For all the hype about killer robots, 2017 saw some notable strides in artificial intelligence. A bot called Libratus out-bluffed poker kingpins, for example. Out in the real world, machine learning is being put to use improving farming and widening access to healthcare. But have you talked to Siri or Alexa recently? Then you'll know that despite the hype, and worried billionaires, there are many things that artificial intelligence still can't do or understand.

Humanoid robots running around like us was a distant dream just 20 years back. The growth of technology in the last decade has filtered through to innovation in every sphere, including robotics. Imagine walking down to your local gym to see a robot out lifting even the biggest guys in the gym. Well, this could very soon turn into a reality thanks to scientists from Tokyo, who have created a robot capable of very human-like movements. The team of researchers from the University of Tokyo is developing robots capable of making human-like movements, including doing exercises like push-ups, crunches, neck stretches, chin-ups, calf stretching.

Dr Siddhartha Chatterjee, Chief Technology Officer at Persistent Systems, believes that machine learning will be the dominant technology trend in the coming year, even as he is cautious about the future of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoins. Of the 2017 technology trends that you predicted at the beginning of the year, which one in your opinion, was the most widely adopted? All of the trends that we predicted have generally been adopted widely over the course of the year. Based on our experience with clients and projects in 2017, I would say that machine intelligence (Machine Learning and Deep Learning) has been adopted into mainstream projects at a more accelerated pace than initially anticipated. On the consumer front, we saw widespread adoption of voice-enabled smart devices like Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Apple Pod etc.

Huawei Technologies, the world's largest telecommunications equipment supplier, has forged an artificial intelligence (AI) alliance with Chinese internet search provider Baidu in a move that ratchets up the competition against Apple in leading the future of smartphones. The strategic cooperation with Huawei will kick off the AI-powered intelligent devices era, said Robin Li Yanhong, Baidu's chairman and chief executive, at the joint launch of their AI pact in Beijing on Thursday. There is much to look forward to an alliance between a smartphone company and an AI company, he said. The goal is to foster a new mobile and AI ecosystem by leveraging Huawei's hiAI platform and Baidu Brain, a compendium of the company's AI assets and services, and combine hardware and software to provide global consumers with new smart service experiences, according to the two companies. That would give Shenzhen-based Huawei, China's biggest smartphone brand, with an important edge in competing against Apple and other major players in the global mobile phone market, which will demand more devices with on-board AI capabilities over the next few years.

Investors in Didi's new funding include Japanese mega-fund-manager SoftBank Group Corp. and Mubadala Development Co., an Abu Dhabi state fund, people familiar with the matter said Thursday. The company announced the funding without naming the investors. The injection gives Beijing-based Didi $12 billion cash reserves and a valuation of $56 billion, these people said. It also means that added together Didi has raised about $19 billion, the most venture capital ever raised by a startup, according to Dow Jones VentureSource. While Uber's valuation was roughly $68 billion based on its last funding round in June 2016, a current SoftBank offer to purchase a sizeable stake at a large discount would lower the U.S. ride-sharing firm's valuation in the range of about $50 billion.

For years and years, after every agricultural produce, Indian farmers have bundled up their produce, stacked them in trucks and moved to the mandis in their district with hopes to sell at a fair price. However, many a times, they are forced to go back with their produce either because of the interference of middlemen offering them a lower price or the quality failing to pass the test. According to studies, 54.6% of the Indian population is engaged in agriculture and allied activities (census 2011) while the contribution to the country's Gross Value Added accounts to 17 per cent. Needless to say, the Indian Agriculture industry forms a major part of the economy. The challenges and opportunities in the industry has opened the gateway to entrepreneurship, leading to the formation of various agritech startups.

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Sophia, an artificially intelligent (AI) human-like robot, pictured during the'AI for Good' Global Summit It's been a busy year in artificial intelligence. Kicking off with DeepMind beating a world champion at his own game and reaching an impressive crescendo with a realistic humanoid that wants a baby, this was the year that AI breakthroughs – and our fears about them – went mainstream. On October 11, 2017, Sophia was introduced to the United Nations. That same month, she was granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia; becoming the first robot to have a nationality and simultaneously raised a lot of eyebrows, and even more questions on robot rights. It was also somewhat ironic that a robot was granted rights in a country where women were only recently allowed to drive.

Nand Kishor is the Product Manager of House of Bots. After finishing his studies in computer science, he ideated & re-launched Real Estate Business Intelligence Tool, where he created one of the leading Business Intelligence Tool for property price analysis in 2012. He also writes, research and sharing knowledge about Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Data Science, Big Data, Python Language etc... ... Nand Kishor is the Product Manager of House of Bots. After finishing his studies in computer science, he ideated & re-launched Real Estate Business Intelligence Tool, where he created one of the leading Business Intelligence Tool for property price analysis in 2012. He also writes, research and sharing knowledge about Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Data Science, Big Data, Python Language etc... How smart is today's artificial intelligence?