We live in amazing times. In fact, this entire "thing" of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) is now being called the next industrial revolution. And it does not come without a lot of fear about a large workforce losing its jobs and means of making a living. When the first industrial revolution hit, factories and mass production drew workers to the cities in droves. Manufacturing put individual craftsmen out of business. Consumers could get products cheaper and faster and that was a good thing.

Nintendo Co. got its start in 1889 as a successful manufacturer of hanafuda (playing cards made out of stiff paper). Now the game-maker is embracing the same materials for its next trick. The Kyoto-based company on Friday started selling an unusual collection of attachments for its hybrid Switch tablet-console: cardboard add-ons called Nintendo Labo. Priced at $70 and $80, the build-it-yourself cardboard kits, with accompanying software, will let users transform the Switch into a miniature piano, motorcycle handlebars, robot exoskeleton and other objects. The goal is broadening the Switch's appeal beyond the core gamers who fueled its estimated 17 million in first-year unit sales.

Chinese tech company Huawei wants to change the way people talk to their artificially intelligent voice assistants. The firm plans to make those conversations more emotionally interactive, according to senior executives. Voice-powered virtual assistants currently serve a functional role, by giving information -- "What's the weather like?" -- or completing small tasks like turning on a playlist. Huawei wants to take that a step further and create a voice companion to fulfill some of its users' emotional needs. "We want to provide emotional interactions," Felix Zhang, vice president of software engineering at Huawei's consumer business group, told CNBC at the company's annual global analyst summit in Shenzhen, China.

Chinese tech company Huawei wants to change the way people talk to their artificially intelligent voice assistants. The firm plans to make those conversations more emotionally interactive, according to senior executives. Voice-powered virtual assistants currently serve a functional role, by giving information -- "What's the weather like?" -- or completing small tasks like turning on a playlist. Huawei wants to take that a step further and create a voice companion to fulfill some of its users' emotional needs. "We want to provide emotional interactions," Felix Zhang, vice president of software engineering at Huawei's consumer business group, told CNBC at the company's annual global analyst summit in Shenzhen, China.

Countless marketing platforms are utilizing artificial intelligence, such as predictive modeling that recognizes patterns. But, to recognize patterns and find insights, an AI engine needs to be trained with lots of examples. A Singapore-based startup called Bottos says that the cost of data to train the model can take up half the budget for an AI or predictive modeling project. To reduce the cost and the hassle, the company this week launched a public beta of a blockchain-based Data Marketplace. A full release version is expected to launch late next month. The marketplace is actually the first decentralized app, or DApp, on Bottos's open-source public blockchain.

Every discussion about artificial intelligence seems to alternate between utopia and dystopia. Some believe that the productivity unleashed through automation will lift up all of society, creating a world of superabundance and more meaningful work, while others see robots taking our jobs and an acceleration of trends favoring capital over labor. In fact, in an article in Harvard Business Review, Accenture's Mark Knickrehm describes five distinct schools of thought, ranging from both extremes to various shades of gray in between. He suggests that leaders need to reinvent operating models, redefine jobs and include employees in the process of transformation. Yet that's easier said than done.

With Artificial Intelligence making an impact in all aspects of our lives, smart homes are the next big thing. It has been operational for a while now with mobile phones and apps acting as remote controls for many of our appliances. Now, AI's involvement will be amplified as it enters our lives through audio and gesture sensing along with a rapid learning curve. There are a plethora of apps out there to turn on and turn off certain devices with audio or text commands. There are also security systems using advanced sensing techniques.

What do you get when you cross an A-list celebrity with a humanoid robot? A pretty awkward date, it turns out. Will Smith, who of course starred in the film adaptation of Isaac Asimov's collection of science fiction stories I, Robot, tried his hand at a spot of robot dating the other day on the Cayman Islands. In a video posted on YouTube, the actor attempted to have a date with Sophia the robot, a celebrity in her own right. She's previously spoken to the United Nations, appeared on plenty of TV shows, and even been on the cover of Elle Brasil.

Diaper-makers are working to help consumers choose products for adult users with the aid of artificial intelligence and social networking apps. Production of disposable adult diapers in Japan in 2017 rose some 5 percent from the previous year to a record 7.8 billion units, according to recent data from the Japan Hygiene Products Industry Association. Demand is growing in line with the aging of the nation's population. With various types of products on store shelves, however, many elderly people and family members supporting them find it difficult to decide which ones they should choose, an official at Daio Paper Corp. said. Many family members taking care of elderly people work in the daytime, and find it inconvenient to make phone calls to diaper-makers' call centers to ask questions during business hours.

TOKYO (Reuters) - A two-armed robot in a Japanese factory carefully stacks rice balls in a box, which a worker carries off for shipment to convenience stores. At another food-packaging plant, a robot shakes pepper and powdered cheese over pasta that a person has just arranged in a container.