"OK Google, let's get to know each other a little better." Google said it is ramping up the capabilities of its digital assistant, which has been known as "OK Google" or Google Now. "We truly want to take the next step in being more assistive for our users," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said on stage Wednesday at the company's annual I/O developer conference. So far, this digital assistant has worked as a voice-controlled version of Google's core search services, allowing people using Android smartphones or some Google app to ask specific questions, look up directions or check the weather. The company now wants to make its digital assistant capable of more natural two-way conversation, which could make the tool far more valuable for users and help Google create deeper connections to its audience.

Google is turning to artificial intelligence to make sure people keep using its search engine, even if they're not spending as much time on the Web and personal computers. The Alphabet Inc. division unveiled a new mobile messaging application Wednesday called Allo containing a digital personal assistant, based on AI technology that powers other Google services like Inbox. At its I/O developer conference near its Silicon Valley headquarters, the company also showed off a voice-based search device called Google Home that uses the same assistant technology to answer questions when people are in their houses, a potentially potent rival to Amazon.com Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said the goal is to develop an "on-going two-way dialog with Google" and build billions of people their own "individual Google." The CEO sees the Google digital assistant as an "ambient experience that extends across devices."

Artificial Intelligence will be the boon and then the downfall of the common real estate agent. Already we're seeing the role of the letting agent get undermined by technology -- instead of controlling all information they increasingly focus on acting as the human element to a sometimes arduous process. What if cognitive computing enables agents to be better professionals and make better recommendations to their clients? What if access to cognitive computing power, and the data necessary to power it, becomes the 21st century equivalent of the MLS utility? Sure, you love a bot to simplify scheduling but what happens when more of that "human" interaction is centralized into chat and phone agents sitting in a central location and real estate agents are salaried tour guides?

Google Home, a small speaker you can converse with using natural language, is an ambitious way to weave the company's search engine and artificial intelligence into every fabric of your daily life. The company announced the new product today onstage at its I/O developers conference, and it will be available later this fall. More than anything, Home represents Google's answer to Amazon's competing voice assistant Alexa and the myriad number of devices and services Alexa runs on and connects to. In a video released today, Google laid out how it imagines people will communicate with its software to do everything from play music in the morning and check the weather to changing dinner reservations and sending texts.

The consumer electronics company has invested in AI startup Cogitai to build intelligent systems that will learn from their own experiences in the world. "We have a shared vision for where AI needs to go," Dr. Satinder Singh, co-founder of Cogitai, told Engadget. "The next wave will be'continual learning.' It's the idea that machine intelligence will continually grow as it interacts with the world." Continual learning isn't just about creating smart devices that sense your presence, or virtual assistants that understand you better.

People wave while waiting to take their seats to hear the keynote address of the Google I/O conference in Mountain View, Calif. FOSTER CITY, Calif.--Computers as we know them are about to disappear. Well, okay, they won't completely disappear, but they will take on a new form that makes them very difficult to distinguish from everyday objects all around us. This transformation is part of a bigger, longer term trend that some have dubbed "ambient" computing. The idea is that computing capability will end up being embedded in devices ranging from speakers to automobiles, and will provide capabilities and services to us throughout the day via the environment around us. "The difference between receiving useful information or performing specific actions automatically, as opposed to instigating the efforts on our own, is profound" The most obvious example of ambient computing to date is Amazon's Echo line of products. Echo and Tap integrate the company's Alexa digital assistant into what appears to be a Bluetooth speaker.

A crowd gathers ahead of the Google I/O conference at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Calif. It's been a big 12 months for Google. On Wednesday, the tech giant kicks off its I/O developers conference with a keynote address expected to cover plans for its Android mobile operating system, and possibly other ventures including Android Auto. Burke says Android is the most popular operating system in the world. More than 600 Android phones launched last year.

Google Home will take on Amazon Echo when the voice-activated device launches later this year. MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google officially entered the voice-activated digital assistant race Wednesday with Google Home. The small device will compete directly with Amazon's popular Echo and should be available to consumers later this year, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced at the search company's annual developers conference. The move had been anticipated, as Google looks to put its mark on a coming age of artificial intelligence in which machines learn to interpret and answer human queries by leveraging the speed and scope of cloud competing. The device will be able to play music, complete a range of tasks and answer questions that one would ask of Google search.

Google unveiled Wednesday a significant overhaul to its voice search functionality that makes it smarter and more intuitive. The revamped software also has a new name: "Google Assistant." Google Assistant understands language more naturally than standard Google voice search. For example, if a user asks who directed the film The Revenant, that person can follow up with a query like "Show me his awards." The user doesn't have to say the director's name to get the correct answer.

While Facebook and Microsoft are busy building discreet bots to squawk at you in messenger programs, Google's taking another angle. Google Assistant--a new smart assistant announced by CEO Sundar Pichai at Google I/O 2016--weaves together the complex information that Google already has about the world and the detailed information that the company already has about you to create a helpful AI that revolves your world. Building on the deep knowledge base of Google Search, the individual knowledge base of Google Now and your Google profile, and the advanced natural language recognition that's been improving in Android year-in and year-out, Google Assistant is designed to be conversational and help you get things done, Pichai says. For example, you could ask Google Assistant "Who designed this?" while standing in front of a famous sculpture with your phone, and the bot is able to mix location data and image recognition to identify exactly what you're looking at and provide the answer in seconds. It also ties in the personal knowledge that Google already has about you to tie your natural language queries to your specific scenarios.