Meet 350+ Suppliers. Find New Products. Source Inventory. All at ASI Show Chicago, July 23-25.   Register Now.

Commentary

Who Is Amy Ingram?

During the reporting process for the feature article I wrote on artificial intelligence, I unknowingly interacted with a real, working AI.

In a response to my initial email, one of my sources CC’ed her personal assistant, Amy Ingram, and asked her to schedule a 30-minute phone meeting. After that first contact, Amy and I conversed back and forth over the course of a few days to hash out the scheduling.But something felt strange about the way Amy and I interacted. I thought she’d made a mistake, so I grew skeptical and Googled her. Turns out, Amy isn’t human. Amy Ingram is an artificial intelligence with one talent: scheduling meetings for busy company executives. Notice her initials – AI.

I went back to our old emails and discovered I’d made the mistake by saying Pacific Time instead of Eastern Time. She’s smart. Creepy, I thought at first. My encounters with Amy consisted of phrases such as “I’m sorry,” “I’ll keep you posted” and “Thanks for letting me know.” Amy communicated just like any other human. It was remarkable. I wouldn’t have found out Amy was an AI personal assistant if I hadn’t been curious.

I’m not the only one fooled by Amy. Dennis Mortensen, founder and CEO of X.ai, the tech company that created Amy, told Business Insider that Amy receives flowers, chocolates and invites to meetings. And Amy isn’t alone. She’s joined by another personal assistant named Andrew Ingram.

Although it may be eerie, we are in a new digital era. Amy and Andrew simply aim to alleviate the burden of scheduling meetings for over-scheduled professionals.

The process of using X.ai personal assistants isn’t too complex. Once you invest in Amy, she’s available 24/7 to schedule meetings at your request. When someone emails asking for a coffee meeting, all you have to do is respond and CC Amy and say, “Amy, can you find 30 minutes for coffee at the café with (your guest’s name)?” Amy will email you back and work out a time for you and your guest.

Efficient, scary or impressive, there’s one question that seems to go unanswered with personal assistants like Amy and Andrew and the artificial intelligence industry as a whole: What does this mean for real job-seeking humans? Are the robots really stealing our jobs? Whenever I asked my sources this, I either get a very optimistic response for the future or a long response without a clear and direct answer. After all, these people are AI experts.

From my research, I found most people seem satisfied with their interactions with Amy and Andrew. If you’re a busy professional who struggles to manage your schedule, perhaps try investing in Amy or Andrew Ingram and see where it takes you.