Two thousand seventeen certainly has been an emotional year for mankind. While homo sapiens continue to yell at Alexa and Siri, the actuality of people's willingness to pursue virtual relationships over human ones is startling. In a recent documentary by Channel 4 of the United Kingdom, it was revealed that Abyss Creations is flooded with pre-orders for its RealDoll AI robotic (intimate) companion. According to Matt McMullen, Chief Executive of Abyss, "With the Harmony AI, they will be able to actually create these personalities instead of having to imagine them. They will be able to talk to their dolls, and the AI will learn about them over time through these interactions, thus creating an alternative form of relationship."

Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr have been knighted, and Strictly judge Darcey Bussell made a dame, in the New Year Honours. Ex-Deputy PM Nick Clegg and War Horse novelist Michael Morpurgo also receive knighthoods, and author Jilly Cooper and TV chef Rick Stein become CBEs. Among five honours for the World Cup-winning England Women cricket team is an OBE for captain Heather Knight. Ex-astronaut Helen Sharman joins the Order of St Michael and St George. Alexandra Shulman, who recently stood down as editor of British Vogue after 25 years; actors Hugh Laurie and Susan Hampshire, and leading artificial intelligence researcher Demis Hassabis are made CBEs.

Since the nationwide recession of 2008, many regions in Ireland are still toiling to regain a stable economic foothold. Tech analysts say the answer lies in artificial intelligence – or AI – which could give Ireland the boost it needs to restore jobs in the country and prevent the ongoing millennial diaspora. A study from PwC indicates AI could add as much as €48 billion to the Irish gross domestic product by 2030. Although it's a sizeable amount, that figure still puts Ireland behind other global economies, such as those in Asia. Researchers clarify the increase will occur partially because of technology such as automation, which would allow members of the Irish workforce to get tasks done faster.

Like all good economists, John Maynard Keynes was better at predicting the past than the future. Writing in Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren in 1930, Keynes said that in 100 years' time, people would work no more than 15 hours a week. With many people still clocking up 40 hours or more, that prediction was somewhat wide of the mark. It sounds great and certainly grabs the attention. However, there is one teeny tiny potential snag.

In 2017 AI was everywhere, so in the last edition of Tech Tent for this year we set off to explore artificial intelligence. What is it, where is it making rapid progress, and what are the dangers for society if we get it wrong? For all the excitement about the supposedly rapid advance in creating intelligent machines, there are now plenty of dissident voices arguing that AI is overhyped. "The most rapid'progress' in so-called AI has been by downgrading what is considered AI so that any old algorithm or machine learning is said to be "intelligent". Our two special guests think wonderful things are happening in this field but agree that there is a problem in defining AI. "Everyone has a different definition and it's been constantly changing since the 1960s," says Tabitha Goldstaub, co-founder of the AI consultancy Cognitio She says computers have made great progress in some aspects of human intelligence, learning by experience in the same way a child does, to excel in tasks such as being able to distinguish between different human faces. But they then struggle with more arbitrary questions - AI is very good at doing a defined task better than a human but still isn't able to understand the logic that a baby can."

Artificial intelligence (AI) has continued to gain prominence in 2017 as one of the biggest upcoming technologies. It is beginning to have more of an influence on companies' strategies and is predicted to drive significant change for organisations. Every conference this year contains a dead human genius reincarnated as software system or a robot. Yes, there is a lot of hype, but there is real worth in AI and Machine Learning. Read our counseling on how to avoid adopting "black box" approach.

As U.S. banks wrestle with the decision of whether to use artificial intelligence to help calculate credit scores and make loan decisions, a potential role model is MyBucks, a company that's been doing this for more than a year --and has even begun offering 15-minute, AI-based loans through WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. MyBucks is a Luxembourg-based fintech that owns several banks and provides loans and basic banking products in seven African countries, Poland and Spain; it's expanding rapidly into other countries. U.S. regulators have signaled a willingness to accept banks' use of AI in lending. And the evidence so far, at least in MyBucks' case, shows that AI can improve credit quality and reduce defaults. MyBucks' Haraka app, which is now offered in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Swaziland and Kenya, and in early 2018 is expected to be introduced in the Philippines and India, can score a customer within two minutes.

The increasing power and capability of machines in the digital supply network (DSN) may portend a change in what organizations ask of their workers, in terms of required skills, tasks, and roles. In the coming years, perhaps sooner than later, almost all work will likely involve people working alongside technology or robots they are not currently working with today. Navigating the future of work can be a new and confounding challenge to many supply chain executives who may already be struggling with what their organizations may look like in a novel, more interconnected age. And it can be difficult to identify and prepare for the workforce of the future when the impacts of the DSN on roles and functions are still very much evolving (see the sidebar "A brief look at the digital supply network" to learn more). But with this uncertainty comes the opportunity--and perhaps what many would consider a requirement--to rethink the role of talent in supply chains and discover the potential power of people and machines working together. The addition of advanced technology to a workplace can spur the fear of robots replacing human workers. Certainly, the introduction of advanced technologies could eliminate some tasks and reduce the need for some roles. At the same time, however, it also could lead to the creation of some new tasks and roles. In the United Kingdom, for example, technology has helped to create 3.5 million new jobs between 2001 and 2015, even while it has contributed to the loss of 800,000 other jobs.1

The US military has deployed an advanced AI system to analyze drone surveillance video of ISIS in the Middle East, writes Gregory Allen. The military now will likely seek to expand the use of AI throughout its operations, bringing both promise and peril.

Right now, artificial intelligence is used to make snap trading decisions in response to news reports. It could write this press release. Companies are rushing to integrate AI into products and services. In the rush, it is likely many companies – especially entrepreneurial companies - will make costly mistakes. According to Tal, "As executives become enamored and anxious about adopting AI technology, there is an increased chance for making a technology bet that can consume the assets of a company. It is critical that companies map out their opportunities, test and prove a tech integration before making a huge investment that could actually derail a company strategy."