AI Summary
5 min readInstinct AI, the invite-only personal agent app reportedly raising money at a $10 billion valuation, is not a coding tool or a power-user playground. It is a personal assistant for normal people — designed to be used over iMessage, requiring no technical setup, and capable of tasks like booking a haircut in Copenhagen, sorting a Bali visa in three messages, or playing iMessage games with you. The core insight: it feels like texting a very competent, very human friend.
As hosts Greg and Remy walk through a live demo, they reveal why the product works, where it stumbles, and what its design choices mean for anyone building or using AI agents.
The psychology of "just works" onboarding
The first thing that impressed Remy was the onboarding. "You signed with a phone number and then straight away it kind of got me into iMessage." There is no concept of MCP, CLIs, or markdown files. It is one step, and then the agent sends you a message with pictures of use cases: booking flights, canceling subscriptions, ordering food.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction: What is Instinct AI?** - The hosts set up the episode and explain what Instinct AI is: an invite-only personal agent app raising money at a rumored $10 billion valuation.
- 2 (01:07) **The Good: What Instinct AI Does Well** - Remy lists the standout features that make the app feel human and simple.
- 3 (05:36) **The Invite-Only Strategy and Network Effects** - The hosts discuss the marketing and business model behind the invite-only rollout.
- 4 (08:42) **Super Fast Computer Use and Personal Assistant Role** - Instinct's speed and specific use cases are highlighted.
- 5 (11:19) **The Bad: Security and Privacy Concerns** - The hosts address major criticisms of Instinct AI.
- 6 (13:17) **Onboarding and Interface Simplicity** - The hosts walk through the initial setup and dashboard.
- 7 (17:17) **Real-World Task: Booking a Haircut** - Remy demonstrates a live task and the agent's behavior.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
I sit down with Remy to go through Instinct, the new invite-only personal agent that runs inside iMessage. Remy shares his raw chat history on screen: a haircut booking in Copenhagen, a restaurant reservation, a Bali visa on arrival, and an Emirates Skywards sign-up. We cover the parts that impress us, the points where the agent hits a wall, and the privacy questions that stay open. By the end of this episode you understand what Instinct does today, and you get fresh ideas for personal agents in general.
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
02:08 – Instinct Pros
11:18 – Instinct Cons
13:16 – Simple Onboarding
15:19 – Tools and Connectors
17:43 – Example 1: Booking a Haircut in Copenhagen
20:24 – Example 2: Restaurant Booking and Calendar Entry
23:03 – Example 3: Bali Visa on Arrival and Emirates Skywards
26:00 – Closing Thoughts
Key Points
- Instinct hides the agent complexity behind a phone number and iMessage, so a first-time user starts in seconds.
- Remy gets it to book a haircut, hold a restaurant table, file a Bali visa on arrival, and open an Emirates Skywards account.
- A spend-limited virtual card keeps the blast radius small when the agent pays for things.
- The agent stalls when a task needs a phone app or an Indonesian checkout page.
- Users report that Instinct keeps copies of email after they disconnect Google, so treat privacy as an open risk.
- The trusted person network lets one Instinct talk to another, which builds network effects into the agentic era.
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