AChatbot, the latest interactive computer programme, has just passed MBA from one of the top American universities without human assistance. What next? Here is a preview of its revolutionary impact

Historians say that the art of writing was invented by Sumerians in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley in West Asia around 3400 BC. The language used was a mixture of Latin and old French, inscribed on clay tablets. The new medium of expression was obviously gobbledegook to most people at that time, but it survived and succeeded in becoming an attribute of a civilised society.

Something similar is happening today, triggered by astonishing developments in computer software. A new way of interactive communication between humans and machines is evolving, offering truly user-friendly assistance in everyday life, business and culture, accessible to all.

It all started as a computer....