We consider Virtual Assistants (VAs) to be artificial conversational entities capable of engaging in human-like conversation, designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner. VAs are typically software incorporating natural-language processing, dialogue control and domain knowledge. They adapt according to the content and context of the dialogue. They can exhibit goal direction (i.e. For the sake of this Pit Stop, we consider VAs to primarily engage through speech-to-text (e.g. as a gateway to a visual experience) and speech-to-speech methods.

Coming soon to a tech billionaire's Silicon Valley home, Morgan Freeman is: Jarvis. As I wrote yesterday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finished building Jarvis, his home AI assistant. Among other things, the system can turn lights on and off, play music based on the personal tastes of both him and wife Priscilla Chan, automatically open their front gate for friends, make toast, and even wake up their one-year-old daughter Max with Mandarin lessons. The system was inspired by Tony Stark's Jarvis AI, from the Iron Man movies. Stark, of course, is played by Robert Downey, Jr., and after Zuckerberg asked the public in October who should be the voice, Downey himself volunteered, saying he would "do it in a heartbeat" if actor Paul Bettany, the voice of Jarvis in the Iron Man films, got paid and the resulting money went to a charity of Benedict Cumberbatch's choice.

If you want to purchase Amazon's Echo for Christmas or Hanukkah online, you're out of luck. All versions of the Echo, powered by voice activated digital assistant Alexa, are sold out on Amazon's site and won't be available until after the holidays. Going after other Alexa devices, like the Echo Dot, won't help either, since those are sold out too. When Will Amazon Echo Be Available? Amazon Echo in black, priced at $139.99 will be in stock on Jan. 19, 2017.

There have been many technical revolutions in the history of humanity. The agricultural revolution allowed our species to form towns and villages; the industrial revolution resulted in the many tools and resources, from textiles to metals, that we use today; the scientific revolution brought modern medicine into existence. The digital revolution peaked only a few years ago, as the internet became mainstream - now, most cannot imagine life without it. Many may not have realized yet, but we're in the midst of another revolution: artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence has been gaining traction for years, but in the past two years, with the release of the Amazon Echo, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Home, it's gone mainstream and started infiltrating even non-technical consumers' lives.

Mark Zuckerberg has ended 2016 having completed his personal challenge to build a Jarvis-style AI to run his home. He announced at the start of the year that he wanted to build a simple AI that could control his home, including his lights, temperature, appliances, music and security. He also wanted it to "learn his tastes and patterns, learn new words and concepts, and even entertain Max" (his daughter.) And now he has published a blog post explaining how he did it. Zuckerberg's Jarvis uses several artificial intelligence techniques, including natural language processing, speech recognition, face recognition, and reinforcement learning, written in Python, PHP and Objective C. "Before I could build any AI, I first needed to write code to connect these systems, which all speak different languages and protocols," the Facebook founder explained.

Mark Zuckerberg on Monday introduced the world to "Jarvis", an artificial intelligence system the Facebook chief created in his spare time, which can choose and play music, turn on lights, and recognize visitors, deciding whether to open the front door. Jarvis, named after the virtual assistant in the Iron Man movies, could be a step toward a new product, Zuckerberg wrote, although he cautioned that the system he had created in 100 hours over the last year was customized for his house. Zuckerberg announced results of the project, a personal challenge he set for himself this year, as digital home assistants by Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc compete for holiday sales and are expected to outsell popular emerging gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and drones. Creating Jarvis proved humanity is "both closer and farther off" from an AI breakthrough than we imagine, Zuckerberg wrote.

Google Home already allows you to control any connected Chromecast devices with simple voice commands, but if the device is really going to compete with Amazon's Echo line, it's going to need a bigger ecosystem to play in. Starting today, however, users with Sony speakers or Android TV sets can start taking advantage of Google Home's voice commands to control music and video streaming without the need for a complicated smart home setup. According to Sony, a firmware update for all its "Chromecast built-in" speakers and Android TV-equipped sets adds the missing support for Google's smart hub and personal assistant. That means commands like "OK Google, play Spotify on my Sony speaker" will automatically route the audio to your desired speaker. Likewise, calling out, "OK Google, play Stranger Things from Netflix on the TV" will also work with any of Sony's Android TV sets like the Bravia line or its latest 4K HDR panels.

Since the earliest days of the Internet, most government agencies have eagerly explored how to use technology to better deliver services to citizens, businesses and other public-sector organizations. Early on, observers recognized that these efforts often varied widely in their implementation, and so researchers developed various frameworks to describe the different stages of growth and development of e-government. While each model is different, they all identify the same general progression from the informational, for example websites that make government facts available online, to the interactive, such as two-way communication between government officials and users, to the transactional, like applications that allow users to access government services completely online. However, we will soon see a new stage of e-government: the perceptive. The defining feature of the perceptive stage will be that the work involved in interacting with government will be significantly reduced and automated for all parties involved.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is seen on stage during a town hall at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California September 27, 2015. Jarvis, named after the virtual assistant in the Iron Man movies, could be a step toward a new product, Zuckerberg wrote, although he cautioned that the system he had created in 100 hours over the last year was customized for his house. Zuckerberg announced results of the project, a personal challenge he set for himself this year, as digital home assistants by Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc compete for holiday sales and are expected to outsell popular emerging gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and drones. Creating Jarvis proved humanity is "both closer and farther off" from an AI breakthrough than we imagine, Zuckerberg wrote.