‘Manus’ Brings Us a Step Closer to AI Actually Doing ALL Our Work for Us

By Danial Martinus  •  10 Mar 2025 in Futurism

Thirsty for JUICE content? Quench your cravings on our Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp

It seems like every other week there’s a new AI agent or assistant released. With the push for AI-driven solutions in our daily lives ever increasing, it’s no surprise that new AI bots are sprouting like mushrooms.

Chinese start-up Monica has revealed what they’re calling a system that “bridges minds and actions”, in the form of a general AI agent called Manus. It might all sound like technical mumbo-jumbo to you, but the startup claims Manus is far more advanced than current industry-leading AI chatbots.

But it’s more than just a chatbot, actually

According to Monica co-founder and chief scientist, Yichao ‘Peak’ Ji, Manus isn’t just another chatbot or workflow—it’s a system that works with complete autonomy to deliver results (from conception to execution) in just one prompt.

It’s basically the AI that we all envisioned (and were promised) when the first discussions of AI hit mainstream media. In a nutshell, it doesn’t just generate ideas like other AI chatbots do. It takes care of every single step by itself—you just have to tell it what you want (with relevant details, of course).

In a demo, Manus showed its ability to generate a detailed seven-day Japan itinerary for a fictional man and his fiancée. It included a simple HTML handbook, complete with dos and don’ts, basic Japanese phrases they might find useful, and even romantic proposal spots, to name a few.

Here’s the prompt for context:

“I need a 7-day Japan itinerary for April 15-23 from Seattle, with a $2500-5000 budget for my fiancée and me. We love historical sites, hidden gems, and Japanese culture (kendo, tea ceremonies, Zen meditation). We want to see Nara’s deer and explore cities on foot. I plan to propose during this trip and need a special location recommendation. Please provide a detailed itinerary and a simple HTML travel handbook with maps, attraction descriptions, essential Japanese phrases, and travel tips we can reference throughout our journey.”

As you can see, it’s still your job to provide relevant details. But if you’re the type of person who expects people to read your mind, maybe AI isn’t for you.

Not just text generation

This leads us to the most interesting thing about Manus. It doesn’t just generate text. It can make literally anything you want, whether it’s summarised notes, lines of code, or even an entire functioning website, it’s got no problem doing any of that. Even if you need to have a slideshow or spreadsheet made, it’ll have it ready for you to download.

Much like other AI models, Manus also learns to adapt to your needs over time, basically matching your vibe to ensure the best tailored solutions.

But what sets it apart from other AI models is the fact that it can run in the background, even if you’ve turned your computer off before it can finish addressing your prompt. Once it’s done, it’ll just send you a notification. Pretty neat.

At the time of writing, Manus is still in private-beta testing, which means you can’t exactly take it for a spin yet—unless you’ve got an invite code. You can apply for one here.

For more future-forward stories, head to JUICE Malaysia.