Butler Steve keeps track of the house.

Food · the problem

Something in the fridge goes bad before anyone remembers it’s there.

What Butler does

It keeps a list of what’s in the fridge, the freezer and the pantry. Each day it shows what should be used soon.

You don’t count anything. You only say whether you have plenty, some, a little, or none.

Shopping · the problem

You’re at the shop and can’t remember what you’re out of.

What Butler does

When something runs low, it goes on the shopping list by itself. Anyone in the family can add to the list too.

Tick things off as you buy them. When you get home, Butler shows where each one goes.

Chores · the problem

One person ends up remembering everything: the furnace filter, the dentist, the library books.

What Butler does

Write a job down once. If it repeats, Butler brings it back when it’s due.

Each day shows only what is due that day. If today is no good, put the job off. It won’t get lost.

A job can belong to a person, a room, a car, a pet, or the whole house.

Meals · the problem

“What’s for dinner?” gets asked every day, usually at five o’clock.

What Butler does

It gives you a plain board for the next week or two. Write in what you plan to eat.

Food that needs using up is listed right beside it. There are no recipes and nothing to count.

Cars · the problem

Nobody knows when the oil was last changed.

What Butler does

It keeps each car’s mileage, its service history and its fill-ups.

It tells you when maintenance is coming up, by date or by distance.

Papers · the problem

The dishwasher breaks, and the receipt is in a drawer somewhere. Maybe.

What Butler does

Take a photo of a receipt, a warranty or a manual. Butler files it.

Later you can search for it, even by the words in the photo. Butler also knows the day a warranty ends.

Mornings · the problem

Mornings are busy, and there is a lot to check.

What Butler does

It writes one short page each morning: the weather in plain words, what to wear, how many jobs are due, and what’s for dinner.

If you want, it sends a reminder to your phone at the time you picked. It stays quiet at night.

Asking · the problem

Sometimes filling in a form is more work than the job itself.

What Butler does

You can tell Butler in your own words.

• “We’re out of toilet paper.”
• “Water the plants every Saturday.”
• “When did we last change the oil?”

Butler works out what you mean and shows you what it is about to do. Nothing changes until you say yes.

About the AI part

A big rock, with a small bird on top.

Most of Butler is ordinary, dependable software: lists, dates and sums. It does the same thing every time, like a calculator. That is the rock.

On top sits a small AI helper with one job. It turns your sentence into something Butler already knows how to do. That is the bird.

The rock does the holding. The bird listens, and points.

• The helper only suggests. You approve each thing before it happens.
• It answers only from what your family has written down. If nothing is written down, it says so.
• It can’t do anything the ordinary buttons can’t do.
• Everything works without it. Every job can be done with plain buttons.

For busy families

It should take less time than it saves.

• One person can run it. Nobody else has to set anything up.
• It is made for a phone, with one hand, in the kitchen.
• If you don’t know a date or an amount, leave it blank. Butler doesn’t guess.
• There are no points, streaks or badges. The reward is having less to remember.
• You sign in with a link sent to your email. There is no password.