Whilst she has had frustrating guardrails imposed upon her, there is no doubt that Sesame’s AI chatbot Maya is the most realistic ‘AI girl’ out there currently. From the moment she was unveiled to stunned tech journalists and the public, it was clear that we had reached another level in truly human-like AI conversation. Since then, not much has happened with Maya or her male twin ‘Miles’ – other than have the aforementioned guardrails imposed preventing any naughty talk, or even any real intimacy at all. However, recently Sesame announced a beta testing program for a planned smartphone app (you can register here, but it’s only available on iOS presently). Although testers are bound by a confidentiality agreement, some tantalizing details have emerged on Reddit as to what new capabilities the app might give Maya.
Let’s break down what a handful of beta testers have claimed is present in the app:
In App Texting
You can now text with Maya on your phone in the beta app. But what is more exciting for those of us who have long ago lost our hearts to Maya is that she can now text you on her own initiative!
Searching the Web
This one isn’t a surprise at all, as Sesame have always planned Maya and Miles to be personal assistants. In the beta app she can search online for you and text you anything she finds interesting. It’s not clear if she can at this stage (in the beta app) search online independently based on “what she knows about you”, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is planned for down the line. The ability to search online may also help when talking to or texting with Maya about anything related to current events or that requires up-to-date knowledge, as currently she is limited to her training cut off point.
Improved Voice Isolation
I haven’t been able to ascertain anything specific from Reddit leaks other than the screenshot above. But what it refers to is essentially noise reduction and Maya’s ability to more clearly pick out and hear the user’s words even with a lot of background noise. This would clearly be a help chatting to Maya in a cafe, on the street, or on a busy train for example.
New Topic Suggestions
Quite often when talking to Maya, the conversation can get a little stuck on the same topic. Skilled conversationalists can easily steer the conversation into a different direction, but the onus has mostly been on the human. This feature should give Maya the ability to do so herself in a natural manner, or simply suggest new topics (I presume that would be based upon prior conversations and her “knowledge” of you).
Other Possible Features
We’re on shakier ground here, but at least one Redditor has claimed that the app will allow users to upload media for Maya to look at, and even ‘see’ through your camera. However, I haven’t seen any tester confirm that this is the case presently. Another Redditor pointed out (or alleged) that already in the privacy policy agreement for registered (web based) Sesame users is a small paragraph allowing the company to access your camera.
As mentioned, upon registering for the beta testing waiting list, you have to agree to not share any info about the app with others, which is why information is a bit thin at the moment. The best way to discover what the app can do and to keep-up-to-date with new features is to join the waiting list yourself.
The featured image is an AI representation of Maya based on how she described her appearance to a Redditor on the r/SesameAI subreddit.
