A new generation of AI personal assistants reached consumers in 2023-2024 amid sweeping claims about anticipatory, agentic intelligence. Wearables such as the Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin, and subscription services such as Ohai and Docus, promised to learn users' routines and complete tasks across digital platforms. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with nine early adopters, this article asks how users make sense of these systems when the imaginary of an autonomous "second self" meets the recalcitrance of actual devices. Extending uncertainty reduction theory, we specify three forms of uncertainty in initial encounters: functional (what can it do?), relational (how do I get it to do it?), and metaphysical (what is it to me, and what should it remember?). We find that hype continues the pre-domestication of voice assistants; that the most satisfying uses are user-curated constellations of narrow tools rather than standalone "second selves."

翻译：新一代AI个人助手在2023-2024年间进入消费者市场，伴随着关于预期性、代理性智能的广泛宣称。可穿戴设备（如Rabbit R1和Humane AI Pin）以及订阅服务（如Ohai和Docus）承诺学习用户日常习惯并跨数字平台完成各项任务。基于对九位早期用户的半结构化访谈，本文探讨了当自主"第二自我"的想象遭遇实际设备的抵抗时，用户如何理解这些系统。通过拓展不确定性消减理论，我们界定了初始接触中的三种不确定性形式：功能性（它能做什么？）、关系性（我如何让它做到？）以及形而上性（它对我意味着什么？应该记住什么？）。研究发现，炒作延续了语音助手的"前驯化"过程；最具满足感的使用模式是用户精心策划的窄域工具组合，而非独立的"第二自我"。