] Researchers at both SRI and Carnegie Mellon say it will
] take years of work before computer programs are capable
] of handling informational tasks as aptly as a human
] assistant.

Cognitive assistant work at CMU and SRI. The work at CMU appears to be a synthesis of a number of lines of research into an aggrate package that will actually be useful. The article implies that the SRI work is also an integration effort.

Researchers Push for Computers That Think