Zuckerberg not the only one with a Jarvis to help him - The Boston Globe

Perhaps you saw the recent story about Mark Zuckerberg's new housemate: Jarvis, an artificial intelligence assistant that the Facebook founder created to control appliances, play music, recognize faces, and even entertain his toddler. Apparently Zuckerberg spent 100 hours creating his virtual helper -- it's name is taken from the artificial intelligence system in the movie ''Iron Man'' -- and Jarvis's skills include adjusting the thermostat, turning on the lights, and operating the toaster. It's also able to text Zuckerberg pictures of people who stop by the house, and it can open the front door for anyone it recognizes. Talking about it on -- where else? -- Facebook, Zuckerberg said Jarvis can tell when Zuckerberg's 1-year-old daughter, Max, wakes up ''so it can start playing music or a Mandarin lesson.'' This is all very interesting, but it's not exactly new. Indeed, Brookline-based software engineer Chad Barraford created a digital life assistant several years ago -- and his is also named Jarvis.