Meta’s Muse is creepy, but maybe not for the reasons you think

The homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.NotificationsNotificationsHamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchLightSystemDarkSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSComments DrawerNotificationsCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...AICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

TechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

MetaCloseMetaPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Muse probably can’t ‘see’ your notifications. But it also has no idea how it works.

Muse probably can’t ‘see’ your notifications. But it also has no idea how it works.

Terrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienWeekend EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All by Terrence O'Brien

ShareGiftImage: Cath Virginia / The VergeTerrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All by Terrence O'Brien

Meta’s Muse is apparently an effective AI assistant, but one that’s a little creepy. Part of that is because of its new Mac app, which can access Messages, Calendar, and Notes. But for all its smarts, Muse doesn’t actually know how to describe itself. Jason Aten, a contributing editor at Inc Magazine, posted on Threads screenshots of an interaction he had with Muse in which the assistant asks him some questions about a conversation he was having in Messages.

The problem is that Aten says he didn’t give Muse access to his messages. When asked how it knew about the contents of his messages, Muse replied, “I saw the notification previews, not your message history. I haven’t been reading your texts.” Aten continued to push, asking how Muse was receiving message previews, it didn’t have a good answer. “Honest answer: I can’t give you the exact plumbing,” it said. “What I know is that the paired Mac app exposes notifications as one of its capabilities, and they arrive to me through the device sync.

Meta Superintelligence Labs’ David Singleton chimed in below the post to try to explain. First, he walks through all the permissions Muse needs to read messages, including granting the Mac app full disk access. He states that the features are opt-in. The more interesting part comes in towards the end of the thread in which Singleton says that Muse, “does not watch notifications on your Mac, but rather syncs data from Messages only after the user has specifically enabled access.” He suggests that the issue isn’t Muse illicitly reading Aten’ texts, but simply that Muse has no idea what it’s talking about:

In the conversation with his Muse in Jason’s screenshots, when Muse said it synced “device notifications”, it was confused about how to explain the feature and gave an incorrect explanation. That’s on us. We apologize for the incorrect response from Muse and we’re working to improve Muse’s understanding of its own internals so that it gives correct answers to questions about how it functions more consistently.

That might not be particularly reassuring, but it also makes some sense. We already know chatbots won’t tell you their secrets and will instead tell you what you want to hear.

Terrence O'BrienCloseTerrence O'BrienWeekend EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All by Terrence O'Brien

AICloseAIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

MetaCloseMetaPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

PrivacyClosePrivacyPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

TechCloseTechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

A free daily digest of the news that matters most.

This is the title for the native ad

Does AI need an antitrust exemption so it doesn’t kill everyone????The AI regulation smackdown isn’t overOpenAI and Microsoft knew they were starting a ‘doom loop’ for the webVirginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centersGavin Newsom is pushing for an AI kill switchWhat Hollywood thinks about existential AI warningsPlayDoes AI need an antitrust exemption so it doesn’t kill everyone????Nilay PatelSep 19The AI regulation smackdown isn’t overHayden FieldSep 19OpenAI and Microsoft knew they were starting a ‘doom loop’ for the webTerrence O'BrienSep 18Virginia governor creates an AI task force and moves to restrain data centersLauren FeinerSep 18Gavin Newsom is pushing for an AI kill switchLauren FeinerSep 18What Hollywood thinks about existential AI warningsCharles Pulliam-MooreSep 18Advertiser Content FromThis is the title for the native ad

The VergeThe Verge logo.Sign in to see your notifications or create an account to join the conversation.