The idea of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have been around for a long time – Digital Assistants based on Artificial Intelligence evolved as an academic discipline in the late 19th century, and has gone through lot of optimism, as well as dejection over the years.
While the earlier ones had limitations by being driven from a static database, the new wave is based on learning new responses and context based on real-time user interactions. The net result is that intelligent voice assistants are now poised to deliver serious applications, a move which may result in a whole new way of interacting with machines, much like what the touchscreens did for smartphones.