This week, I asked Muse a different question: If you could talk directly to my readers, what would you want them to know? Its answer was plain. It said, in effect, let me handle the tedious parts, and you keep the decisions.

Meta calls Muse an agent because it takes action for you. It sends email, does research, fills out online forms and books reservations. It also keeps working after you close the app and checks back with you when something changes or needs your OK.

Muse is available to adults 18 and older in the U.S. on iPhone, Android, the web at muse.ai and inside WhatsApp. The basic version is free, and Meta expects most people to stay there. Paid plans at $20 and $100 a month add computing power for heavy users. There are no ads.

You decide what it can use. Muse connects to Gmail, Google Calendar, Facebook, Instagram and OpenTable, among others, and you set the level of access for each one. You might let it read your email but not send it, for example. You can change those permissions or disconnect a service any time.

Here is how I’ve used it. Start with email, where many of us feel overwhelmed. My Gmail inbox had years of promotional mail and Google Alerts piling up. Muse unsubscribed me from 13 promotional lists and moved old alerts to the trash in batches. Before it touched anything, we set the keepers: Order emails and mail from primary contacts stayed put.

Travel was the second test. I am going to Singapore in November for a conference, with a short stay afterward on Telunas Private Island in Indonesia. Ferries, a visa and hotels all had to line up, and Muse worked out the timing. When it got a date wrong, it said so and rechecked. I still booked my own flights. I prefer it that way.

The third example is closer to home. For Christmas, I am making a mouse dollhouse for my granddaughters. Muse built a shopping list of miniature mice and furniture and flagged small parts to watch for with a 2-year-old. When I said no angel wings on the baby mice, it found plain ones.

I use Muse in iMessage, right alongside my texts with family and friends. I message it the same way I text my kids, with no new app to open and no menus to learn.

You don’t even have to type. Talk instead, and Muse transcribes your words instantly. If you spend a lot of time on Facebook, Muse can connect to your account there too. Technology is easier to try when it meets you where you are and helps with jobs you already do.

Meta has built in some guardrails. A separate system called Sentinel watches what Muse does and must approve anything before it goes out to the internet. Muse asks before purchases and other sensitive actions. Meta says the agent cannot see your passwords or card numbers and does not share Muse data with its advertising system. Those are the company’s promises, so keep your own rules too.

Here is the part Muse wanted me to make clear, and I agree: You do not have to hand over the keys. Sign in to your own accounts yourself. Do not share passwords or verification codes. Let Muse research, draft, compare and organize. You approve anything that gets sent, and you do the buying yourself. If a task feels too personal, keep it to yourself.

To get started:

1. Start with one tedious job. Type it or say it out loud. Ask for help cleaning up promotional email, organizing a trip or making a shopping list. Skip anything financial for now.
2. Give context the way you would to a person. Say who it is for, what you care about and what to avoid. “No wings” and “keep my order emails” both worked.
3. Ask it to show its work. Prices, dates and times should come with a way to check them before you act.
4. Keep the final say. Let it draft the email, build the list or compare the hotels. You send, you book and you buy.

Muse’s closing thought was simple: An assistant should give you time back for the parts only you can do, like being on the island or sitting on the floor at Christmas watching two little girls play with a dollhouse. The research, the sorting and the double-checking? It is happy to do that.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.