Could personal assistant apps ever replace a real PA?

In addition to the proliferation of virtual assistant services and on-demand PA websites, the rise of personal assistant apps is also unstoppable. Leading the way are Google's Assistant (aka Google Home), Apple's Siri, and Amazon's Alexa. 

It would be a fool's argument to say that the personal assistant app revolution isn't good for our lives, because it is. As a real-life personal assistant myself, I use PA apps everyday; and they are incredibly useful and even fun. So, it begs the question: Could a computerized personal assistant application ever replace a real human PA -- of course not. 

Which personal assistant app is best: Google, Siri, or Alexa?

Let's not reinvent the wheel. The team over at WIRED have made a video demonstrating the capabilities of the software, so let's take a look first:

Artificial intelligence assistants actually help, not hurt, a real PA

When I was a personal assistant to celebrities and high-net-worth families, I could only have wished that I had the kind of technology that today's PAs have. With handheld devices, the world is literally at your fingertips. 

Let's suppose for a moment, 20 years ago, that your billionaire boss was visiting Miami and he calls you while you're sitting at your desk in New York City. Then he asks you, "What's the best place to have dinner in Miami?" Today, of course, you could use a personal assistant app and find the top five restaurants, complete with reviews and pictures of the food (and photos of the restaurant itself). Heck, you could even send your boss the address and Google will take him straight there. 

Assistant app Siri puts the world at your fingertips

In the past, the best that you could hope for would be to open an old-fashioned Rolodex and start calling people you know in the area. If, by chance, you didn't know anyone in that city, then you'd have to open the phone book and randomly call restaurants. But if you were in NYC and your boss was in Miami, then you'd have a very big problem. 

Enough said. Period. To deny that personal assistant apps like Siri aren't helpful, again, is a fool's argument. ​

A real personal assistant will always be indispensable 

Bottom line: Whether you're using Siri, Alexa or Google, they can be quite useful; but they could never replace a real human personal assistant. It's a romantic idea to think of having an AI assistant so advanced, it would be like having an extension of you. Realistically, we are a hundred years away from anything remotely similar. In the movie "Her" (2013), a man actually fell in love with his AI personal assistant. Right now, anyway, it's the stuff of Hollywood dreams. 

ABOVE: In the movie "Her" (2013) a man falls in love with an AI assistant