This article is more than 7 years old. Two of the most influential tech innovations that rocketed into our daily lives in the last several years are virtual digital assistants and online chatbots.

Running an online store in 2026 is nothing like it was five years ago. Search engines have grown sharper. Customers have grown more demanding. And competition - well, it has never been tighter.

The future of customer service is less about the people than it is the sound of a person or the virtual image of an individual. Humans are just so inefficient. But they can be improved, too, through ...

Are you looking to get hired as a virtual assistant? Today, I have a list of five companies that need the help right now ...

When users first try virtual assistants (like Siri, Google Now, Cortana, M or Alexa), they’re struck by the idea that they’re talking to a computer, rather than a person. That much sounds obvious. In ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I cover travel with a focus on safety and sustainability. The pandemic didn't just make offices virtual. It has also made office ...

But let’s face it: These virtual assistants have become boring, banal commodities. Sorry, Siri: Your jokes are stale and your evolution slow. More than anything ...

Today, a few hundred Bay Area Facebook users will open their Messenger apps to discover M, a new virtual assistant. Facebook will prompt them to test it with examples of what M can do: Make restaurant ...

For as "smart" as our phones are supposed to be, they're not very good at getting things done on our behalf. But that's about to change, according to Qualcomm. During its annual Snapdragon Summit, the ...