Y Combinator-backed startup jo introduced its namesake voice-first digital personality for macOS on Dec. 23 to work alongside Apple users every day.

Tagged as a "productivity sidekick," a voice-first digital personality refers to an AI entity that interacts with users primarily through voice rather than text or visual interfaces. These personalities are designed to engage its users in natural, spoken conversations, using voice recognition and natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond.

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Voice-first digital personalities are commonly found in virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri. They are designed to assist with tasks such as setting reminders, answering questions, controlling smart devices, or providing entertainment. These systems focus on seamless, hands-free interactions, making them ideal for environments where typing or touching screens is impractical, like in smart homes or vehicles.

What sets them apart is their personalized tone and emotional intelligence. Many are programmed to detect emotional cues in a user's voice and adjust their responses accordingly, offering a more empathetic or engaging experience.

Co-founders Pradeep Elankumaran and Kevin Li joined forces after over a decade of experience in building consumer products, applying technology to "unlock sustainable unit economic structures that improve the lives of every person in the world."

"For a year, Kev and I have been floating the blue waters of the application layer pondering how consumers can use AI better. jo continues our decade-long work together building consumer tech products which improve everyone's lives," Elankumaran wrote in a blog post, introducing jo on Dec. 23.

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jo's JARVIS and Samantha are assistant archetypes created within the scarcity mindset of a bygone age. Instead of waiting for the user to ask, jo takes a proactive approach -- summarizing what's on your screen, assisting with calendar scheduling, and even running custom pre-filled searches using your voice.

"A new type of assistance for a new age," the company described its AI-powered tool.

Built on top of "a set of local and remote LLMs, vector storage and tight audio/network macOS native desktop code," the company added, which reveals a new methodology for how humans interact with AI efficiently.

jo is currently available on macOS desktop, and only on Apple Silicon, according to YC's recent announcement on LinkedIn.