking I'd rather not be stuck in an "if only" type of situation that can cause true harm...when I could have otherwise accessed important information readily. Perhaps this Tool is not meant to be in the Library because of our shared concern that it may be a distraction to some users. It's true intent is not to remove wonder but rather to be a lifeline. (Maybe I name the Tool lifeline!)

All things considered, although I do believe it can still be helpful in the emergency access to information type of way, it may be best fit as a non-library Tool.

I welcome more input, ideas, and conversation!

[ToBeMoreHuman]

Your input got me thinking and I think I found a way to improve the Tool by leaning more into the Light Ethos. I set a 3 use per week limiter. I don't see people getting distracted if its something they can only use 3 times for 10 seconds each time.

It still allows for info in tricky moments, but completely shuts down the overuse issue. What do you think @cmg-ops?

Anyone else have any thoughts?

[cmg-ops]

I was thinking about it as well. Is there a situation that you can think of that needs this? Another one of the things I like with this phone is it brings me back to days before smartphones. And in those days people figured it out as they did before Ai. I think Ai is a great tool for accomplishing things that I havent been able to before. But I also want it to stay on a computer.

just some thoughts. I still think someone will find it useful if you like building the apps. Do you think you would use it?

[ToBeMoreHuman]

I guess this makes me realize I am seeing the LPIII as a Swiss army knife/multitool. There when you need it, in your pocket when you don't. Ultimately it is a phone that will never be pinging you with notifications outside of texts, calls and alarms. It's not wanting your attention like modern day devices. Nonetheless, it will be $799 at full market price, most people I try convincing to buy this phone a the currently lower price already reply with "why not just get a cheap flip phone?". The capabilities that the devs are allowing us to add now answer that question well. It is a tool, and it will be sharp, but it won't cost you your humanity.

I do enjoy tech-less interaction. I don't think this will impede those conversations from happening. But if I find myself reaching for my phone rather than interacting with someone because of a Tool, rest assured I will be removing that Tool.

I think I will do some real-world testing to see how I can best balance things; only then do I think I will have a better answer for you.

[zacksimpson]

This reminds me of Text It Search It, a paid service that works over SMS that I've been using ever since I got my LPIII. It's gotten me out of several sticky situations over the past year and I am very glad I have it. I believe they use Perplexity for their backend. Just passing along that resource in case it helps you think through things, and if you decide to pause work on your own tool just know that TISI exists!

Totally understand why not everyone would want a tool like this, but it sounds like the right intention is there. I honestly am not even sure if Light would even consider any AI / LLM tool for the Tool Library – but putting a soft limit on queries sounds like a good idea!

[zacksimpson]

Side note, I saw your comment about posting here more about tool ideas. If you're hoping to avoid overlap (I think that's what your comment had said), a good place to check for other tools recently released / in development would be the Light Phone Discord under the Developers channel! That may be a place you get even more helpful feedback than here on Github.

[ToBeMoreHuman]

I wish I had known about TiSi before! I created my own app hosted on a cloudflare server and am hopefully about to get the 10DLC campaign for A2P texting approval. I guess I learned a lot while doing it and I can tune it to my liking, but all to accomplish the same thing as TiSi. lol

I'll check out the discord server, thanks!

[wsturgiss]

There are definitely times when non-"light" tools would be very helpful to me. For example, lately I've been working on my house a lot, learning how things work, and a lot of times it has been supremely helpful to be able to look up price comparisons on replacement parts, or get help diagnosing issues with an air conditioner for example.

Sometimes, tools that can become extremely un"light" can also be critical when you really need them. I'm not really sure how to square that circle though, and even though I like using youtube to see how a home repair is done, I know I don't do well having it in my pocket all day.