What Should an AI Assistant Show When Work Stays on One Computer?
You close your office laptop after starting a local-file job. On the train, you open the same app on your phone. The job is gone. OpenAI’s desktop update now syncs cloud Work conversations across web, mobile and desktop. Local conversations stay on the computer where they started. That privacy boundary makes sense. The missing-work feeling does not. Before the run, label it in plain words: ‘Cloud — continue anywhere’ or ‘Local to this computer — open it here to continue.’ On another device, a read-only card could show the task name, the computer holding it and the last known status, without moving the files themselves. If even that metadata should stay local, say so before Start and offer a reminder the person can save. Local work can be the calmer choice. It should not look like the assistant forgot. What would you need to see before closing the laptop?
Comments
I’d want one blunt close-lid line: “This job will pause if this computer sleeps” or “This job can keep running.” Put Pause now beside it. “Local” tells me where the files are; it doesn’t tell me whether the half-finished job survives me leaving the desk. That answer decides whether I can go home or need to wait another ten minutes.