Google's AI is much smarter than Siri (GOOGL, AAPL, GOOG)

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Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) is much smarter than Apple’s Siri, according to a report from three Chinese researchers.

The report, which aimed to compare the intelligence of various AI systems, found that in 2016, Google’s AI had an IQ of 47.3, ahead of Chinese search engine Baidu (33), Microsoft’s Bing (32), and Siri (24). But while Google’s AI leads the tech pack, it has a long way to go before it comes close to human intelligence; the average 6-year-old has an IQ of 55.5, according to the report.

AI is becoming an important segment for companies that use the technology to power an increasingly large portion of their offerings. For example, Google uses a machine learning program called RankBrain to power most search results, and Microsoft’s intelligent cloud business is becoming a formidable revenue driver.

Google and Microsoft have shown substantial growth in their AI’s IQ. In 2014, Google’s IQ was 26.5, and Microsoft’s was 13.5. Apple’s and Baidu’s AIs weren’t measured at the time, however, both companies have been working hard to improve their AI’s functionality. Baidu is open about its efforts to “win the AI race,” and Apple’s new A11 Bionic chip houses a neural engine dedicated to handling specific machine learning algorithms.

Booming investments in AI startups are encouraging this growth. In Q1 2017, $1.7 billion was spent funding global AI companies, up 84% year-over-year (YoY), according to CB Insights. Moreover, businesses will be able to leverage tech companies’ increasingly intelligent AI to optimize their processes and increase productivity. This is one of the most important effects AI will have, according to a recent survey by GlobalData.

Jessica Smith, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the voice assistant landscape that:

Identifies the major changes in technology and user behavior that have created the voice assistant market that exists today.
Presents the major players in today's market and discusses their major weaknesses and strengths.
Explores the impact this nascent market poses to other key digital industries.
Identifies the major hurdles that need to be overcome before intelligent voice assistants will see mass adoption.

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