( CNN ) -- The age of the virtual assistant is here to stay with Microsoft adding the voice of Cortana to its Windows Phone 8.1 . I 'm old enough to remember the days when certain computing tasks required a steep learning curve . Now it seems almost magical that I can tell my virtual assistant to remind me to take out the garbage when I get home or call my mom when I get busy . The best part is that when it speaks to me , it does so in a way that allows me to believe , for a brief moment , that I 'm interacting with another person . That 's because these virtual assistants sound so human . For the creators of artificial intelligent systems , it 's critical to build them so that they can facilitate emotional connection with users . When machine interactions with humans feel effortless , natural and `` real , '' that 's the ultimate metric of success . We 're just getting started . Today 's artificial intelligence systems are just scratching the surface of what 's possible for personal assistants , advisors and maybe , in some cases , true companions . Indeed , the machine-human relationship in the movie `` Her '' may not seem so far-fetched in the decades to come . Future virtual assistants will offer far more capabilities and can be personalized for each person . Why should we settle for the voice that companies choose for us ? We 've known for quite some time that typically female voices are preferred , based on their ability to be heard in a clear manner across a broad range of devices . Of course , female voices also tend to be trusted more than male voices . However , if there is one request heard over and over again , it 's for more and varied choices in the persona of these virtual assistants , along with greater control over their spoken voice . Creating text-to-speech , or TTS , can be a difficult task . The more human the system needs to sound the more data needs to be collected . Often times this requires massive amounts of linguistic and acoustic information , based on recordings of real humans . Fortunately , the technology is rapidly evolving . Future modeling techniques , where TTS voices are made from mathematical models of its human counterparts , will be lifelike enough to simulate human speech . They will also allow more rapid voice creation , allowing a previously unachievable level of personalization , where each person could even pick his or her unique voice for a virtual assistant . Modeling technology will also make possible the combination of different voice traits . For example , the deep qualities of a voice similar to James Earl Jones could be combined with the unorthodox speaking style of someone like Jack Nicholson . Microsoft took a page from the gaming world by basing Cortana on the character from the Halo video game series . Perhaps future voices in our devices will be as readily available to manipulate to create a cacophony of recognizable personal assistants from favorite film and TV actors , radio hosts , family members , comedians -- the sky would be the limit . Whether it 's a character from our favorite game or movie , or a persona created by users themselves , we could allow our virtual assistants the freedom to keep us entertained as well as informed . While there is a fine line between personalization and novelty , I see us on a collision course for having more intelligent conversations with our digital assistants in the years ahead . The gadget-oriented systems of today will continue to grow and adapt to our ever-expanding needs , and the more they learn about us , the more they can assist us . When looking at the challenges facing humanity , whether it 's eradicating disease , solving our planet 's renewable energy needs , or even colonizing other worlds , it 's worth pondering if it will be the humans or the intelligence systems that we create that will tackle these problems . And will we be listening if it 's the virtual assistants that are doing the work ?
Microsoft added the voice of Cortana to its Windows Phone 8.1 . Brant Ward : The age of the virtual assistant is here to stay . Today 's artificial intelligence systems are just scratching the surface , he says . Ward : Future virtual assistants will offer more capabilities and personas .