What can an AI assistant on your PC do every day?

If you have heard about an AI PC assistant and wondered what it is actually for, you are not alone. The big promises are easy to find. The small, useful, ordinary jobs are harder to picture.

So here is a plain list. These are the jobs most of us do a dozen times a week: finding a file, changing a setting, setting a reminder, joining a meeting. For each one, we show how to do it by hand first, so you know what is going on. Then we show what changes when you ask an assistant instead.

What "an assistant on your PC" means

Most AI tools you may have tried live on a web page. You type a question and you get words back. Then you still have to go and do the thing yourself.

A desktop assistant is different. It lives on your computer and works in the same windows you use: your mail, your browser, your documents and your settings. You ask for a result, and it does the clicking for you.

That is the whole idea. The assistant saves you the hunting, the menus and the many small steps.

Job 1: Change a setting

Settings are the most common small job. Brightness too high at night, text too small, dark mode wanted. Each one is only a few clicks, if you know where the clicks are.

Dim the screen on Windows

1. On Windows 11, select the Network icon on the right side of the taskbar. On Windows 10, select the action center icon in the same place.
2. Move the Brightness slider.
3. Or go to Settings › System › Display and use the brightness slider there.

Switch to dark mode on Windows

1. Open Settings › Personalization › Colors.
2. Next to Choose your mode, pick Dark.

Some apps have their own light or dark setting, so a few may not change.

Switch to dark mode on a Mac

1. Open System Settings.
2. Click Appearance in the sidebar.
3. Choose Light, Dark or Auto.

For more settings you can change this way, see How to change brightness, dark mode and other settings by voice.

Job 2: Find a file

You know you saved it. You just do not remember what you called it, or which folder it went into. The usual route is to open a folder, then another, then scroll, and then try the search box with a guess at the name.

The trouble is that most searches look at file names. If the bill is called scan0042.pdf, a search for "March bill" finds nothing.

An assistant can look at what is inside the document, not just the name. It can read the file to make sure it has the right one. If two files match, it asks which one you meant. Our guide How to find a file by what is inside it, on Windows and Mac goes through the by-hand way in full.

Job 3: Tidy a messy folder

Almost everyone's Downloads folder is a heap. Doing it by hand means opening the folder, sorting by type or date, making new folders, and dragging files in one group at a time.

It is a perfect job to hand over, because it is boring and takes many steps. A careful assistant also needs to be safe about it. Key moves things around, and anything it removes goes to the Recycle Bin or the Trash. It has no permanent delete at all. Our guide How to clean up your Downloads folder without losing anything shows the by-hand way.

Job 4: Set a reminder

Reminders are a small job that matters. You think of something, and you want your computer to remember it for you.

On a Mac

1. Open the Reminders app.
2. Select a list on the left, then click the Add button at the top right.
3. Type what you want to remember, then press Return.
4. You can type the day and time in the same line, such as "every Wednesday at 5 p.m.", then click the date it suggests.

On Windows

Windows has several places for reminders, including the Microsoft To Do app. Open the app, add a task, select it, choose Remind me, and then pick a date and time.

With Key, you tell it what and when, the way you would tell a friend, and it speaks up when the time comes. When a meeting turns up in your messages, it can put it in your calendar and remind you before it starts.

Job 5: Open things and answer small questions

Many daily jobs are just "get me to the thing". Open my timetable. Join my 4 o'clock meeting. Where did that download go? What is eating my battery? Each is quick by hand once you know where to look. But all those small trips add up across a day.

An assistant that opens your apps, finds your files and changes your settings, and then tells you what it did, turns each of these into one sentence.

Ask Key to do it

Key is a free personal assistant for Windows 10 and 11, and for Macs on macOS 11 Big Sur or newer. You speak to it or type to it. The microphone and the chat are the same assistant, and you can switch whenever you like. It answers out loud too.

It works in the real windows you already use, so there is nothing to connect first. It opens the real window and presses the real button. A request runs in four steps: you ask (half a sentence is enough), it works out what you meant, it does it in the real app, and it checks the result before it tells you.

Here is what that looks like for one of the jobs above:

Other things people ask it are just as short: "Find my March bill", "Make the text bigger", "Mute everything", "Put this photo on the Desktop" and "Empty my Downloads into folders".

It sits at the top of your screen until you need it. While it works, it shows a small panel so you can see what it is doing, and you can stop it at any point.

What it will not do

An assistant that acts for you should have limits. Key has four rules built into the program. They are not settings.

• It never deletes for good. Anything it removes goes to the Recycle Bin or the Trash.
• It stops before paying. It fills in a checkout and then waits. Your yes covers that one payment, on that one site, once.
• It never types a password. A login screen is yours. It tells you what is being asked for and goes no further.
• It never says done blindly. It reads the result back before it reports it. When it could not check, it says so.

If you want to think this through before trying it, read Is it safe to let an AI assistant use your computer?

Where to start

Pick one small job you do every week. Do it by hand once, so you know what good looks like. Then ask for it. Start with something easy to check, like a setting or a file you can see appear on the Desktop.

Key is free to download, with no card and no trial. Every feature is in the free version. For more on how it fits on a Windows PC, see A free AI desktop assistant for your PC that does the job, not just the talking. If you would rather just talk, try A voice assistant for your PC. Mac user? See An AI assistant for your Mac that works in your real apps.

Related guide: How to turn on dark mode on Windows 11 and Mac

Related guide: Key Assistant: questions and answers

Related guide: Cortana alternative for Windows 11 and Windows 10: what to use now