SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct. 3, 2017 -- Marketo, Inc., the leading provider of engagement marketing software and solutions, has announced Marketo ContentAI, an artificial intelligence-powered solution that engages each customer with the most relevant content across channels. In addition, the solution uniquely predicts the content most likely to convert each audience, helping marketers develop data-driven content marketing plans. Today's announcement reinforces Marketo's commitment to providing marketers with leading-edge AI solutions that empower them to win in the Engagement Economy. ContentAI is the only solution that makes content personalization scalable for marketers by auto-discovering and cataloging website assets and using AI to determine the best content to display to each audience. Marketers personalize their websites, mobile experiences, and email with ease through drag-and-drop content placement, while maintaining control over what is delivered through each channel.

DeepMind, the Google sibling focusing on artificial intelligence, has announced the launch of an'Ethics and Society' unit to study the impact of new technologies on society. The announcement by the London-based group acquired by Google parent Alphabet is the latest effort in the tech sector to ease concerns that robotics and artificial intelligence will veer out of human control. 'As scientists developing AI technologies, we have a responsibility to conduct and support open research and investigation into the wider implications of our work,' said a blog post announcing the launch Tuesday by DeepMind's Verity Harding and Sean Legassick. DeepMind, the Google sibling focusing on artificial intelligence, has announced the launch of an'Ethics and Society' unit to study the impact of new technologies on society. Google's DeepMind AI relies on artificial neural networks, which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn.

In previous columns, I've pointed out that what passes for "breakthroughs" in Artificial Intelligence aka AI) are a repackaging of decades-old technology: pattern recognition, rule-based programming and neural nets. That's why, when confronted with the video above, I decided to "drill down" (as they say in the boardroom) into what's probably the most spectacular of the examples: the poker-playing program from Carnegie Mellon University that bested professionals in tournament play. I started with the University's original press release. It briefly explained what the program, called Libratus, had accomplished, which was factual enough. Then, however, the press released started sounding, well..., a bit like marketing hype.

Confirming one of the industry's worst-kept secrets, Google announced today that it finally has a cost-reduced version of its Google Home smart speaker. The $49 Google Home Mini, available for preorder now, will go head to head with the Echo Dot that Amazon introduced way back in March 2016. Like the original Google Home, the Mini will feature fabric over its speaker grill. But Google assures us this is no ordinary fabric. Google's lead designer for home hardware, Isabelle Olsson, said the company invented its own yarn for the Mini--going through 157 iterations to find just the right colors: chalk, charcoal, and coral.

Last time Google made the best Chromebook ever, it was the Chromebook Pixel. The boxy, beautiful $1,000 laptop wasn't designed to go everywhere with you so much as to be so outrageously impressive that it might prompt someone to ask, "Wait, that's a Chromebook?" Google made it to prove a point, not take over the market. This time, Google went a different way. For the Pixel Book, which the company announced today at an event in San Francisco, Google tried instead to build a thoroughly modern laptop, one that you'll hardly even notice in your bag. It has a 12.3-inch screen that rotates a full 360 degrees, so you can use the Pixel Book like either a laptop or a tablet.

Sonos made a host of announcements at an event in New York City on Wednesday, including a brand-new speaker--the Sonos One--that will incorporate Amazon's Alexa voice service. And in a pledge to continue being service agnostic, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said the Sonos One will also incorporate the Google Assistant in 2018. Sonos is taking preorders for the $199 speaker now and plans to ship it on October 24. As with previous Sonos speakers, you'll be able to use the Sonos One independently, as a stereo pair, or as surround speakers in a home theater, backing up a Sonos Playbar or Playbase. You'll also be able to use voice commands to control other Sonos speakers, even ones that don't support voice commands natively.

Amazon has been on quite an expansion push with its smart home speaker line recently, but now it's clear that they're increasing more than just the number of Echo devices on the market. The company announced today that Echo and Alexa are now available in India by invitation only, and they'll expand to Japan later this year. Devices will start shipping in India this month. According to Tom Taylor, the SVP of Amazon Alexa, the company will also open the Alexa Skills Kit and Alexa Voice Service in order to allow developers to create customized software for Indian and Japanese customers. Hardware makers will also have the freedom to build devices that can work with Alexa.

One of the biggest advances in transportation has been self-driving technology, which has facilitated breakthroughs in not just self-driven cars, but even driverless trains, self-flying planes and self-navigating ships. Rio Tinto, an Australian mining corporation, has unveiled the first operational driverless train in Western Australia, even before China, which has its own similar automated train in the works. The train completed its first run of 100 kilometers (62 miles) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, without anyone manning the train. "This successful pilot run puts us firmly on track to meet our goal of operating the world's first fully-autonomous heavy haul, long distance rail network, which will unlock significant safety and productivity benefits for the business," Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive Chris Salisbury stated in the press release issued Monday. "New roles are being created to manage our future operations and we are preparing our current workforce for new ways of working to ensure they remain part of our industry."

Ranked #20 on the 2017 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, SparkCognition has established itself as an AI technology leader. The company has business-critical cognitive enterprise solutions in place for customers in energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, finance, aerospace, defense, telecommunications, and security. "We live in an era of constant competition, in a security environment that is constantly evolving and is increasingly complex, dynamic and unstable. To be successful, it is essential the British Army continues to be forward-looking and technologically advanced, ready for the challenges of the future, both at home and overseas," said Colonel James Cook, Assistant Head of Strategic Concepts for the British Army." SparkCognition is a leader in the field of artificial intelligence and this collaboration will help ensure that the British Army continues to stay at the cutting edge of evolving technologies."

One of the major factors that will have a positive impact on the growth of this market includes the rising usage of deep learning technology among various industries such as automotive, advertisement, medical and others. Moreover, increasing acceptance of cloud based technology, high usage of deep learning in big data analytics, high R&D expansions for enhanced processing hardware for deep learning and rising applicability in healthcare and autonomous vehicles are fueling the market growth. However, rising difficulty in hardware owing to composite algorithm used in deep learning technology is acting as key barrier for the market. Moreover, the market has tremendous growth opportunity such as utilization of deep learning technology in smartphones and medical image analysis. On the other hand, setback in approval of neuromorphic technology for deep learning and development of algorithms' at a faster pace when compared with its hardware.