Would You Let Meta's AI Control Your Computer?

Quick Summary

• Meta Muse is Meta’s new personal AI agent designed to take actions for users, not just answer questions.

• Muse can connect to services such as email, calendars and shopping platforms, and Meta is expanding it to work across computers and smart glasses.

• The biggest benefit is automation: Muse can potentially schedule appointments, handle messages, research products, make purchases and complete tasks in the background.

• The tradeoff is access. The more useful AI agents become, the more permission they need to access personal data, accounts and devices, raising important privacy, security and trust questions.

Have you been reading about Meta's new AI agent, Muse?

Meta even gave it a cute little avatar.

Cute, right?

BUT the more I've been reading about what Muse can actually do, the more I keep coming back to one question:

How much control are we actually willing to give AI?

Because Muse isn't another chatbot that just answers questions.

Meta built it to DO things for you.

And I think that distinction matters a lot.

What is Meta Muse?

Muse is Meta's new personal AI agent.

Unlike traditional AI chatbots that primarily respond to prompts, Muse is being designed to take actions on your behalf.

It can connect to your apps and services, including things like email and calendars.

Meta has also announced plans to let Muse work across a Mac, operate apps on your computer and continue completing tasks even after you walk away.

According to Meta executives, Muse will eventually have its own email address too.

So instead of copying an email into an AI tool and saying:

"Help me respond to this."

You could potentially forward the email directly to Muse and basically say:

"Handle this."

That's a very different relationship with AI.

Meta Muse is also coming to smart glasses

Meta plans to integrate Muse with its smart glasses.

That means you could potentially talk to your glasses and ask Muse to do things like:

• Book an appointment

• Log information for you

• Guide you through something you're doing

• Research a product you're looking at

• Help you make a purchase

Muse can then work on the task in the background and come back when it's finished.

Pretty impressive.

Also...

This makes me a little nervous.

Because there's a big difference between asking AI:

"Can you write an email for me?"

and telling AI:

"Go into my email, respond to this person and take care of whatever needs to happen next."

That is where AI gets really interesting.

And where trust becomes a much bigger issue.

The more access AI has, the more useful it becomes

This is the tradeoff I think we're all going to have to get comfy with.

AI becomes significantly more useful when it knows more about you and has permission to act.

Give it access to your calendar and it can schedule things.

Give it access to your email and it can handle messages.

Give it access to your shopping accounts and payment methods and it can buy things.

This could come in handy when I tell the hubby that the AI "accidentally" bought more diamond art crafts.

It wasn't me!

Give an AI agent access to your computer and it can actually perform work instead of simply telling you how to do the work.

That one scares me a little more.

Not only because of privacy and security.

I also wonder how much thinking we're eventually going to outsource.

Meta wants Muse to save and make you money

Meta isn't just marketing Muse as a productivity tool.

Meta's chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, challenged users to see whether Muse could "make you $1,000."

Users have shared examples of Muse allegedly finding cheaper insurance, uncovering forgotten subscriptions, finding refunds and helping people avoid unnecessary charges.

One example highlighted in coverage involved a user who said Muse found car insurance that was $3,500 a year cheaper than his existing policy. Another claimed Muse uncovered an unused $200 Verizon gift card.

But there's an important caveat.

A number of the people posting savings stories were Meta employees, and the reported savings haven't been independently verified.

So I'm not quite ready to hand Muse my credit card and tell it to go save me some money.

But you can clearly see where this is heading.

AI agents could change how we shop

This is also where things get really interesting for marketers and business owners.

Meta has been building connections between Muse and ecommerce and payment platforms.

PayPal supports shopping and checkout through Muse, and Shopify has announced support for Shop Pay transactions through the agent.

Meta has also announced integrations involving companies including Walmart, Sephora, Best Buy, Gap, Wayfair and Expedia.

Imagine instead of spending 45 minutes searching Google, opening 12 tabs, comparing products and reading reviews, you simply tell your AI:

"Find the best option for me under $500 and buy it."

The AI does the research.

The AI compares the products.

The AI narrows down the choices.

And eventually, the AI may complete the transaction.

That's not just an AI story.

That's a marketing story.

Because businesses may soon need to think not only about how humans discover and evaluate their products, but how AI agents do it too.

But the same access that makes Muse useful creates risk

Here's the uncomfortable part.

Muse can only do all these things because you're giving it access.

And the more powerful the agent becomes, the more consequential mistakes become too.

Amazon reportedly blocked Muse from placing orders on its platform, while companies including PayPal and Shopify have taken the opposite approach and opened their systems to Muse.

Meta also had to release a security fix for the Muse Mac app after a vulnerability was discovered shortly after launch.

Oopsie!

Meta described the practical risk from that vulnerability as low, while the security researcher who discovered it disagreed with that assessment.

This is why I don't think the most interesting question about AI anymore is:

"What can AI do?"

We're rapidly moving toward a much more important one.

What should we allow AI to do?

Those are two completely different questions.

Can AI answer my emails?

Probably.

Should it be able to respond to anyone in my inbox without me seeing the response?

Different question.

Can an AI shop for me?

Absolutely.

Do I want it accessing my payment information and completing transactions?

That's something I'm going to think about.

Can AI perform tasks on my computer?

Clearly we're heading there.

Do I want it clicking around my business accounts without me?

Again, very different question.

For the first few years of generative AI, we've mostly used it as an assistant.

Write this.

Summarize that.

Analyze this.

Give me some ideas.

Now we're moving toward AI agents.

Do this.

Send this.

Schedule this.

Buy this.

Handle this.

That's a much bigger shift than simply getting a smarter chatbot.

What does Meta Muse mean for entrepreneurs and small businesses?

I don't think small business owners need to panic and start rebuilding everything for Muse tomorrow.

This technology is still new.

But I do think there are three things worth paying attention to.

First, start looking for tasks AI can completely remove from your workload, not just make a little faster.

We've spent a lot of time using AI to help us perform tasks.

Agents could eventually perform entire tasks for us.

Second, don't blindly connect every business system you use just because an AI tool asks for access.

Look at what it actually needs.

Your calendar is one thing.

Your inbox, financial accounts, customer data and entire computer are something else.

Third, start thinking about what happens when AI agents become part of the customer journey.

If someone asks an AI to find a service like yours, will the AI understand exactly what you sell, who it's for, what it costs and why you're credible?

Clear positioning may become even more important in an AI-driven world, not less.

The big question isn't whether AI gets more powerful

It will.

Muse is one example of where this is headed.

AI is moving from telling us what to do to actually doing things for us.

And I'll happily hand over plenty of repetitive work.

But email?

Payments?

Customer conversations?

My entire computer?

I'm not sure I'm comfy handing over all the keys just yet.

So instead of only asking:

"What can AI do for my business?"

I'm adding another question:

"What should I allow AI to do for my business?"

I think we're all going to have to answer that one sooner than we expect.

What about you?

Would you let an AI agent access your email, calendar, payment accounts and computer if it could save you several hours every week?

 

Meta Muse FAQ

What is Meta Muse?

Meta Muse is a personal AI agent from Meta designed to take actions on a user's behalf. In addition to answering questions, Muse can connect with outside apps and services and is being developed to perform tasks across computers, smart glasses and other devices.

What can Meta Muse do?

Muse can work with connected services and perform tasks such as researching products, helping with purchases, managing information and working across supported apps. Meta has also announced plans for Muse to work on Mac computers, have its own email address and integrate with Meta smart glasses.

Can Meta Muse buy things?

Meta is building commerce capabilities into Muse. PayPal and Shopify have announced support for transactions involving Muse, and Meta has announced integrations with multiple retailers. Users are currently required to approve the total before Muse completes supported payments.

Is Meta Muse safe?

Like any AI agent with access to personal accounts and computer systems, Muse introduces security and privacy considerations. Meta has already released a fix for a security vulnerability discovered in the Muse Mac app. Users should consider carefully which accounts, information and permissions they give any AI agent.

How could AI agents affect marketing?

AI agents could become another layer between a customer and a business. Instead of customers personally researching every option, agents may increasingly compare products, evaluate services and eventually complete purchases on their behalf. That could make clear positioning, structured product information, pricing, reviews, authority and trust signals even more important for businesses.