aiassistant.sg

Concept catalogue / Individuals & families

Concept — under evaluation

Research Assistant

Give it a question worth hours of tabs; get back a structured, sourced answer you can act on.

Under evaluation: this assistant cannot be purchased. We publish the design and an anticipated price to test whether it deserves to exist. Your reaction at the end of this page is the experiment.

01The problem

Real research — comparing renovation contractors, insurance options, schools, suppliers — takes hours of repetitive searching, and the findings end up scattered across screenshots and memory.

Intended user · Anyone making a considered decision who wants the legwork done systematically and shown with sources.

02What it needs from you

  • A question and what the decision depends on
  • Constraints: budget, location, deal-breakers
  • Optional documents to take into account

03What it produces

  • A structured comparison with sources and dates
  • A shortlist with reasoning for and against each option
  • Watch briefs: ongoing monitoring of prices or availability

04How it would work

  1. 01 Brief

    You describe the decision and constraints in plain language; the assistant plays the question back to confirm scope.

  2. 02 Sweep

    It searches systematically, records where every fact came from, and flags marketing claims versus verifiable facts.

  3. 03 Structure

    Findings arrive as a comparison table and a recommendation with explicit reasoning, not a wall of links.

  4. 04 Watch

    If the decision isn't urgent, it keeps monitoring and tells you when something material changes.

05Autonomy & approvals

Acts on its own

  • Searching and reading public sources
  • Organising findings and re-checking stale facts

Always needs your approval

  • Contacting any vendor or person on your behalf
  • Spending money or creating accounts

06Data & privacy implications

  • Works mostly with public information plus the brief you provide.
  • Documents you share stay within your workspace and are deletable.

07Synthetic example

You

Best air-con brand for a 4-room flat, quiet matters most, budget $4k installed.

Research Assistant

I compared 6 brands across 14 SG retailers. Three fit your budget with low noise ratings (below 40 dB). Here's the table — noise figures are manufacturer-declared; two have third-party measurements, which I've marked.

Illustrative exchange — written by us, not generated by a live product.

Modelled on research missions PFE runs internally for vendor and product decisions.

08The experiment

S$9–29/month

Anticipated range under evaluation; not an offer. If this assistant existed at that price, what would you honestly do?

Want a recommendation matched to your situation instead? Run the Assistant Finder — eight questions, instant brief, no email required.