Conversational AI ‒ but where is the I?

I remember the first time I saw a computer, it was a Power Macintosh 5260 (with Monkey Island on it). I was around 5 years old and I looked at it as if it belonged to another universe. It did, I was not allowed to get anywhere close to it within a 5 mile radius; it was my older brother's! That did not stop me. The possibilities of computers were infinite and fuelled by the inspiration of sci-fi worlds the dream of talking machines, machines that can assist humans, think themselves and even have feelings never stopped.