Artificial intelligence, robots, and automation are rising in importance in many areas. As noted in the recent book, "The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation," there are exciting advances in finance, transportation, national defense, smart cities, and health care, among other areas. Businesses are developing solutions that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations and using these tools to improve the way their firms function. Yet there also are concerns about the impact of these developments on jobs and personal privacy. A Pew Research Center national survey revealed considerable unease about emerging trends.

Finisar recently started shipping production quantities of its vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, or VCSELs. The device is critical to Apple's Face ID recognition system, providing the 3-D sensing capabilities that detect a face. It is part of a feature Apple calls the "Dot Projector" that uses a laser to beam 30,000 infrared dots across the face. The company ran into complications assembling that part earlier this year, creating a production snag for the iPhone X. Apple is expected to roll the Face ID technology across more devices such as the iPad in the months and years ahead, said Gene Munster, managing partner at Loup Ventures, a venture-capital firm specializing in tech research.

Apple has invested $380 million to help the firm that makes the chip that powers it's iPhone X boost production. Finisar Corp is getting a $390 million investment from Apple to revive a plant in Texas. It makes laser chips called vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, or VCSELs. Finisar will use the money to reopen a 700,000-square-foot plant in Sherman, Texas to ramp up production of laser chips called vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, or VCSELs, used in Apple's iPhone X (pictured) Apple said the investment will allow Finisar to boost production of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. Apple uses it for Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode selfies with the iPhone X TrueDepth camera and the proximity-sensing capabilities of AirPods.

Apple Inc. has made its second notable investment this week -- this time in facial recognition technology company Finisar Corp. The $390-million investment announced Wednesday comes from Apple's $1-billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund, created to finance the work of domestic manufacturers and create jobs in the U.S. Apple announced the creation of the fund in May and plowed $200 million into Corning Inc., the maker of the Gorilla Glass, which is used in Apple's touchscreens. The Finisar investment will help the company boost production of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, which Apple uses for Face ID, Animoji and Portrait mode selfies with the iPhone X TrueDepth camera and the proximity-sensing capabilities of AirPods. Finisar -- which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. The company runs a plant in Allen, just outside of Dallas.