I’m terrible at remembering birthdays, which is a real problem because I love giving gifts, and in the era of online shopping and free, but sometimes slow, shipping you’ve got to stay on top of dates if you want your bundles of birthday tidings to show up on time.
This year, I’m embarrassed to admit the blessed births of several close friends and loved ones simply slipped my smooth little brain’s grasp, forcing me to tell a few half-truths about packages being in the mail while I feverishly searched e-commerce sites for something slightly more expensive than necessary to make up for the foible.
Since my funds aren’t endless and I suspect my memory will not improve with age, I’ve turned to the free beta version of artificial intelligence assistant tool Ohai.ai to help keep me from making costly lapses in memory when it comes to the birthdays of friends and family.
Ohai.ai uses a combination of foundational large language models, or LLMs — the underlying technology that powers generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT that “learn” and converse with you — and actual people to power its text-based organizational efforts. It was founded in January 2024 by Care.com founder Sheila Lirio Marcelo.
The free beta version of Ohai.ai’s virtual assistant works through text messages, introducing itself as “O,” your disembodied personal assistant eager to help you keep track of important dates and tasks.
The text message conversation is what makes it different from regular calendar reminders — it’s like having a person ping you instead of looking up a calendar yourself. And you can reply in conversation with the bot if you want to make any adjustments once you see what reminders look like.
How to get date reminders from AI assistant O
I immediately set about asking O to send me reminders for several birthdays, and reminders a week before those birthdays for the next five years, hopefully giving me plenty of time to order gifts.
Here’s the step-by-step guide on how to do it:
- Sign up for the free beta or the $27-per-month premium version of Ohai.ai.
- Go through a short Q&A about how you’d like to use Ohai.ai,
- Give Ohai.ai access to your Google Calendar (you’ll need a Google account to use the tool).
- Give Ohai.ai your mobile number.
- Ohai.ai’s assistant O will begin texting you to see what reminders you’d like to set.
- Text conversationally with O and set reminders to be sent via email or text message.
For instance, I texted O: “My friend Jennifer’s birthday is March 23, my friend Natalie’s birthday is Aug. 25, my friend Daphne’s birthday is June 23, my husband’s birthday is April 20. Please set birthday reminders for the next year and every year for the next 5 years for these dates.”
I also told it to remind me both a week before and on the day of the birthdays. (Names and birthdates were changed for the purpose of this article.)
It took about five minutes of chatting for O to record and confirm my key dates through conversational texting, and after setting a short-term reminder that appeared reliably at the designated time, I felt fairly confident that O could be relied on to jog my memory for the coming months.
The AI tool will then keep a list for you daily, including special events, reminders, family and personal events, conflicts in your schedule and even what your free blocks of time that day are.
For more ways to use generative AI, check out CNET’s AI Atlas hub and steps on how to use Midjourney to create custom wedding invitations and how to write your resume and cover letter using ChatGPT.
Editors’ note: CNET used an AI engine to help create several dozen stories, which are labeled accordingly. The note you’re reading is attached to articles that deal substantively with the topic of AI but are created entirely by our expert editors and writers. For more, see our AI policy.