CALO was launched in May 2003 and operated for five years, concluding in 2008. The abbreviation CALO stands for "Cognitive Assistant that Learns and Organizes." The name was from the Latin term "Calo," which means "servant of a soldier."

Since the invention of the computer, humanity has aimed to create a machine that naturally interacts with people. As a result, we can find numerous examples of these computerized aides throughout the literature.

How does CALO generate smart digital assistants?

The ability to learn without supervision is one of computing's main objectives nowadays. Computers must comprehend human behaviour to work with us and assist our lives effectively. They also must be able to communicate with us. Therefore, artificial intelligence (AI) is required for a machine to learn and utilize logic to make decisions.

The concept of an AI-powered computer to aid people in their daily lives opened the way for creating the "digital assistant." CALO was the project that catalyzed this. It is a tale of cooperation, clever technology, and a fresh approach to working with computers.

CALO provides six high-level functions to its user:

• CALO employs machine learning techniques to develop a queryable model of who works on which projects, their role, how important they are, how papers and deliverables are related to this, etc., as the user interacts with email, appointments, and websites, files, etc.
• Preparing Information Artifacts: CALO can assist its user in creating new documents, such as PowerPoint presentations, by utilizing the structure and content knowledge gained from previously visited documents.
• CALO provides help as its user interacts with other individuals on electronic platforms (e.g., email) and in in-person gatherings. CALO automatically generates a meeting transcript, monitors action item assignments, identifies participant roles, etc., if permitted to participate in a meeting. 
• CALO can automate routine operations (such as travel authorizations) and be taught new procedures and duties by monitoring and interacting with its user.
• Scheduling and Time-Related Reasoning: CALO can learn your deadline preferences and assist you in managing your busy calendar (PTIME published in ACM TIST).
• CALO can learn to acquire new resources to complete a task as part of task management.

Framework

SRI International has made online a set of practical machine learning and reasoning technologies created under the PAL program.

There are both general-purpose learning methods and highly targeted learning applications accessible. We can find the PAL software and associated materials on the PAL Framework website. In addition, many infrastructure components and APIs facilitate interaction with the technologies. Furthermore, In 2010, the US Army integrated PAL capabilities into its CPOF command and control system and deployed it to Iraq.

The technologies that are currently available were created by 

• SRI International, 
• Carnegie Mellon University, 
• The University of Massachusetts Amherst, 
• The University of Rochester, 
• Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, 
• Oregon State University, 
• The University of Southern California, 
• Xerox PARC, and 
• Stanford University.

Conclusion

In the digital assistant world, there are other factors besides merely getting a machine to do your bidding. SRI gave some of the trickier issues the digital age has produced, especially data privacy and security, a lot of consideration when developing CALO. The CALO team had to create a system that users could rely on, making privacy and security a given. In doing so, CALO would serve as the blueprint for other emerging smart technologies.