Google has been working on artificial intelligence almost since its founding 16 years ago. Its efforts focused on improving search results, translation, and filtering spam. Google Now, a digital personal assistant within Google's mobile search app, is among the most ambitious of its efforts to date. It guesses what information users want based on their past search history and location, and then gives it to them.

"Google Now can do simple things like give you directions to work or figure out that you have a flight," Bader said. "But to really predict what you're really going to do or to understand your