I have been thinking about the potential for using AI in Home Assistant for a while now, but everything that is already available tends to be very limited and doesn’t seem focused in the direction I had hoped.
Using ChatGPT and Bard to help me create scripts and automations has also been mostly unsuccessful so far.
What I would really like to see is a natural conversation (either written or spoken) directly in HA with an AI Butler that then does all the complicated work of building automations and routines. Starting with “simple” things like asking it to create specific automations and eventually leading to a system that can create something like an energy management system from scratch by combining and optimising all you available appliances intelligently and dynamically.
Today a had a little chat() with Bard (not Gemini yet since I am in Germany) and it suggested using the REST Api as a two-way communication bridge between Bard and Home Assistant.
Now, since I am mostly clueless on how all this works, I wanted to ask those with more knowledge and skill than me how feasible that approach would actually be?
You do understand how Large Language Model systems work, don’t you? They scan monumental amounts of material and build a statistical model of what words normally follow what other words. Then they take the words in your question and use the model to spin a plausible answer. They don’t understand any of it.
So there are a few issues:
A significant proportion of the source material about Home Assistant will come from this forum, where people are posting code that doesn’t work and asking for help.
A significant proportion of the source material will work, but will be inefficient or just plain misguided.
Home Assistant and this forum have been around for years, so a significant proportion of the source material will be out of date.
On top of which ChatGPT is famous for just making stuff up.
I have had luck with it building templates. It’s syntax for automations is usually off but I can get it to spit out something like : Create a notification using the Google Travel Time Integration. Notify me the expected time my wife will be home when she leaves x zone.
The interesting thing for me is, that Bard (I don’t use ChatGPT much since the results are often unreliable) tends to understand my query very well and does build a useable automation, but it always makes mistakes in syntax and/or uses commands that don’t exist or work in Home Assistant.
But since it’s a LLM, I think it could work out those quirks very quickly if it had a way of reinforcing correct over wrong answers.
It’s awesome that you’re exploring the potential of AI to revolutionize Home Assistant. While existing options might feel a bit limited, it’s exciting to hear about your experimentation with ChatGPT and Bard. For more robust solutions, delving into AI for business applications could be beneficial. Platforms like this offer tailored solutions designed to optimize processes and boost efficiency across various domains. Imagine having an AI Butler in Home Assistant that can engage in natural conversations and seamlessly create complex automations and routines. It’s an exciting prospect that could simplify home management tasks and enhance overall living experiences.
) with Bard (not Gemini yet since I am in Germany) and it suggested using the REST Api as a two-way communication bridge between Bard and Home Assistant.
