How AI can make conversational agents smarter

According to tests conducted by Carnegie Mellon University researchers, so-termed conversational agents -- like the ubiquitous Siri, Alexa and Cortana -- are effective at giving users the latest weather or map locations. However, these early forms of'artificial intelligence' are invariably ineffective when asked for atypical information or when follow-up questions are pitched. These limitations can be overcome, the researchers contend, by adding humans to the loop. Through innovative human/machine hybrid research, the scientists created a new form of conversational agent called Evorus. This is presented by the developers as the first chatbot to use human brainpower to answer a broad range of questions.