Glossary
AI assistant
An AI assistant is a program you talk to in everyday language that helps you write, plan, summarize, and solve problems. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot are the best-known examples.
An AI assistant is the conversation layer on top of an AI model: you type (or say) what you need, and it answers like a capable colleague. No commands to memorize, no menus to learn. Plain language in, plain language out.
Say you run a small bar and a supplier billed you twice. You could spend an evening drafting a firm-but-polite email. Or you tell the assistant “supplier double-charged me, I want a refund but I need them next month too” and you get a usable draft in seconds, which you then check and sign, because you stay the boss of what goes out.
The assistant is the product name on the box; the engine inside is an LLM.
Where you’ll meet this
ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google, built into Android and Gmail), and Copilot (Microsoft, built into Windows and Office) are all AI assistants. They look like a chat window with a text box at the bottom. Not sure which one fits you? Our AI chooser asks a few questions and tells you honestly.
Related terms
Put it to work
- Free AI for Beginners Brand new to AI and not sure where to start? Answer a few simple questions and we'll point you to the one assistant that fits what you want to do — honest, with sources, no hype. Start here.
- Free Get More From AI Already using AI but feel you're scratching the surface? Answer a few questions and get a personal plan to level up: the right assistant for what you do, the plan that's actually worth it, and the settings and prompts that unlock more.