A Generalist Agent vs OASIS

Gato is the generalist agent DeepMind introduced in its May 2022 research post "A Generalist Agent." One transformer policy with shared weights handles chat, image captioning, Atari games, and real robot arm block stacking from the same model. The post describes it as a multi-modal, multi-task, multi-embodiment policy that picks whether to emit text, joint torques, button presses, or other tokens based on context.

Most tools in this space train a separate model per task domain. Gato instead serializes every modality and environment into a flat token sequence and runs it through a transformer shaped like a large language model. That means one pretrained checkpoint moves between dialogue, vision, and control without swapping architectures.

During training, data from simulated and real environments mixes with natural language and image datasets, with loss masked so Gato predicts only action and text targets. At deployment, a prompt tokenizes first, each new observation appends to the sequence, and the model samples an action vector one token at a time inside a 1024-token context window. The blog includes domain-grouped charts of tasks where the pretrained model clears expert score thresholds.

The writeup targets AI and robotics researchers more than everyday software buyers. You read and cite the research on deepmind.google; there is no public signup flow, API tier, or download button on the pages reviewed here.

Talk or type a rough idea and OASIS turns it into polished writing in the format you pick, from professional emails to LinkedIn posts or blog drafts. The web app and iOS apps transcribe natural speech, strip filler, and run your words through 20+ rewrite templates so you skip the blank-page stage.

Unlike basic dictation apps that stop at a raw transcript, OASIS lets you select multiple output formats in one pass and build custom templates that define tone, structure, and language. One recording can become five formatted outputs, with credits scaling by length rather than locking you into a single document type.

Students drafting essays, founders writing updates, and professionals cleaning up voice notes before sending are the workflows OASIS describes across its help docs and App Store listing. Free Mode covers on-device transcription only; premium rewrites need an active subscription.

New users get a 30-day trial with 30 credits. Paid Basic and Pro plans start at $4.17 per month on annual billing, with Pro offering 10 times the monthly credits for three times the price.