It has been five years since Apple launched its artificial intelligence app, Siri. Since then, we have become much more comfortable using our voices to command devices. What is lesser known than A.I. is I.A., intelligence assistants who, instead of replacing human intelligence enhance our own capabilities. In an article for VentureBeat, Dan Miller (@dnm54) presents the ways in which this technology is evolving and what it means for us.

Verbal communication is just one part of the picture. The selection of related technologies includes visual avatars as well as most “non-verbal” inputs, including text input, facial expression, gestures, touch and other attributes that help identify a person’s identity. These attributes also read a person’s emotional state, and perceive other “tells” that reveal intent,

“Automated voice processing and human-like text-to-speech give personality to applications and services by supporting spoken conversations.”

Siri is finding more allies with 49 companies across 8 markets investing in this technology. From Amazon’s Alexa to Microsoft’s Cortana, intelligence assistance technology is acquiring interest and funding by the tune of $302 Million, which is just one category (artificial intelligence is a multi-billion dollar industry). The personification of this innovation is IBM’s Watson API, which has attracted 70,000 developers worldwide to get acquainted with its capabilities.

The types of capabilities include:

• Mobile and personal assistants: software assistants like Siri
• Personal advisors: act as subject matter experts in areas from financial planning to medical consultation
• Virtual agents and customer assistants
• Employee assistants: conversational and intelligent assistance technologies to speed up business activities

If you had asked me before coming to work in tech what I thought of artificial intelligence, I would have expressed paranoia about computers replacing people’s jobs someday: a modern day Rosie the Robot, but with a sleeker design and more features, serving coffee at the shop around the corner. However, working for a tech startup has given me an appreciation of how certain technologies assist in helping run things smoothly within a company. So how could intelligent assistants help a marketplace? The possibilities are endless. It will be interesting to see how these applications will assist both businesses and end-users in improving functionality while creating a more personal experience.  

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