SAN FRANCISCO: Mark Zuckerberg envisions a software system inspired by the "Iron Man" character Jarvis as a virtual butler managing his household. The Facebook founder's dream is about artificial intelligence, which is slowly but surely creeping into our daily lives, no longer just science fiction. Artificial intelligence or AI is getting a foothold in people's homes, starting with the Amazon devices like its Echo speaker which links to a personal assistant "Alexa" to answer questions and control connected devices such as appliances or light bulbs. Analyst Carolina Milanesi of the research firm Creative Strategies said that "2016 was the year about raising awareness, and exposing consumers to the idea of AI in a more mass market way." Milanesi said it may take time for the technology to fulfill its potential, noting that companies need "a strong hook" to bring large numbers of consumers into this world.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere, from autonomous cars made by Google and Tesla to Siri the virtual assistant.

Microsoft's new plan is to flood your entire life with artificial intelligence "We want to bring intelligence to everything, to everywhere, and for everyone," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told developers earlier this year. Artificial intelligence has been the company's touchstone technology since Cortana, Microsoft's virtual personal assistant was added to Windows more than a year ago. Since then Microsoft has released a deluge of AI-bolstered features in its operating system and standalone software. Skype is augmented with real-time translation. You can talk to bots built on Microsoft software on nearly any messaging platform, and a suite of tools for developers mean the apps you use every day can be configured to call a Microsoft server to identify a face in an image or run speech recognition.

Smartphones evolved from a mere phone to an artificially intelligent computer in your pocket when Apple introduced Siri to the iOS users. It's with Siri that the need for smartphone assistants was fueled in the first place. Siri has come a long way since 2011 with numerous updates that easily brushed off every other competition on the market. But when Google Assistant made its appearance on May 2016, Siri's effortlessly maintained victory started showing signs of defeat. Google Assistant is Google's newest virtual assistant. It is compatible not only with Google Pixel smartphones but also with the Google Allo app.

Those who own the voice-activated gadget (known colloquially as Alexa, after its female interlocutor) are prone to proselytising "her" charms, applauding Alexa's ability to call an Uber, order a pizza or check a pupil's maths homework. The company says more than 5 000 people a day profess their love for Alexa. On the other hand, Alexa devotees also know that, unless you speak to her … very … clearly … and … slowly, she's likely to say: "Sorry, I don't have the answer to that question." I love her," one customer wrote on Amazon's website, but still awarded Alexa five stars. "You will very quickly learn how to talk to her in a way that she will understand and it's not unlike speaking to a small frustrating toddler."

Microsoft is joining Google and Amazon in the race for your home. This week, at an event in China, the venerable tech giant trumpeted the arrival of Project Evo, a sweeping plan to build hardware devices that work a lot like Google Home or the Amazon Echo. But this race is much bigger than some gadgets that sit on your coffee table. The prize is more than just the best home digital assistant. The biggest spoils go to the company that rides its assistant to artificial brains that are far smarter -- and creates a market for using these brains to do just about anything. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are all racing to build systems that recognize and truly understand natural language -- how you and I talk.

David Lazarus' column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV (Channel 5) and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.

Pizza Hut recently debuted a chatbot to help you with a delivery order, but the restaurant chain is putting Amazon's virtual assistant to work for the same task. Alexa's newest skill includes the ability to order your pizza via voice integration on the Echo, Echo Dot, Fire TV and Fire tablets. While the menu options for placing an order from scratch are a bit limited, Alexa can access your favorite items and past orders as well. The pizza chain says you'll be able to use Alexa to place an order starting December 15th. When the time comes, all you'll have to do it say "Alexa, open Pizza Hut" or "Alexa, ask Pizza Hut for a pizza" to start the process.

Since launching it in 2015, Amazon has been improving its voice-controlled home assistant Echo, from adding thousands of recipe walkthroughs to releasing its hockey puck-sized sibling, the Dot. But soon the device will be moving in to hotel rooms, too. The Wynn Las Vegas will begin outfitting all 4,748 guest rooms with an Echo this month, allowing visitors to control environmental conditions with vocal commands. The suites will get Amazon's domestic device first, rolling out to the whole hotel by next summer. Just don't expect your room's Echo to help you plan your day, as they'll only be set to voice-control lights, room temperature, drapes and the TV to begin. Future features may include the device's fancier personal assistant features, according to the press release.

Microsoft's AI Is Not Just About Being Smart On December 13th at a very announcement-packed event in San Francisco, Microsoft shared its views of Artificial Intelligence and the progress it has made thus far. Back in September, Microsoft created a new AI and research group of about 5,000 people under the leadership of Harry Shum and they have certainly been busy. A new chatbot called Zo.ai that is integrated into messenger app Kik Cortana Devices SDK so Cortana can be on all kind of devices including what looked to be an Echo-like smart speaker manufactured and branded by Harman/Kardon Calendar.help The list of achievements is significant but it's the picture that develops when looking at them in total that really shows how invested Microsoft is in AI. Nobody would argue that Microsoft missed the whole "app economy" craze.