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ZDNET Highlights
- iFixIt has launched a new app with an AI repair chatbot.
- Fixbot can help you repair thousands of devices.
- The app is free for now, but this offer won’t last forever.
Next time you need to repair something, you’ll have a free AI chatbot that can talk you through it step by step. But you need to act quickly, because it won’t be free forever.
Online repair resource iFixIt has Announced a new app This makes it very easy to find and use repair guides on your phone, something that is remarkable in itself considering the site hasn’t had an app for a decade. More importantly, the app features FixBot, an AI-powered chatbot that can guide you in fixing almost anything – clothes dryer, lawn mower, vacuum, mobile phone, car and more.
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As IFixIt explains, it’s like having access to a patient repair expert at any time. You can describe your problem by voice or text, and the chatbot will ask questions, narrow down the options, and then diagnose and repair the problem.
Since it’s possible that your hands are busy while working on your device, the chatbot has its own voice that reads the instructions out loud, and you can respond with your voice as well.
iFixIt says one of the biggest advantages is that Fixbot has been trained on iFixit community repairs (it has over 125,000 repair guides), so you know you’re getting reliable information with less chance of AI hallucinations.
According to the company, Fixbot has access to millions of pages of documentation, including data sheets, service manuals, and specification tables for thousands of devices; It also cross-references the part numbers against your specific model.
Giving Fixbox a Trial Run
To test Fixbot, I ran it through some of my current problems.
First of all, my car’s headlights are off. This is a relatively simple solution, one that I’ve executed many times myself, but I wanted to see what the chatbot had to say. When I provided Fixbot with my make and model number, it identified the specific bulb number I needed and provided a guide on how to replace it. The bulb he recommended was correct, and the steps were exactly consistent with the process I had done previously.
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Second, my vacuum cleaner picked up a Lego brick from my son’s room at some point, and now it makes a very loud noise whenever I run the vacuum. I looked around for the hoses and brushes, but couldn’t see where anything was stuck. I told Fixbot the details and the problem, and it recommended a few places where something might be stuck. The first option didn’t yield anything, but after removing some plates and disconnecting a hose connection, I found the offending brick, and my vacuum was back to normal.
What Fixbot Can’t Do
iFixIt recognizes that Fixbot can’t do everything. It’s possible that there may be some glitches in the AI, and there aren’t guides for everything on the site, especially for older devices or specific products. But the chatbot tries to find similar models where the fix will be similar.
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iFixIt says it’s launching FixBot free to everyone for a limited time. However, there is going to be a free version with access limits, as well as a paid tier that includes voice and document uploads.
