Virtual assistant (artificial intelligence)

A virtual assistant is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual. A chatbot, a term often used interchangeably, is in fact a virtual assistant accessed via online chat. As of 2017, the capability and usage virtual assistants is expanding at an exponential rate, the most widely used ones being Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Cortana, with Facebook's M expected to be available to hundreds of millions on Facebook Messenger in 2017.

Before the development of modern "virtual assistants" the earliest virtual assistants, which applied speech recognition software was automated attendant and medical digital dictation software. The technology for voice prompting systems introduced in the early 1980s evolved from voice messaging systems available since the 1970s. Much later the market launch of the first smartphone IBM Simon in 1994 laid the foundation for smart virtual assistants as we know them today. In consequence, the first virtual assistant installed on a smartphone was Siri, which was introduced as a feature of the Apple Inc. iPhone 4S on October 14, 2011.

Virtual assistants make work via:

Some virtual assistants are accessible via multiple methods, such as Google Assistant via chat on the Google Allo app and via voice on Google Home smart speakers.

Virtual assistants use natural language processing (NLP) to match user text or voice input to executable commands. Many continually learn using artificial intelligence techniques including machine learning.

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