DARPA wants to build a new generation of computer systems that can reason, learn and respond intelligently to things they’ve never encountered before.

Interim steps include LifeLog — the controversial Defense Department initiative to track everything about an individual — and Perceptive Assistant that Learns (PAL), which could draw on commonsense “episodes” and improve itself in the process.

For example, “If PAL’s boss keeps sending angry notes to spammers, the software secretary eventually should just start flaming on its own.”