Almost after a decade of the appearance of online digital assistants such as Siri and Alexa, a new wave of digital assistants could be seen — they are powered by the generative AI technology. And they have greater autonomy.

Silicon Valley wants to leverage the advances in AI and systems powered by generative AI are attracting billions of dollars of investment.

The new digital assistants are called agents or co-pilots. They promise to perform complex personal and professional tasks when directed by the humans. And they do not need close supervision. They act as personal AI friends.

There is a rush to leverage the technology behind foundation models. Individuals, startups and Big Tech –all are in the race.

There is a possibility of human biases sneaking in, and the potential for misinformation. Some fear murderous HAL 9000 from ‘2001 : A Space Odyssey’.