What an innocent, carefree year it must have been to spawn so bland a word of the year. It has a nice ring to it, especially when spoken with the Hokkaido lilt the women's curling team -- surprise bronze medalists -- gave it during February's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. So what if all it means is, "That's right"? Let 2018, the Year of the Dog, end as it began -- on a positive note. Speaking of dogs and beginnings: Sony's robot dog Aibo was a big hit at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Harry Lang: AI can't replace the counter-intuitive thinking behind great creativity The recent Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang was a marvel of human endeavour. Years of hurt, training and willpower culminating in all-too-brief moments of blood, sweat and tears.

Look at all the pretty drones. Hovering above sports stadiums from Houston to Pyeongchang, many hundreds of them have lately sparkled in artful murmuration. The world record, 1,374 LED-bedazzled microbots, was set by Chinese company EHang UAV in May. So-called drone swarms--the phrase people have taken up with gusto--are having their biggest, buzziest year ever. It's an evocative word, swarms, and innocuous enough when applied to one of Intel's drone light shows.

While using fireworks to mark July Fourth dates back to 1777, one US Air Force Base is set to give their display a modern twist. Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, has been working with Intel to replace explosives with 500 drones. In celebration of July Fourth and Travis Air Force Base's 75th anniversary, tonight they will take to the skies in a choreographed aerial routine that honors active military and veterans. Intel Shooting Star drones create a U.S. flag during 2018 Independence Day celebration rehearsals on June 28 at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California. The display will use the same Intel Shooting Star drones seen at the Superbowl and the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

File photo: South Korean and U.S. Marines take part in a winter military drill in Pyeongchang, South Korea, December 19, 2017. Bionic soldiers with X-ray vision could soon be a reality thanks to a new wireless system that uses radio-waves to map people's movements behind walls. Researchers at MIT trained artificial intelligence to analyze radio signals that bounce off human bodies to create a dynamic stick figure that mimics a person's actions. The so-called neural network can sense people's postures and movement even from the outside of a building or room. MIT says the tech can be embedded into a wireless device, which would theoretically allow soldiers to hook it up to their combat gear – like helmets and night-vision goggles.

SEOUL--People don't want robots just to work for them. They want robots to talk and play with them, too. Look at the recent Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, for an example of this work-and-play dynamic. More than 30 robots from a startup called FutureRobot were on hand at the games to answer visitors' questions in Korean, Chinese, English, or Japanese. With a friendly avatar face and a large touchscreen on a cylindrical body, the robots offered directions to different sporting venues, provided schedules for every event, and more.

During his time in Pyeongchang for the Winter Olympics, NBC's Keir Simmons takes a look at the rise of robots in South Korea for this week's Sunday Spotlight. He even gets to control a 13-foot bipedal robot from the inside. Will these technological advancements make their way to the U.S. any time soon? About: TODAY brings you the latest headlines and expert tips on money, health and parenting. We wake up every morning to give you and your family all you need to start your day.

The recent Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang was a marvel of human endeavour. Years of hurt, training and willpower culminating in all-too-brief moments of blood, sweat and tears. From the early morning anticipation as the curlers exchanged ends, stones and'the hammer', to sense-defying spins over the half-pipe, what was on display was nothing short of miraculous. If an exploratory alien species had happened to pass over South Korea to witness the Czech Ester Ledecká taking unprecedented golds in both the super-G ski and snowboard giant slalom events, we would no doubt have gone up several points in their estimation – and likely made them reassess their pending invasion plans. Ledecká's was not the only world-first at this year's Games.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, a lot of attention has been focused on issues of privacy and economics – what happens if AI makes human workers obsolete. Now, a new report from the non-profit Environmental Law Institute highlights the potential environmental impacts of AI-driven technologies, from autonomous cars to smart thermostats. Lead author Dave Rejeski says that whether those impacts are positive or negative will depend on how the technology is built and used, and the time to start thinking about that is now. The PyeongChang Olympics are likely to be remembered for the joint Korean team, wind delays, and robots. South Korea is taking advantage of the international spotlight to show off its leadership in robotics, with eleven different types of robots – eighty five, in all – in action at the Olympics.

The 8K race is beginning full swing in 2018. Flying drones and skating robots were some of the tech innovations that grabbed headlines at last month's PyeongChang Winter Games in South Korea. But offstage, there was Japanese broadcaster NHK and Korean counterpart KBS' trial of 8K UHD (Ultra High Definition) broadcast. More subtle perhaps, but the race to commercialize 8K UHD from broadcasters, content providers, and TV manufacturers is real, and will be in full swing this year. NHK will start broadcasting an 8K channel in December.