In 2009, Fox released James Cameron's Avatar, an absurdly expensive, but also absurdly profitable, science fiction adventure featuring cutting-edge special effects. Its success provided further confirmation to what had already become entrenched conventional wisdom in Hollywood: Movies should be big because big makes money. That same year, Paramount distributed Paranormal Activity, a horror movie shepherded by the then–little-known Blumhouse Productions. Directed by the unknown Oren Peli, it originally cost $15,000, was shot on consumer-grade video cameras, and had already been kicking around festivals for a couple of years. It went on to gross nearly $200 million, confirming that conventional wisdom didn't always apply.

With WWDC a couple days out, we're coming up on one year since Apple first showed off its glitzy answer to the Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers. It took over 8 months from then for the HomePod to finally hit shelves and it took up until a couple of days ago for all the promised functionality to arrive. Four months since launch, it's clear Apple delivered some awesome hardware, but there are plenty of features I want to see the HomePod pick up when Apple comes to the stage at its annual developer conference to talk iOS 12. For all the criticisms levied against the device, the most weighty has been the fact that there isn't even a vague reason to consider buying the speaker unless you are an Apple Music subscriber. For Apple Watch LTE users who want to listen to non-Apple Music tunes the same is true to a lesser degree.

Last year, China said it plans to be a world leader in AI by 2030. Now its capital is building a massive campus to house the AI firms that will power that rise, according to local media outlet Beijing News (link in Chinese). Authorities in Beijing's Mentougou district will build the tech campus along with Zhongguancun Development Group, a company that has built several similar technology parks in China. They plan to invest 13.8 billion yuan (about $2.1 billion) in the 548,700 square-meter park, and hope to to attract over 400 enterprises. Construction will be completed within three to five years. The park, which will count on 5G telecom and have a supercomputer, will focus on developing areas such as high-speed big data, cloud computing, biometric identification, deep learning, state-run news agency Xinhua added.

Analysts believe Apple will try to inject more artificial intelligence and other new powers into Siri to make it more competitive with Google's digital assistant and Amazon's Alexa. Apple just gave its HomePod smart speaker new features, including calendar reminders -- something Google and Amazon devices have long offered. Apple has been emphasizing the HomePod's high-fidelity acoustics, including the ability to pair two devices in stereo mode, in an effort to distinguish its product from Google's and Amazon's speakers, which primarily serve as hubs for those companies' voice-activated assistants. Monday's preview could include more on that front.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to transform the productivity and GDP potential of the global economy. According to a report by PWC, strategic investment in different types of AI technology is needed to make that happen. PWC's research shows that 45% of total economic gains by 2030 will come from product enhancements, stimulating consumer demand. This is because AI will drive greater product variety, with increased personalization, attractiveness and affordability over time. AI could contribute up to $15.7 trillion1 to the global economy in 2030, more than the current output of China and India combined.

The world premiere of PlayStation in Concert took place this week, featuring PlayStation game music from the 90s to today, arranged by Jim Fowler and performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria in 1871, seats more than 5,000, and has hosted events such as the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest, the 100th anniversary of the Royal Variety Performance and the BBC Proms each summer. So what does it mean for video games that they're now being presented in these hallowed halls? And what if a budding composer sees how far video game music has come and wants to get involved? And what is the future of this industry?

Artifical intelligence will bring many benefits to unified communications, but shallow, consumer-grade AI is not currently up to the task of helping enterprises, according to a speaker at the UC EXPO show. Networking analyst Zeus Kerravala told the London-based show earlier this month that a general set of problems persists in UC, mostly relating to system usability. These include uncertainty over who is in a meeting and who should have been invited, not knowing how to join a meeting, share documents or content, or how to make video features work properly. Future AI-enhanced UC systems could improve meetings with features such as: more intuitive call recording or transcription, perhaps based on keywords; facial recognition and automated identification to aid meeting set-up; or features such as intelligent speaker tracking. Looking further ahead, more advanced AI features could offer users recommendations on who should join a team meeting, proactively finding and loading useful content, or generating minutes.

A subsidiary of Google has entered a two-year partnership with Fudan University, the leading university in China's eastern Shanghai municipality, with a focus on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. Google China's Education Cooperation Division support Fudan's curriculum related to emerging science and technology, online news outlet The Paper reported, adding that the pair will jointly build a laboratory as well as an exchange center to boost interaction between students in China and the US. Google's China-based education unit has been working with schools in the country since 2006, covering undergraduate, higher vocational education and secondary schools. The projects supported include joint scientific research, curriculum construction, teacher training and information technology education for middle school students. AI is a key focus of Google's development in China.

Earlier this year, Signify announced new integrations for its Philips Hue bulbs that included a Hue Sync app to automatically coordinate your lights with whatever you're doing on your computer. Now, the free Philips Hue Sync app is available for both Mac and PC. The new app allows users to sync Hue smart light levels and colors to video, games and music. The lights can "dance" to the beat of your music track or mimic the hues you see on your screen. ""Following several entertainment pilots, we've refined the way lighting can be used with games, music and video," Jasper Vervoort, the Head of Marketing and Product Management, Home Systems and Luminaires, said in a release.

There's been a lot of talk recently about whether or not AI research is in a bubble. Some people are worried that we're approaching another AI winter -- a period where AI research funding dries up if AI can't deliver on the hype. Sure, there is a lot hype and bad reporting around AI. Just look at all the news reports calling Sophia the "first AI citizen" when it's really just a weird puppet head hooked up to a chat bot: But even if the recent advancements in Deep Learning aren't really intelligence per se and don't get us closer to Strong AI, deep learning has definitely made an impact. It's led to huge advancements in real products the help real people every day, like Google Translate: So let's not argue about whether or not we are in an AI bubble. Instead, let's focus on an even more important issue that we can all get behind -- the absolutely atrocious stock photos used in almost every single news story about AI.