Definition
An AI that helps a user complete tasks — writing, scheduling, summarizing — typically reactive (responds to prompts) rather than proactive (takes initiative).
Why it matters
An AI assistant is usually a small-business owner's first real taste of AI at work — a hands-on helper for drafting an email, summarizing a thread, or working through a message. It matters because it saves time on everyday writing and thinking tasks without any setup or commitment. The limit to keep in mind is that it's reactive: it waits for you to ask and does what you prompt, so it lightens individual tasks rather than running a function on its own the way an agent or a managed service does.