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Opera announced this week that its AI assistant for its Opera browser is now available for its iOS customers. The feature, called “Aria,” can answer questions and different commands from users using natural language.
“Aria, our newly-introduced and free AI solution, has already exceeded 1 million users. We’re witnessing enthusiastic user engagement with AI tools, especially Aria. As a result, we are delighted to extend Opera’s AI tool to our iOS users!” Kseniia Sycheva, a senior communications manager at Opera, announced in a recent blog. “Aria amplifies your creativity and productivity by leveraging the potential of AI. As an expert in both web navigation and browser functions, Aria facilitates AI collaboration in tasks such as information retrieval, text or code generation, and product inquiries.”
The feature was first revealed in May, with the company following it with a release to the browser’s website and Android versions. Nonetheless, it should now be available to iOS users from more than 180 countries worldwide.
The feature is built on Opera’s AI engine, which is based on several Large Language Models, such as the Generative Pre-trained Transformer created by OpenAI. This allows it to accept and recognize questions and commands in natural language (both in text and voice), with the AI assistant feature taking the form of an AI chatbot. Moreover, it employs Opera’s Composer architecture, allowing it to respond based on real-time results from the web. Opera stresses that it is free and can be used by everyone as long as they have their own Opera account.
In general, it can be compared to what Microsoft is already offering in Edge and Bing. This is no surprise, nonetheless, since Opera’s AI was created with the help of OpenAI, which brought the ChatGPT model to Microsoft’s platform and products. Yet, there are still some differences between Opera’s and Microsoft’s creations, with the former not having a daily chat limit. Despite this, the company is clear about the other limitations of the AI feature in terms of being confused “if you use the service excessively.” It also adds that Aria might also generate hallucinations and biased or harmful content.
