Working with AI Partner

You've probably used ChatGPT, Claude, or other AI chatbots. They're impressive at generating text, answering questions, and brainstorming ideas. But they share a fundamental limitation: they can't see what you're working on. AKARI's AI partner is different because it lives inside your creative workspace. It doesn't just respond to text — it sees your canvas, understands your timeline, knows your content pool, and remembers your creative history. When you say "make this bigger," it knows what "this" is because it can see what you're pointing at. When you say "match the style of my last project," it remembers what that style was. When you say "add a transition here," it sees exactly where "here" is on your timeline. This context-awareness transforms AI from a text-in-text-out tool into a genuine creative collaborator. It's the difference between describing a painting to someone over the phone versus working side-by-side in the same studio.

AKARI's AI partner maintains a rich understanding of your working context through multiple channels: Visual Context The AI partner can see the current state of your canvas, timeline, or editor. When you click on an element, it knows exactly what you've selected — its properties, position, style, and relationship to other elements. Project Context Your AI partner knows about your project structure — all the assets in your Content Pool, the studios you've used, the edits you've made, and the overall project goals you've discussed. Conversation Context Everything you've discussed in the current session is part of the AI's working memory. It tracks threads of conversation, remembers decisions you've made, and maintains context across topic changes. Historical Context Through the 4-layer memory system, your AI partner has access to patterns from your past projects, your stated preferences, and learned workflows. All of this context means you spend less time explaining and more time creating. The AI partner already understands your situation — you just need to give direction.

AKARI offers three distinct ways to interact with your AI partner, each suited to different situations: Chat Mode The right-side panel is your main conversation space. Type naturally, as you would to a colleague: "I need a catchy intro for this product video" or "What color palette would work for a luxury brand?" The AI responds with suggestions, asks clarifying questions, and can execute changes directly in your workspace. Chat mode is best for: • Creative brainstorming and ideation • Complex instructions that need back-and-forth • Getting explanations and learning • Planning and strategizing @Mentions Within any text field or annotation, use @partner to tag your AI for context-specific help. For example, in a subtitle editor: "@partner translate this to French." Or in a design canvas: "@partner suggest a layout for these three images." @Mentions are best for: • Quick, contextual requests • In-place editing assistance • Annotations and comments • Collaborative workflows /Commands Type "/" to access a library of direct action commands. These are task-specific shortcuts: /generate-subtitle, /color-grade, /smart-cut, /export-preset, /analyze-content, and many more. /Commands are best for: • Repetitive tasks you do frequently • Actions with well-defined parameters • Batch operations • Power-user workflows

One of AKARI's most powerful features is its memory system. Unlike stateless chatbots that forget everything between sessions, AKARI's AI partner builds and maintains a layered understanding of you and your work. Layer 1: Session Memory What it stores: The current conversation, active workspace state, and recent actions. How it helps: Maintains conversation flow, remembers what you just discussed, tracks context within the current work session. Lifespan: Current session only. Layer 2: Project Memory What it stores: All conversations, decisions, assets, and edits associated with this specific project. How it helps: When you return to a project after days or weeks, the AI partner remembers exactly where you left off, what decisions were made, and what the project goals are. Lifespan: As long as the project exists. Layer 3: User Memory What it stores: Your personal preferences, brand guidelines, creative style patterns, and frequently used workflows. How it helps: New projects benefit from everything the AI has learned about you. It knows your preferred fonts, your color sensibilities, your writing tone, and your editing style. Lifespan: Persistent across all projects. Layer 4: Skill Memory What it stores: Learned techniques, optimized workflows, and domain-specific knowledge gained through use. How it helps: The AI gets better at specific tasks over time. If you frequently edit talking-head videos, it learns the optimal pacing, cut patterns, and audio processing for that format. Lifespan: Persistent and growing. Together, these layers create an AI partner that genuinely improves with use. After a few weeks, you'll notice it anticipating your needs before you express them.

Your AI partner should feel like your partner, not a generic assistant. AKARI offers several customization options: Name Give your AI partner a name that feels right to you. Some users prefer a human name for a more personal feel; others prefer something neutral. The name appears in the conversation panel and in notifications. Personality Adjust the communication style along several dimensions: • Formality — From casual and friendly to professional and precise • Proactivity — From "only respond when asked" to "actively suggest improvements" • Verbosity — From concise bullet points to detailed explanations • Creativity — From conservative and safe to bold and experimental These aren't just cosmetic changes. They affect how the AI approaches your requests, what it suggests unprompted, and how it frames its responses. Visual Avatar Choose or customize an avatar for your AI partner. It appears in the conversation panel and helps visually distinguish AI responses from your own messages. Domain Focus If you primarily work in one domain (video editing, graphic design, copywriting), you can set a domain focus that biases the AI's suggestions and expertise. A video-focused partner will default to cinematic language and editing concepts, while a writing-focused partner will emphasize narrative structure and word choice.

AKARI supports multiple AI models, and you can switch between them freely — even mid-conversation. Supported Models Through OpenRouter or direct API connections, AKARI works with: • Claude (Anthropic) — Excellent for nuanced creative direction, long-context understanding, and thoughtful suggestions • GPT (OpenAI) — Strong general-purpose capabilities with broad knowledge • Gemini (Google) — Powerful multimodal understanding with strong visual analysis • Llama (Meta) — Open-source option for privacy-conscious users • And more as the ecosystem grows When to Switch Different models excel at different tasks: • Creative writing and brainstorming → Claude or GPT tend to shine • Image analysis and visual feedback → Gemini's multimodal capabilities can be advantageous • Privacy-sensitive work → Local models like Llama keep everything on-device • Cost optimization → Smaller models handle routine tasks efficiently How to Switch Click the model indicator in the AI partner panel, or use the /model command. Your conversation context is preserved when you switch — the new model picks up where the old one left off. Model Comparison Unsure which model to use? AKARI can run the same prompt through multiple models simultaneously, letting you compare responses side-by-side and choose the best one. This is especially useful when exploring creative directions.

Skill commands are pre-built workflows that your AI partner can execute. They go beyond simple prompts by combining multiple steps into a single action. Content Creation /generate-subtitle — Generate subtitles from video audio /write-copy — Create marketing copy based on your content /generate-thumbnail — Suggest and create video thumbnails /draft-article — Create a blog post draft from video content Editing /smart-cut — Remove silences and dead air /color-grade — Apply AI-suggested color grading /audio-clean — Remove background noise /auto-transition — Add appropriate transitions between clips Analysis /analyze-content — Get AI analysis of any media file /brand-check — Verify content matches brand guidelines /accessibility-check — Check for accessibility issues /performance-predict — Estimate content performance metrics Organization /auto-tag — AI-tag content in your pool /find-similar — Find visually or thematically similar content /create-collection — Organize related content into a collection Business /schedule-post — Schedule content for social media /create-funnel — Generate a sales funnel from content /email-sequence — Draft an email marketing sequence You can also create custom skill commands based on your own workflows. If you find yourself repeating the same multi-step process, package it into a skill command.

While AKARI's AI partner is more context-aware than a generic chatbot, good communication still makes a difference. Here are tips for getting the best results: Be Specific About What You Want Instead of: "Make this video better" Try: "The pacing in the middle section feels slow. Can you tighten the cuts between 1:30 and 3:00, removing pauses longer than 1 second?" Share Your Intent, Not Just Instructions Instead of: "Add a blue gradient overlay" Try: "I want this section to feel calmer and more professional. What do you suggest?" Use Visual Direction Click on elements while giving instructions. "Make THIS bigger" (while clicking) is faster and more precise than describing which element you mean. Iterate Rather Than Restart If the first result isn't quite right, refine: "That's close, but make the transition slower and keep the original audio." Building on AI output is usually better than starting over. Reference Past Work "Use the same style as my coffee shop project" leverages the memory system to recall specific creative decisions from previous work. Ask for Options "Give me three different approaches for this intro" gets you variety to choose from, rather than a single suggestion you might not love. Provide Constraints "Create a social media post that's under 280 characters and includes our brand hashtag" helps the AI produce immediately usable results. Don't Be Afraid to Experiment The AI partner can undo any change. Try bold ideas — "What if we made this entire section black and white except for the product?" You might discover something wonderful.

Being transparent about limitations is part of AKARI's philosophy. Here's what your AI partner can and cannot do: What It Excels At • Understanding creative intent from natural language • Executing technical tasks (cuts, color grading, text formatting) • Maintaining consistency across a project • Offering creative suggestions based on context • Learning and adapting to your preferences • Working across multiple studios with shared context What It Struggles With • Truly original artistic vision — it can execute and suggest, but the creative spark comes from you • Subjective taste judgments — "does this look good?" depends on context the AI might not fully grasp • Understanding cultural nuance — especially in humor, satire, and region-specific references • Perfect accuracy in every response — it may sometimes misunderstand or make mistakes What It Won't Do • Act without your consent or confirmation for significant changes • Access files or systems outside your AKARI workspace • Share your data, content, or conversations with anyone • Make decisions that override your explicit instructions The best results come from treating the AI as a skilled assistant — talented and knowledgeable, but guided by your vision and judgment.

This might sound unusual for a software guide, but building a working relationship with your AI partner genuinely improves your results over time. In the first few sessions, take time to: Establish your preferences. Tell the AI what you like and don't like. "I prefer warm color palettes." "I don't like jump cuts." "My brand voice is conversational but professional." Share your goals. "I'm building a YouTube channel about sustainable cooking" gives the AI crucial context for every future suggestion. Provide feedback. When the AI does something great, say so: "That transition was perfect — remember that approach." When it misses the mark: "Too aggressive. I prefer subtlety." This feedback feeds directly into the memory system. Develop shorthand. Over time, you'll develop a shared vocabulary. "Do the thing" might come to mean a specific editing sequence that you've refined together. The AI partner adapts to your communication style. Trust the process. The 4-layer memory system means that every interaction makes the AI partner a little bit better at understanding you. The AI partner you have after a month of use will feel meaningfully different from the one you started with — more attuned, more helpful, more like a true creative partner. AKARI's AI partner isn't just a feature. It's a relationship that grows. Invest in it, and it invests in you.