Earlier this month, Saks Fifth Avenue President Marc Metrick told CNBC that the luxury retailer didn't need fancy artificial intelligence (AI) to help it succeed in the industry, despite the tectonic shift thrusting every other retailer into reliance on such technologies. "When you think about the online versus the offline experience, we don't need AI in our stores. "We have living, breathing, 4,500 style advisors in our stores. The focus for Saks in the luxury space is really [a] kind of convergence between tech and this living, breathing, selling associate." This is not to say that Saks wants to completely leave technology out of its strategy, but it sure doesn't seem to be embracing the future with open arms either.

Kraft and Pringles are among some of the few. It only takes a couple seconds, but Amazon gave consumers their first listen to Alexa's new voice. The change is part of a 90-second ad running during Sunday's Super Bowl LII, called "Alexa Loses Her Voice." The ad starts with a very concerned Jeff Bezos discovering his prized digital assistant has lost her voice, with the company scrambling to replace it. Alexa's replacements feature some hilarious alternatives, including chef Gordon Ramsey, rapper Cardi B, actress Rebel Wilson, and actor Anthony Hopkins, who is downright creepy as he answers an Amazon Echo Spot owner.

Learn the basics of deep learning - a machine learning technique that uses neural networks to learn and make predictions - through computer vision projects, tutorials, and real world, hands-on exploration with a physical device. AWS DeepLens lets you run deep learning models locally on the camera to analyze and take action on what it sees.

As digital technology advances at lighting speed, many predict that AI, machine learning and automation will remove over half of all retail jobs in the next 20 years. With countless bold statements in the media, this can often appear as a certainty – but are these claims justified? If we look at what is happening today, I doubt it. For sure AI (the capability of a machine to imitate human behaviour), machine learning (computers learning and improving without explicit programming) and automation (the replacement or total elimination of manual tasks) will play a part in re-shaping the future workforce, but will the outcome be as bleak as predicted? The very large data sets generated by online shopping are utilised to drive better personalisation and customer experience through ad placement, search, product recommendations and placement, fraud management and translation.

The startup assault on the humble neighborhood store continues to intensify. First came Bodega, the terribly named, and mostly misguidedstartup with its mission to bring the non-perishable necessities available at the corner store to the masses and "disrupt" the corner store. Now there's Robomart, which wants to bring the groceries, baked goods and prepared foods of the supermarket aisle to your doorstep with a white-labeled service for wholesalers and big box retailers. The culmination of a ten-year vision from founder Ali Ahmed, Robomart is an autonomous grocery store department on wheels. Robomart is the serial entrepreneur's latest startup.

Lingerie brand Cosabella began its initial use of artificial intelligence to enhance its marketing efforts ahead of 2017's Valentine's Day, and saw a sales lift in email-driven" 2016 revenues by more than 60 percent compared to the prior year. Now, as it looks to this year's Valentine's Day and beyond, the Miami-based lingerie brand has more fully integrated AI technology into its CRM system to better connect online and offline shoppers. Cosabella sells its Italian-made wares at its own NYC flagship boutique and through 1,000-plus U.S. physical locations via retail partners like Nordstrom, Macy's, Bloomingdales, Sak's Fifth Ave., among others. About six months ago, Cosabella began working with Snap Style Business, a software company that markets personalization software to retailers. The lingerie brand served as a launch partner for Snap Style's StyleWidget, which enables customers to submit a personalized styling request directly on Cosabella's desktop or mobile site.

Machine learning is one of the hottest topics in the world of retail, and for good reason; the vast power of computers and the cloud offer an unprecedented opportunity to personalize and improve the customer experience from start to finish. Until very recently, machine learning was a useful tool for retailers, but not required. Now, thanks to the ever-increasing wave of customer data at our fingertips, it's quickly become a must-have for any brand that hopes to keep up with the changing demands of consumers and the evolving landscape. If you're a retailer who hasn't immersed yourself in the power that machine learning can add to your business, a new white paper from Precima, "The Machine Learning Retail Revolution," is an excellent place to start. The paper provides a broad introduction to machine learning, before diving deep into several real-world examples of how Precima applies machine learning to improve sales, provide a hyper-personal consumer experience and find efficiencies that lower costs and accelerate delivery of services.

It seems like nearly every technology company is pursuing some form of artificial intelligence these days. But while there are many companies hoping to benefit as this burgeoning market expands, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), Amazon.com Here's how these companies are transforming artificial intelligence (AI) right now and why investors should consider these companies for their portfolios. Alphabet likes to have its hands in nearly every new technology trend, and AI is no exception. Specifically, the company is focusing on three key areas: AI services in the cloud, driverless cars through its Waymo subsidiary, and implementing AI into its flagship services.

Is Alexa about to get a new voice? In a teaser video posted over the weekend the popular digital assistant appears to have "lost her voice," news that shocks the world as well as Amazon founder/world's richest man/actor Jeff Bezos. "How is that even possible?" The employees try to calm their leader by saying that they have replacements ready, but Bezos, demonstrating his acting range, does not appear convinced. The teaser then fades to the trademark Amazon "smile" and the date "2.4.18" when the full ad, and the answer to this giant question, will be revealed.

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