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We’re often told to “work smarter, not harder,” but with only so many hours in a day, making extra time is essential. For this, a slew of AI productivity tools, which streamline, automate, and optimize are available right now to help with this workload.
Not only can these nifty AI apps and tools help boost productivity by organizing schedules and tasks better, but they can also use machine learning to do some of those time-consuming or repetitive tasks that we often want to avoid. Some of these you may recognize, having been around for some time, while others have recently joined the club.
How to use AI apps for work productivity
AI productivity tools are bit like having an MIT graduate assistant on hand who anticipates every need, automating various mundane tasks, organizing information, and even managing customer communications through chatbots. The right AI tool can even suggest edits, compose emails, and streamline customer service.
A graphic designer could use an AI tool to automatically resize and format images, reducing many hours of manual labor. Virtual assistants (VA) do the boring task of organizing calendars, scheduling meetings, and crafting tailored to-do lists, even adapting its communication style to send personalized emails.
For those managing multiple social media accounts, VAs can assume the posting responsibilities, ensuring consistent and timely updates. Email management software revolutionizes inbox interactions by prioritizing important messages and filtering out spam or less urgent emails. These tools can be configured to sort emails into folders based on the sender or subject, simplifying the management of a busy inbox.
AI analytics tools take raw data from various sources and transform it into detailed reports and visualizations. They may be able to spot patterns and insights that no one else notices. These tools can enhance project management by monitoring task progress, predicting timelines, efficiently allocating resources, and fostering collaboration to keep projects on track.
AI applications can also synchronize across different calendar systems, such as Outlook and Google Calendars, to manage appointments and meetings seamlessly. Content creation tools expand their usefulness by generating a variety of content, from engaging written pieces like blog articles to captivating visuals for social media platforms. These tools can help support content creators in producing high-quality content with minimal effort, reshaping the landscape of work and productivity.
What are some of the best AI apps for work?
Otter.ai
For those with a calendar full of meetings, Otter.ai is among several tools that can make it far easier to transcribe conversations. OtterPilot is the software’s meeting assistant that records audio, writes notes, automatically captures slides, and generates summaries.

While it’s only available in English at the moment, users can get automated notes for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. All notes are also searchable, and shareable. What’s more, if Slack is part of your workflow, it can automatically share real-time updates with teammates in the communication platform, ensuring everyone is in the loop.
Another cool feature is its integration with file hosting services. When a video or audio file is added to the Otter app folder in Dropbox, it is automatically transcribed and synced with Otter.
During virtual sessions, Otter can record lecture slides and incorporate them into the notes, helping students recall details within the full context. It can then create a summary without having to read the entire transcript. This is a particularly handy tool as it also hyperlinks to the meeting notes and creates an action items list.
Otter can also generate follow-up emails, project status updates, blog posts, and much more.
The tool is free for up to 300 monthly transcription minutes, while paid plans start at $18 per month.
Notion
Notion has long been a favorite project management tool with many workers, but it’s now integrated AI into the tool. Notion AI can generate text, autofill databases, create concise summaries of pages, and assign action items based on specific documents, serving as valuable tools for saving time.

Users can also ask the chatbot questions, allowing it to handle the task of reading large amounts of text and documents. From there, the AI will generate responses to any questions and link to the pages it used to compile the answers. It is worth noting that this feature is still in beta.
AI features are priced at $10 per workspace per month. While Notion is free for individual use, paid plans begin at $10 monthly, not including the cost of AI.
Grammarly
Like some of the others mentioned, Grammarly is a well-established tool, and it has incorporated AI into its core services. Known for efficiently checking spelling, grammar, and conciseness, the platform is pretty good at everyday writing.

A great way of using the tool is to have the Grammarly for Chrome extension turned on so that the AI can work in the background to catch any mistakes made.
Aside from basic grammar assistance, the tool can offer other more advanced assistance thanks to its integration of generative AI, which added features and shortcuts that can provide shortcuts to day-to-day tasks.
For example, Grammarly can be used to create or rewrite text, provide ideas, identify gaps in writing, change the tone of a text, generate quick replies, make outlines, and more. Users can also select a voice, which includes options for formality and tone, to help compose messages for different platforms, such as LinkedIn or email.
However, sometimes it will underline random pieces of text, even if it’s correct – which can be off-putting.
The free version will provide basic grammar and spelling checks, while the $12 per month plan includes advanced checks and style suggestions.
Brain.fm
When testing out Brain.fm, users have the option to focus on work or stay energized. According to the app, users who listen for at least two hours a week report three times fewer focus disruptions. The app then considers factors such as neural effect level, music complexity, ideal genres, and activities. They provided a Lo-fi circadian rhythm tune to accompany our work, which made for a pleasant listening experience.

Unlike Spotify’s study playlists, Brain.fm’s music is designed by a team of scientists and composers to help users focus. According to the website, the app’s functional music is created from the ground up to influence the brain and optimize performance.
The platform states that the music is tested with simple ‘games’ used in psychology research to measure focused attention. The experiments include a placebo version of the same music without Brain.fm technology, allowing them to measure the difference.
While there is a trial period, it generally costs $9.99 per month or $69.99 per year.
AI apps may not be able to replace work, but they can certainly make it easier. It just requires some time to learn how to use them.
Featured image: Canva
The post The four best AI apps you need for work productivity appeared first on ReadWrite.

KeokeN, makers of the acclaimed video game Deliver Us Mars, has ceased operations entirely and laid off its entire staff.
In a post to X on Tuesday, the studio said it was shutting its doors because it couldn’t find any publisher for its ongoing work. The studio said its representatives visited Game Developers Conference 2024 in San Francisco, a convention where publishing deals are often brokered, but came home empty handed.

Heartbroken, we’ve had to lay off our team at KeokeN because of nothing substantial materializing directly after our visit to GDC. We’ve unfortunately exhausted all our possible options for publishing, work for hire, and co-development.
It is our utmost priority to make sure our… pic.twitter.com/3QHzJzgCfl
— KeokeN Interactive (@KeokeN) April 30, 2024

Deliver Us Mars, which launched in February 2023 for Playstation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X, was well received by game critics and featured in the prestigious Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Network monthly gaming offerings that year, which makes the studio’s closure all the more surprising.
Set in a post-apocalyptic world where resources are scarce, players of Deliver Us Mars had to comb the moon’s surface in the first outing, and in the second installment, mined the Red Planet to save humanity.
Deliver Us Mars team laid off
The studio was apparently unable to find a publisher for the  third installment of the “Deliver Us” series, to be called Deliver Us Home.
The first game, Deliver Us the Moon and its sequel, Deliver Us Mars both received very positive ratings on Steam and a host of awards. The series was a cult favorite with fans, who shared their sorrow on social media.
Posts like “Deliver us Moon was a great game. Sad to hear.” from @streamingdeluxe and @DevvyPrince’s “Deliver Us Mars was one of my favorite games I played during 2023. Brought me to tears so many times. This message kills me to read. Like many others, I’ll be eager to support your future projects!”
Despite the news, which adds to a lengthy list of studio layoffs across the past year, KeokeN chief executive Koen Deetman said he and managing director Paul Deetman remained committed to games development. “Paul and I are heavily beat, but far from beaten,” he wrote. “It’s our personal mission to rebuild KeokeN brick by brick like we’ve done before, in the name of our people and to continue the legacy of our games.“
Image: KeokeN Interactive.
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The emergence and rapid growth of artificial intelligence, AI chatbots and assistants has taken the world by storm in recent years, so much so that we’re now seeing both technologies collide and merge into one.
Almost every smartphone on the market these days has an AI component built into it, aimed to make life easier for users.
But a new product on the market aims to take things a little further by behaving as the complete AI assistant, capable of integrating with any app, any service and, to an extent, behaving as the complete all-in-one device.
Rabbit R1 isn’t intended to replace the smartphone, according to CEO and founder, Jesse Lyu, but the standalone device can already go a long way towards doing so.
What is Rabbit R1?
Rabbit R1 is a handheld AI assistant that is roughly half the size of an iPhone and acts as a universal controller for a variety of apps, allowing users to do things such as control music, order food and search the internet, among many other things.
It’s powered by Rabbit OS, which utilizes a Large Action Model (LAM), which distances itself from being anything like the typical AI assistants we’re currently used to, such as ChatGPT and Gemini, which are powered by Large Language Models (LLM).
Rabbit OS’ LAM works similarly to Alexi, Siri, or Google Assistant, allowing it to interact with a variety of apps and perform actions purely based on simple voice commands. This works on the Rabbit 1 not by the likes of Uber, Spotify or Apple Podcasts developing apps for the device, but by humans training the device how to navigate those apps. It has been trained to know exactly how music apps work, where search menus are on web browsers, how to order a car for hire, and how to send messages.

The device also comes equipped with an LLM, supported by Perplexity AI, meaning it also has powerful search capabilities to boot.
It also comes with a very helpful training mode, allowing users to effectively train their device to do whatever they want, even as far as removing watermarks from photos in Photoshop, although that particular command requires logging into its web portal – named Rabbit Hole – on desktop, which allows further access to more technical services.
Rabbit 1 is essentially an all-in-one, singer-interface super-app device that can, in many ways, perfectly complement your smartphone.
On top of its powerful and impressive AI capabilities, Rabbit 1 supports video calls, and has space for a SIM card.
Its built-in camera isn’t originally designed to behave like a typical camera, though. Instead, its primary function is to help users understand more about their surroundings via visual search. For example, it will be able to tell you what ingredients are in your lunch if you point the camera towards it, or will be able to search the web for a product you point it at.
According to CNet, you can also ask it to give you information such as calorie information in a dish you’re eating, although it failed to give an exact number and instead gave reasons why it couldn’t determine a calorie count and pointed the user towards the best resources for more accuracy. That means that if it’s unable to provide an actual answer, it’s trained to still be helpful in other ways.
Meanwhile, in his keynote introducing the R1, Lyu demonstrated how you can use the camera, named Rabbit Eye, to scan what you have in your refrigerator and then receive recipe ideas based on the ingredients available.
Other impressive, useful and interesting uses include using the camera to solve a problem, such as re-wiring a plug, translating text and note-taking via dictation.
However, tech influencer and reviewer, Marques Brownlee, has recently slammed the R1, labelling it ‘barely reviewable.’ And he’s not alone. The reviews have not been good so far.

Rabbit R1 Design & Specs
Rabbit R1 weighs 115g, has a 2.88-inch touchscreen and only comes in one color – bright orange. To the right of the screen, you have a 360-degree rotating camera, push-to-talk button and an analog scroll wheel.
Under the hood, it comes packed with a 2.3Ghz MediaTek processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
The built-in 2W speaker is located on the back of the Rabbit 1, while the SIM card slot allows for 5G LTE connection.
It also comes with built-in Bluetooth and WIFI capabilities.
As for the battery, the company claims it lasts all-day. The device is easily charged via USB-C.
Rabbit R1 release date
Rabbit R1 is available to order now, with the pre-order window being open since January. According to Rabbit’s website, the first batch of pre-orders for US and Canada addresses have left the factory and the delivery for these orders is expected in late April 2024.
Batch 2 orders are expected to begin shipping in early May, with batch 3 orders following shortly after. Anything after that is expected to be delivered to US and Canada addresses in June-July 2024.
For EU/UK addresses, the first three batch orders are expected to begin in May 2024, with later batches expected to begin shipping in July 2024.
For elsewhere in the world, such as Australia, Japan and South Korea, Rabbit says they cannot give an exact date but plan to begin shipping later in 2024.
Rabbit R1 price
As handheld ‘smart’ devices go, Rabbit R1 is cheap at just $199. There is no additional subscription services so it’s a one-time cost.
The post Rabbit R1 explained: what is it, specs, price and release date appeared first on ReadWrite.

Indie developer Flamingo Simulation Systems is hoping the upcoming release of Kid Pilot will combine childhood nostalgia with modern hardware to bring a VR experience to the whole family when it launches for PC VR later this month (May 23rd), although there is no sign of a Quest release at this stage even though the trailer heavily features the Quest 3 headset and controllers – it could just be that it is being used as a PCVR headset although Meta’s logo also appears on the trailer’s thumbnail. Curiouser and Curiouser
Set against dazzling backdrops of stunning virtual environments, Kid Pilot brings the nostalgia of playing with paper airplanes to virtual reality. Using a unique set of hand gestures, players will turn, tilt, accelerate, and navigate their plane through different aerial challenges and as you can see from the trailer getting your little plane where it needs to go is not always a walk in the park.
Mexico-based Flamingo Simulation Systems is the team bringing the game to life and says that“ Thanks to the game’s intuitive and accessible controls–navigating the toy planes with – Kid Pilot is suited for everyone, from novice gamers to dedicated VR experts.”
Featuring boss battles and quests with rewards, a quick watch of the trailer below will show you a quirky, heartwarming little VR experience that looks like it will be good fun once you get your headset on.

Kid Pilot features

Master of the Skies: Take control of your aircraft with simple hand gestures for multi-directional flight.
Continental Explorer: Earn achievement badges to unlock new maps and planes, expanding your world in Kid Pilot!
Rise to the Challenge: Adjust your flight pattern to pass through numerous obstacles, whether traversing a tiki maze or enjoying some target practice.
Fun for the Whole Family: Kid Pilot’s maps offer a range of challenges, accommodating the skills of every type of player.
Fully Immersive: Taking advantage of VR’s 360° dimensions, let yourself fly into distant lands you could only dream of!

Kid Pilot launches on Steam on May 23rd at a price of $19.99.
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