Instinct AI: The AI Assistant for normal people

Instinct AI is an invite-only personal-agent app built to make delegated tasks accessible to everyday users, without requiring technical setup such as VPSs, command-line tools, or MCPs. Users sign in with a phone number, and the service provides a dedicated email address for bookings and other tasks rather than acting through the user’s inbox; users can also forward email threads for it to manage. The speakers saw this focused assistant model as easier for non-experts than more configurable agents such as OpenClaw or Hermes, whose power-user features can make them harder to use.

Remy found the iMessage interaction unusually natural: Instinct handled reactions, voice notes, and emphasized messages, and he said a thumbs-up could approve an action. He was surprised when it played Game Pigeon cup pong. It also carried details across conversations, including that his monitor was being checked as oversized luggage on a visa-on-arrival card. That continuity made the assistant feel personal, though a work-related detail appeared in its first task suggestion, raising questions about what information it retains and uses.

For Copenhagen, Remy asked Instinct to research venues, compare reviews and availability, and pursue a booking. When one venue could not book without a Danish phone number, it emailed the venue and later reported that the booking was confirmed. It also completed a restaurant reservation after he supplied a card for the no-show hold. To limit possible exposure, he used a separate Wise digital card with a $500 daily limit. These examples showed how the agent could handle the back-and-forth of ordinary plans, while leaving the user to decide how much payment authority to grant it.

Instinct also prepared Remy’s Bali visa-on-arrival PDF and Emirates Skywards signup details after asking for information and a passport photo. To identify countries he had visited in the previous three months, it searched his emails and Airbnb receipts; Remy said the resulting list was accurate. He said the Bali immigration gate opened after he scanned his passport with the visa, but emphasized that immigration work demands substantial trust because a mistake can have serious consequences. He estimated that individual tasks saved 10–15 minutes, with the potential to add up to hours a week, while noting that Instinct sometimes went silent for 10–15 minutes during background work and could not message a WhatsApp account.

The speakers considered Instinct’s computer use faster and more seamless than Grockbot’s, which Remy described as very slow. One speaker said they used Hermes, OpenClaw, or Grokbot for business tasks and Instinct for personal chores such as bookings. But convenience did not settle the privacy question: the discussion cited Claire’s report that she disconnected her bot from Google at 11 a.m. yet received an email summary at noon, and Peter Yang’s report that Instinct indexed and retained his emails without permission. The speakers advised privacy-conscious users to examine the terms and data controls before connecting private accounts.

Instinct’s invite-only launch created a sense of exclusivity that Remy considered clever and possibly a marketing tactic; he said he had about seven invites. Its valuation was rumored to be $10 billion, a figure Greg was unsure the company could justify. He compared the launch with Clubhouse, which also used invite-only access and reportedly raised money at about a $4 billion valuation before failing to meet expectations. Instinct’s planned trusted-person network could let users allow-list other people’s agents and enable agent-to-agent communication; Greg saw the potential for network effects, while Remy questioned whether it would connect with systems such as Muse or remain a closed network.