From Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning to major job losses in the IT sector, news headlines were abuzz with developments from the tech world through the year. The year saw opening up of unknown avenues, and disruption in various walks of life by the way of technology. A crisis unfolded in the IT sector when large Indian and global companies handed out pink slips to their employees in large numbers as the sector moved towards automation for back-end operations that at one point needed an army of coders. What followed was talks surrounding employees looking to unionize, to which the top brass of IT stated that reskilling, and not unionizing would be the best option for all the stakeholders in the sector. Employees who were able to deal with machine learning and AI operations and maintenance would now get the top jobs in IT.

Visitors walk past a 5G logo during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, on March 1, 2017. Blistering fast wireless networks, digital assistants that are, well, everywhere, and a coming out bash for augmented reality. These and other technologies mentioned here, some of which are already familiar but really just getting started, are worth keeping an eye on in 2018. You can bet we'll also learn about innovations in the months to come that are for now, completely under the radar. Just about all the freshest developments will exploit advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence, promising to allow the tech we engage in day to day to become that much more useful. We've been hearing about the next generation of speedy wireless or 5G for quite some time now, and 2018 is at least when some of you will begin to get a taste of what 5G potentially means.

The country is hoping to use the technology to transform a variety of industries, including manufacturing, health and transport. Hundreds of gadgets and must-have electronic devices were on display at Shanghai's Consumer Electronic Show, or CES Asia. Among them was a driverless car powered by Baidu's Project Apollo self-driving car platform. The tech giant is using machine-learning, a new step in artificial intelligence, to develop the technology. Machine-learning allows computers to learn without being explicitly programmed.

In 2017, large corporations have shown a huge interest in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) cutting across industry verticals. RPA found many takers in the services industry, particularly in financial services. In the last decade, advances in AI have been primarily driven by technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. Now traditional industries such as financial services are also waking up to the promise of AI. Following are some key trends that we can expect to see in 2018.

Chinese Go player Ke Jie analyses the game after the second match against artificial intelligence program AlphaGo in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang province, May 25, 2017.(Xinhua/Xu SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become the buzzword of 2017 as tech companies, from promising startups to big-name firms such as Google and Facebook, are snapping up the AI technology which has changed people's lives and the world. The AI technology, which has experienced a rapid development in the past decade, has outperformed human intelligence in some areas and grown into a "super human artificial intelligence." The stunning power of Artificial Intelligence shocked the whole world last year when Google's AlphaGo beat South Korea' top player, an 18-time world champion Lee Sedol in the game of Go based on a huge database and powerful algorithms. But its latest version, Alpha Go Zero, which learned to teach itself how to play Go with no human background, demonstrated an even more powerful talent by defeating 3-0 the world top-ranking player, China's Ke Jie, and a five world-champion team in another challenge game of Go in May 2017.

Artificial intelligence has always figured in New Year technology predictions. However, the notable difference this time is the sheer domination of AI in every segment of consumer life and business. In the coming months, we can expect the technology to get closer to our daily lives, to the extent of even blurring the human-machine boundaries. Ericsson recently released its technology trends report which says consumers expect body language, facial expression and intonation to augment voice and touch during their interaction with devices. Over half the current users of intelligent voice assistants believe devices will increasingly be perceived as fellow human beings, says the report.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the use of computer systems to perform tasks normally done by humans. Our smartphones are packed with the most common AI applications. Visual perception: When I point my smartphone at myself with my family for a picture, a set of computational rules (called an algorithm) identifies our faces by marking them with boxes and makes sure we are all in focus. The phone takes the picture when I raise my hand. Speech recognition: When I wanted to buy sourdough to go with the clam chowder I was planning to cook for my family, I asked Google through the microphone "Where can I buy sourdough in Pasig?"

If you are a frequent online shopper, chances are you searched for, say, a belt, and the website suggested you buy something unrelated, like a coffeemaker. This will become rarer as machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, improves substantially. And with advancements in technologies for image recognition and search -- Google has launched this feature on its Pixel 2 phones, though it is still in beta -- ecommerce will be more interactive and intuitive. According to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, using different datasets to make predictions, including shopping recommendations, is the biggest area of focus in AI globally. Moreover, Amazon, Samsung and Google are training the voice assistants on their devices to get better at speaking in and understanding Indian English accents, saving us the effort of repeating our questions.

Advancements in new age disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Virtual Reality are now being looked upon as value propositions by businesses. This is fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation, design thinking and is augmenting India's evolving R&D prowess, said Adobe India. US-based design giant Adobe said that it has consistently prioritised the amalgamation of creativity, experience, design and intelligence to deliver expectational experiences. Innovations like Sensei are a result of our R&D talent in India and across the globe joining forces to tackle the most complex experience challenges. Adobe India R&D center stands strong as an integral pillar of Adobe's global innovation agenda," said Shanmugh Natarajan, Managing Director – Adobe India & Vice President – Products. Company is of the view that 2017 witnessed India transition into the second wave of digitisation with initiatives like Aadhar integration, eKYC, adoption of digital signatures, etc. "Benefitting from the digital maturity infused by these initiatives, India is steadily evolving into an'Experience Economy'.

The year 2017 saw artificial intelligence bringing the stuff of science fiction closer to reality by not only gaining foothold in all spheres of life, but also getting the better of humans in many fields. From acquiring citizenship to outsmarting humans at complex games, from composing music to writing novels, from assisting doctors to helping fight judicial cases, artificial intelligence (AI) made its presence felt throughout the year. Artificial intelligence is a term used to describe systems or machines that mimic the cognitive functions of human minds, such as learning and problem solving. Although by no means a new concept, the technology made headlines throughout the year. Perhaps, among the most talked about AI machines this year was Sophia, a humanoid robot designed by a company in Hong Kong, that was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia - a country where women were not allowed to drive until recently.