On the surface, artificial intelligence voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, Cortana and Google Assistant seem smart, connected and somewhat human. They handle queries well and use natural speech to share information, news and keep you updated. But every so often, their true nature is exposed and they fail to come up with a proper response. In these moments, you are reminded more than ever that they're just computer-based systems. What's the key to eliminating said quirks and truly launching modern AI systems and assistants into the annals of human achievement?

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.

An international team has developed an AI algorithm with social skills that has outperformed humans in the ability to cooperate with people and machines in playing a variety of two-player games. The researchers, led by Iyad Rahwan, PhD, an MIT Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, tested humans and the algorithm, called S# ("S sharp"), in three types of interactions: machine-machine, human-machine, and human-human. In most instances, machines programmed with S# outperformed humans in finding compromises that benefit both parties. "Two humans, if they were honest with each other and loyal, would have done as well as two machines," said lead author BYU computer science professor Jacob Crandall. "As it is, about half of the humans lied at some point. So essentially, this particular algorithm is learning that moral characteristics are better [since it's programmed to not lie] and it also learns to maintain cooperation once it emerges."