Intelligent Software Assistant

Intelligent Software Assistant

Wouldn't it be great if you can delegate tasks to your computer instead of getting on your computer to do the task? Wouldn't it be convenient if you can ask your computer to look for a restaurant near your area and make a reservation? It would free up a lot of your time if your computer or mobile phone could make plane reservations for you instead of having to log in to their website or wait on the phone for a reservation agent to take your call. These are just some of the things that a personal assistant software developed by Siri, can do. At the moment, it is still in the early stages and can only perform simple tasks. However, there are great possibilities for this software in the business sector, particularly in the banking industry, once it is fully developed.



Being in the banking industry means doing a lot of research. Bankers need to research on industries, people, court cases and so much more. It takes up a lot of their time and prevents them from doing more important things such as marketing, talking to possible clients, making client calls, etc. If our company can utilize a more developed version of this software, it would definitely make the account officers more productive.


"Adam Cheyer, cofounder of Silicon Valley startup Siri, envisions a new way for people to interact with the services available on the Internet: a "do engine" rather than a search engine. Siri is working on virtual personal-assistant software, which would help users complete tasks rather than just collect information." (Morgenthaler)

"Siri traces its origins to a military-funded artificial-intelligence project called CALO, for "cognitive assistant that learns and organizes," that is based at the research institute SRI International. The project's leaders--including Cheyer--combined traditionally isolated approaches to artificial intelligence to try to create a personal-assistant program that improves by interacting with its user. Cheyer, while still at SRI, took a team of engineers aside and built a sample consumer version; colleagues finally persuaded him to start a company based on the prototype. Siri licenses its core technology from SRI" (Morgenthaler)

The artificial-intelligence tasks behind Siri's responses (from Morgenthaler):

1. "The user can ask a broad question like this because Siri has information that gives clues about what the user intends. For example, the software might store data about the user's location, schedule, and past activities. Siri can deal with open-ended questions within specific areas, such as entertainment or travel."
2. "Siri pulls information relevant to the user's question from a variety of Web services and tools. In this case, it checks the weather, event listings, and directories of local attractions and uses machine learning to select certain options based on the user's past preferences. Siri can connect
to various Web applications and then integrate the results into a single response."
3. "Siri interprets this reply in the context of the existing conversation, using it to refine the user's request."
4. "The software offers specific suggestions based on the user's personal preferences and its ability to categorize. Because Siri is task-oriented, rather than a search engine, it offers to buy tickets that the user selects."
5. "By now, the conversation has narrowed enough that all the user has to do is click on his choice."
6. "Siri compiles information about the event, such as band members, directions, and prices, and structures it in a logical way. It also handles the task of finding out what's available and getting the tickets."

Sources:

http://sanjeevjaiswal.com/archives/60

http://www.morgenthaler.com/content/Ventures/Portfolio%2520News/Siri%2520Named%2520Top%252010%2520Emerging%2520Tech%2520of%25202009.pdf

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1549467/intelligent_software_assistant_by_adam.html