Meet Microsoft researcher Eric Horvitz’s disarmingly human AI personal assistant

A disarmingly human-seeming “personal assistant” was one of several artificial intelligence demos that Distinguished Scientist Eric Horvitz put on display in a recent TEDxAustin talk.

In a video of the presentation, you can watch the personal assistant chat easily with Horvitz and an intern, anticipating their scheduling needs and making smart inferences about which meetings Horvitz might be better off skipping.

Watch the full talk, “Making Friends With Artificial Intelligence,” above to see the personal assistant, as well as an AI receptionist and elevator, in action.