Technology moves at breakneck speed, and we now have more power in our pockets than we had in our homes in the 1990s. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a fascinating concept of science fiction for decades, but many researchers think we're finally getting close to making AI a reality. NPR notes that in the last few years, scientists have made breakthroughs in "machine learning," using neural networks, which mimic the processes of real neurons. This is a type of "deep learning" that allows machines to process information for themselves on a very sophisticated level, allowing them to perform complex functions like facial recognition. Big data is speeding up the AI development process, and we may be seeing more integration of AI technology in our everyday lives relatively soon.

Artificial intelligence has become such a catchy selling point for online services that some companies have turned to a bit of sleight of hand -- and voice -- to convince people they have smart machines working for them. Several companies have employed humans to impersonate chatbots performing scheduling and other services. A prototype for Facebook's AI assistant for Messenger, called M, had people behind the curtain calling M's shots for two and a half years before taking humans out of the equation in January. Amazon's Mechanical Turk reportedly used people to transcribe some expense and benefits documents Amazon's touted SmartScan software was supposed to be doing but couldn't handle. To anyone who has dreaded the labyrinthine house of mirrors automated call systems have become, it might seem odd companies want to pretend to have a machine on the other end of the line rather than a human, but there are several factors at play.

Eight people have reliably used a mind-controlled robotic third arm to do two things at once. The technology could be used give a helping hand when lifting heavy objects or for tasks that require more than two arms. Participants in the experiment had to learn to control a robotic arm using a brain-machine interface. The robotic arm was placed next to the participants, and they wore two electrodes on the outside of their head to capture brain activity. The arm was then calibrated to pick up on the differences in brain patterns when participants imagined the arm grasping and releasing a bottle.

Thousands of people will fill Brooklyn's Barclays Center on July 27 and July 28, but not for basketball, not for hockey and not for a concert. They'll be there for the Grand Finals of the Overwatch League, an e-sports league video game developer Blizzard Entertainment runs with its popular team-based, first-person shooter, Overwatch. The sold-out finals will mark an end to the Overwatch League's first season, with teams from Philadelphia and London (city-based teams are a league hallmark) set to compete for $1.4 million in prizes. Matches will be broadcast live on ESPN and Disney XD, marking the first time e-sports have been broadcast live on ESPN's main channel in primetime, Blizzard says. Ahead of the big event, TIME sat down with Blizzard Entertainment President and CEO Michael Morhaime to talk about the tournament, Overwatch, and the gaming industry more broadly.

Hokkaido-Ya Restaurant in Singapore has deployed AI-powered kiosks from TabSquare. SmartKiosks use AI to identify customers and analyze guests' dining patterns and preferences. This aims to help the restaurant gain better understanding of guest behavior so more personalized meal recommendations can be given. The AI uses consumer data and deep learning algorithms in a bid to enrich the dining experience and help restaurants increase profitability. Guests interacting with the kiosks can now get personalized menu recommendations and promotions by simply entering their phone number or through a smart facial recognition option.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now all the rage. AI will soon spread everywhere: from mobile apps becoming smarter and smarter, through objects with distributed AI, to data analytics that goes far beyond predictive capabilities. Every company in every industry is under pressure to figure out how the magic of AI will disrupt its business. Nevertheless, we should not hurry to wipe the slate of the past clean. The Mobile-First era underlined, among many other things, how important APIs are for fuelling applications with data.

APAC regional legal technology conference LexTech has launched an AI assistant to help facilitate a better conference experience, making its services available through Facebook Messenger -- a first in the local legal tech industry. Called, LEXi, the Artificial Intelligence chatbot was developed by Malaysia's CanChat and will focus on addressing enquiries of LexTech delegates in real-time via Facebook Messenger. Notably, between now and August 31, 2018, potential conference delegates can secure a 20% discount code by asking LEXi for one. Lee Su Wen, Director of the LexTech Conference 2018 said that: "By leveraging on AI capabilities, the chatbot is a smart and intuitive way to provide information and directions to our audience with great convenience and speed. With LEXi taking on these tasks, we are now able to more efficiently re-allocate our manpower to the more strategically-intensive departments, and by extension creating a better experience for all delegates."

While artificial intelligence was once heralded as the key to unlocking a new era of economic prosperity, policymakers today face a wave of calls to ensure AI is fair, ethical and safe. New York City Mayor de Blasio recently announced the formation of the nation's first task force to monitor and assess the use of algorithms. Days later, the European Union enacted sweeping new data protection rules that require companies be able to explain to consumers any automated decisions. And high-profile critics, like Elon Musk, have called on policymakers to do more to regulate AI. Unfortunately, the two most popular ideas -- requiring companies to disclose the source code to their algorithms and explain how they make decisions -- would cause more harm than good by regulating the business models and the inner workings of the algorithms of companies using AI, rather than holding these companies accountable for outcomes. The first idea -- "algorithmic transparency" -- would require companies to disclose the source code and data used in their AI systems.

Persistent Systems, which is one of the largest IT company of India, has invested an undisclosed amount in big data as a service firm, Cazena. The investment was part of a $10 million round, that included some of the other leading investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Formation 8 and Northbridge Venture Partners, among others. As a part of Investment, the company has also partnered with some of the officials of Persistent Systems to further extend the cloud Data Lake to include self-service data discovery and data services for enterprises that don't have data engineering or machine learning or the Natural Language Processing (NLP) skills. "Persistent consistently drives forward rapid digital transformation for our enterprise clients. Partnering with Cazena enables us to extend innovative solutions for analytics and ML for our customers. We are excited to announce the new Self-Service Data Lake, a combination of Cazena's Big Data as a Service with Persistent's ShareInsights analytic solutions and our ML/AI data services. This solution provides enterprises immediate and actionable access to data to help unlock the'how' of digital transformation," said Anand Deshpande, Managing Director, Persistent Systems.

In April, the Chinese AI business SenseTime became the world's most valuable Artificial Intelligence startup, with a valuation of more than $3bn. The company, founded in 2014, is backed by many of the big names in Chinese tech – including Alibaba, who reportedly sought the biggest stake in the business with a $230m investment. Whilst this growth is music to the ears of SenseTime investors, it is also part of a wider drive by in China to become world leaders in AI. With both private business and the government firmly behind this ambition, China is the perfect breeding ground for pushing the boundaries of AI technology. Enduring cultural attitudes towards women, however, give this technological success story a sting in its tail.