Artificial Intelligence is not a vision of the future. It has become an indispensable prerequisite for a modern and value-added customer management. We have responded already in the past to the new requirements that companies are facing in the course of digitalization – through transitioning from Customer Relationship Management to Customer Journey Management Consulting. Our success proves us right: today, we are one of the market-leading consulting firms in the field of customer management in Central Europe. With the acquisition of Insight Dimensions GmbH (to press release), a German company located in Böblingen we take the next logical step towards the future by linking Artificial Intelligence and Customer Journey Management. We are delighted about the addition of this successful company and wish our new colleagues a heartfelt welcome.

Artificial intelligence programs have beaten chess masters and TV quiz show champions. Two exchange operators have announced plans to launch artificial intelligence tools for market surveillance in the coming months and officials at a Wall Street regulator tell Reuters they are not far behind. Executives are hoping computers with humanoid wit can help mere mortals catch misbehavior more quickly. The software could, for instance, scrub chat-room messages to detect dubious bragging or back slapping around the time of a big trade. It could also more quickly unravel complex issues, like "layering," where orders are rapidly sent to exchanges and then canceled to artificially move a stock price.

Apple just released iOS 10.1, an update that has the headline feature of bringing the all-important Portrait Mode to the iPhone 7 Plus. But it also includes security fixes that stop iPhones from being easily hacked into, and so all Apple users have been urged to update as soon as they can. As well as iPhones, iPads, Macs, Apple Watches and other products have received updates that keep them safe from similar attacks. Amy Rimmer, Research Engineer at Jaguar Land Rover, demonstrates the car manufacturer's Advanced Highway Assist in a Range Rover, which drives the vehicle, overtakes and can detect vehicles in the blind spot, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire Chris Burbridge, Autonomous Driving Software Engineer for Tata Motors European Technical Centre, demonstrates the car manufacturer's GLOSA V2X functionality, which is connected to the traffic lights and shares information with the driver, during the first demonstrations of the UK Autodrive Project at HORIBA MIRA Proving Ground in Nuneaton, Warwickshire In its facilities, JAXA develop satellites and analyse their observation data, train astronauts for utilization in the Japanese Experiment Module'Kibo' of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop launch vehicles The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to the music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight. Aurora Flight Sciences' technicians work on an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automantion System (ALIAS) device in the firm's Centaur aircraft at Manassas Airport in Manassas, Va.

Those interested in legal services and technology need to keep their eye on developments in artificial intelligence (AI). In the course of preparing a national US strategy, a committee of the National Science and Technology Council has drafted a report, Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence, which is worth reading as a crib to the latest issues. This is much better written than you might expect from a committee (or, indeed, machine) authorship. The report eschews fanciful speculation about the future and is largely concerned with what it terms'narrow AI' 'which addresses specific application areas such as strategic games, language translation, self-driving vehicles and imagine recognition'. In particular, it looks at'machine learning' which it distinguishes from older'expert system' approaches. Machine learning is concerned to analyse bodies of data and'derive a rule or procedure that explains the data or can predict future data'.

NEW YORK: Artificial intelligence programs have beaten chess masters and TV quiz show champions. Two exchange operators have announced plans to launch artificial intelligence tools for market surveillance in the coming months and officials at a Wall Street regulator tell Reuters they are not far behind. Executives are hoping computers with humanoid wit can help mere mortals catch misbehavior more quickly. The software could, for instance, scrub chat-room messages to detect dubious bragging or back slapping around the time of a big trade. It could also more quickly unravel complex issues, like "layering," where orders are rapidly sent to exchanges and then canceled to artificially move a stock price.

Alexa now (officially) works with Logitech's Harmony Hub, meaning it's a lot easier to get voice control over your home entertainment and automation devices. After you enable the Alexa skill on an Amazon Echo, Dot or other supported device, you'll be able to start and stop Harmony Activities, change channels and control devices using the AI assistant. Simple commands include "Alexa, turn on Netflix," or "Alexa, turn on my TV." You also get a certain amount of programmability, thanks to Logitech's Activities. If you say "Alexa, turn on my evening activity," the bot will trigger a prearranged sequence that can involve entertainment as well as home automation devices.

BEIJING – The Canbot can say its name, respond to voice commands, and "dance" as it plays Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Other robots China is displaying at the World Robot Conference can play badminton, sand cell phone cases and sort computer chips. China is showcasing its burgeoning robot industry at the five-day exhibition in Beijing, part of a national effort to promote use of more advanced technologies in Chinese factories and create high-end products that redefine the meaning of "Made in China." Apart from the cool factor, China's sweeping plans to upgrade its factories and production lines depend on building and better using advanced robots. Automation is crucial for industries facing rising labor costs and slowing growth in the work force thanks to the "one-child" policy era and aging of the population.

Imagine receiving a phone call from your aging mother seeking your help because she has forgotten her banking password. The voice on the other end of the phone call just sounds deceptively like her. It is actually a computer-synthesized voice, a tour-de-force of artificial intelligence technology that has been crafted to make it possible for someone to masquerade via the telephone. Such a situation is still science fiction -- but just barely. It is also the future of crime.

Artificial intelligence (AI), which many experts predict will have an enormous impact on the travel industry, is becoming a reality not in the form of blockbuster apps but as a slow, steady trickle of apps, features and technological innovations. The pace of its progress was measured recently by a London School of Economics study, which identified AI and big data as "key disruptive factors shaping the travel distribution industry over the next decade." But the resulting report also noted that those factors have yet to spark major changes. More and more companies are developing and using AI technology today, and experts agree that a recognizable impact isn't too far off; it will begin trickling into agents' workflows over the next several months. "It's definitely not going to be like a flip switch -- one day there's no AI and the next day there's AI," said Paul English, co-founder of the travel agency Lola, where agents use AI to augment their workflows on a daily basis.

While IBM has invested heavily in Watson, and the artificial intelligence technology is paying off in innovations within healthcare and other sectors, it's performing less brilliantly for the company's bottom line, at least so far. "IBM has pursued big, bespoke moonshot initiatives that can take years and are extremely expensive," Gartner research fellow Tom Austin told The New York Times. "It seems like they're swimming upstream with that." According to the article, the company believes more lucrative times lie ahead. IBM points to a collaboration announced Oct. 18 with Quest Diagnostics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as an example.