They can be used for shopping, teaching, and selling. They are still limited to client-server interactions, and are not social enough to deal with Sages of other users. IBM has developed an important new technique, called MemoryAgent , by which agents can build memories about each other. In this approach, the assistant behaves partially like an expert system of yore in giving advice, and partially like a personal assistant who learns the user's preferences and helps convey the knowledge among the users. A physician's assistant and an e-mail assistant have been implemented.
Wildfire offers an assistant that helps with e-mail, telephones, and maintaining contacts.
Some integrated personal assistant systems are being developed as research prototypes. The ones we know of are still proprietary. If you know of any publicly declared projects, please contact us with details. There has been much research on different aspects of personal assistance. Sandip Sen and associates evaluate strategies for scheduling meetings in the face of changing requirements.