Why is AI taking off, and what is its future?

Artificial intelligence is gaining steam, from the Amazon Echo to Google's assistant.

So why is AI catching on now? And what does it mean for the tool's future?

“It’s been a lot of baby steps building over the last 20 years,” Charles Jolley, founder of the smart personal assistant Ozlo, said in an interview on Mashable's Biz Please podcast.

Jolley joined Mashable business editor Jason Abbruzzese and me to talk about the future of AI, how AI has been depicted in science fiction and why almost all personal assistants seem to be female.

Jolley's Ozlo is a personal assistant or "AI sidekick" that gains knowledge over time to adapt to your preferences. Users can have conversations with the sidekick and help him get smarter over time.

The assistant, though, is still in beta. Biz Please listeners can download the app and skip the line to try it out before its full launch with the code "Mashable."

Before launching Ozlo, Jolley served as head of platform at Facebook.

“It’s really about making an assistant work in the right context right now," he said of his new project.

Listen to more about the future of AI below. For more Biz Please, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and find them here on Stitcher.