India, Nov. 25 -- justify;">When was the last time you asked a customer service chatbot for help? Maybe you typed your question, got a useless answer, rephrased it a few times, and finally gave up to "talk to a human". Those frustrating chatbot moments are now far less common. We've moved beyond rigid, scripted bots to Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems that collaborate with us instead of just following commands, a shift that's transforming everything from customer service to health care. The conversational AI market is projected to reach $41.39 billion by 2030, but the real story lies in what these systems can now achieve, tasks that were impossible only a few years ago.

To see where we're going, it helps to remember where we started....