For the uninitiated, the Webster dictionary defines artificial intelligence (AI), the word buzzing like a bee of late, as the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behaviour. The concept is exactly like what the science fiction movies have portrayed since decades, of a machine that can analyse, think, act accordingly and aid humans (though in a lot of movies they become villainous). In the last half-a-decade, leaps in AI have been made with its application in wide ranging areas. Education is, albeit slowly, coming under the ambit of sectors that will be greatly affected (disrupted, if you will) by AI in near future. AI has actually become a part and parcel of our everyday lives even though the term is not used frequently.

Kengo Kyogoku borrows about ¥122,000 ($1,035) per month in addition to a scholarship and a part-time job, because his mother can't afford to pay his college fees at the prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo. "The amount is huge," said Kyogoku, a sophomore of communications and computer engineering. "I get depressed when I think about it. I wonder if I will have to pay it back forever. But I have no choice."

President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday showed no inclination toward sanctioning Russia, despite President Barack Obama's push for the country to take steps against Russia over its alleged interference in the election that saw Trump emerge victorious. "I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly. The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what's going on," Trump told reporters at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. "We have speed, we have a lot of other things, but I'm not sure we have the kind of security that we need," he added.

Asked whether the U.S. should sanction Russia over computer hacking on Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump cast doubt on the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies and said, "We ought to get on with our lives." But it was his next lines that had an oddly familiar ring to them: "I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly," Trump told reporters in Florida, according to multiple media reports. "The whole age of [the] computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what's going on." It isn't the first time a U.S. leader has appeared uncomfortable with technology. When George W. Bush discussed "the Internets" in a 2000 presidential debate against democratic opponent Al Gore, it quickly became a "Bushism" -- a neologism for folksy colloquialisms attributed to the then President. And Bush was still at it in 2006, as evidenced by this CNBC interview in which he famously talked about using "the Google" to view his ranch.

Data is the fuel that drives the machine learning algorithmic engines and ultimately provides the business value. In his session at 20th Cloud Expo, Ed Featherston, director / senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting, will discuss the key considerations around quality, volume, timeliness, and pedigree that must be dealt with in order to properly fuel that engine. Data is the fuel that drives the machine learning algorithmic engines and ultimately provides the business value. In his session at Cloud Expo, Ed Featherston, a director and senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting, discussed the key considerations around quality, volume, timeliness, and pedigree that must be dealt with in order to properly fuel that engine. Speaker Bio Ed Featherston is a director/senior enterprise architect at Collaborative Consulting.

Using real cash may seem like such a major convenience today. Far out in the digital future, though, cash will mutate from one form to another at blazing speeds. One minute, you'll be transacting in crypto-currencies; the next you'll probably exchange digital credits to purchase new gadgets -- and for almost any other monetary transaction. In a 2011 science fiction movie, In Time, currency is measured by a digital clock, which extends one's life, and "time" credits are exchanged between people, essentially meaning that people earn or spend time credits. When one's "time" credits are exhausted, that person dies, i.e. has'timed out.'

The year 2016 witnessed rapid strides in IT, moving us closer to what futurists call a singularity -- AI (including sub disciplines such ad machine learning, deep learning, etc.) led unprecedented technology change resulting in a fundamental shift from the unrivalled dominance of human decision making. AI took the center-stage in 2016. IBM Watson's prowess in cancer diagnosis and treatment is impressive. According to a University of North Carolina School of Medicine study, Watson recommended the same treatment as oncologists in 99 per cent of cases. More interestingly, Watson found treatment options that oncologists had missed in 30 per cent of the cases.

Many technology commentators got all excited a few months ago when Microsoft launched how-old.net, a website where users could upload a photo and the site would guess the age of the person in the picture. The service was a great way to showcase the opportunity that applying artificial intelligence to a problem set introduces. Insilico hopes to deliver a similar sort of an offering, but with a far more important purpose. Insilico Medicine is an organization focused on aging research. Headquartered at the Emerging Technology Centers at the Johns Hopkins University Eastern campus in Baltimore, it has R&D resources in Belgium, Poland, Russia and China employing 39 scientists worldwide.

Global online etailer Amazon is just about to change the way people shop for groceries. Amazon recently announced the beta programme for Amazon Go, a store where there are no checkout lines. Amazon has made use of technologies like machine learning, sensors and deep learning to allow buyers this experience. The 1,800 square feet store in Seattle is changing the way we do our grocery shopping, and will be open to public in early 2017. There is no clarity about how Amazon intends to roll this out or if it will ever come to India, but use of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive learning, chatbots and others is changing our shopping experience.

What happens when the different parts of a vehicle become smarter than the vehicle itself? As we move toward the era of smart everything, hundreds of entities in a vehicle that communicate with each other, the vehicle and external systems create a need for identity orchestration so that all entities work as a conglomerate. Much like an orchestra without a conductor, without the ability to secure, control, and connect the link between a vehicle's head unit, devices, and systems and to manage the lifecycle of people, systems and devices, transportation and fleet services are at risk of having connected, yet disparate systems. Fortunately, there are cloud identity solutions available to help securely manage and improve transportation and fleet services. In his session at @ThingsExpo, David Miller, Chief Security Officer at Covisint, discussed five core ways to secure, control, connect, manage, and analyze data, and build applications to integrate the interactions between people, data, systems and things.