Mode.ai is making bots that use your photos to identify an item of clothing, then show you where to buy it (or a visually similar item of clothing) online. The bot can also recognize photos of home decor products and share trending topics from online retailers as varied as Amazon and Louis Vuitton. The Mode.ai Facebook Messenger bot launched today. Send the bot a picture and it will give you three options: More Like This, Buy, and Who Wore It. Well, if not who wore it, who wore something like it.

We are living in a world that is increasingly dependent on and driven by data. Incorporating data in your decision-making is the way companies now know that they're fully informed. Data driven technologies can revolutionize a company's operations at every level, including customer outreach. Having a full view of a customer is paramount for marketing, customer service, and many other realms. In every application domain, there is a need for data fusion: the ability to collect and integrate data from many different sources into a useful whole.

By now we've realized the power of artificial intelligence is here to stay and has applications far more practical than the sci-fi robots we once envisioned a decade ago. While the robot space is indeed growing, so are the behind-the-scenes bots powering everyday life. By 2020, Gartner predicts 85 percent of customer touch points will be managed without humans, and as soon as 2018, cross-channel bots will be able to recognize the voices and faces of customers. While smart home devices are still considered a luxury, they are more commonplace than ever before. From Amazon's AI assistant Alexa, which allows voice control of numerous devices, to LG's Insta View refrigerator, the opportunities for AI have expanded from robotics to daily life.

Slime mold, ants, and Amazon's product recommendation system may be making decisions the exact same way, according to a new study. To come to this conclusion, Bernd Meyer and his team studied the behavior of slime mold--which is not a plant, fungus, or animal, but a loosely organized network of individual cells--and stuck it in a maze. Both pathways led to oat flakes, which is apparently slime mold's favorite snack, but one of the paths was dark and the other was filled with a bright blinking light, which mold hates. The slime mold did the most sensible thing it could: have its cake and eat it, too. Or rather, have its oat flakes and recoil from the light. Paradoxically, the slime mold seemed to perform its tasks better with the interference.

Not long ago, I wrote about artificial intelligence (AI), its capabilities and its future. In that article, the chief technology officer of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, 2.04% one of the largest makers of microprocessors, provided intriguing insights into the topic. Today, I want to take it a step further: I got my hands on an interesting study by InsideSales.com, The study includes responses from nearly 2,000 Americans from all walks of life about the perceived dangers or opportunities brought on by AI. Is 2017 the year when artificial intelligence will finally reach the mainstream, and if so, is the general population aware of it?

Last week, Wal-Mart filed a patent for in-store service drones that could locate and deliver items to customers within the store. From the patent's description, the drones would be equipped with a number of sensors to be able to detect and grab the correct product and then drop it off at a designated landing area where consumers can grab the item. Just last fall, Wal-Mart also filed a patent for electronic self-driving shopping carts that can find the items on customers' shopping lists, and would also self-sort once a customer is finished with the cart, clearing aisles. Wal-Mart, which employs roughly 1.5 million people and is the 15th biggest public company in the world, makes about $482 billion in revenue a year. Adding drones to the mix could signal that Wal-Mart is looking to downsize its in-store employee number and replace them with robotic help.

Alphabet Inc. has been one of the world's biggest spenders on artificial intelligence. The advancements have even surprised company co-founder Sergey Brin. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Brin said that when he was in charge of Alphabet's research group he didn't pay much attention to a team working on artificial intelligence. Now the technology, operated by a division of the company called Google Brain, touches nearly every piece of its business, including translation, photography and advertising. In the shoe store of the future, the sales associate asking if you need help might be a wide-eyed, child-sized robot quizzing you on your preferences and displaying suggestions on a touch screen on its chest.

Amazon is testing a grocery pickup service in Seattle. The AmazonFresh Pickup service is currently open only to Amazon employees. Eventually, members of Amazon's $99-a-year Prime loyalty program will be able to order groceries online and drive to a pickup location, where crews will deliver items to the car. The AmazonFresh Pickup service is currently open only to Amazon employees. Eventually, members of Amazon's $99-a-year Prime loyalty program will be able to order groceries online and drive to a pickup location, where crews will deliver items to the car Amazon says orders will be ready in as little as 15 minutes after being placed. The service is being tested in two locations in Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered.

Chatbots were last year's big hype, and they are this year's big commerce and marketing frontier. Indeed, they are coming into their own as an interface for businesses to communicate with their customers, and for organizations to reach out to clients. That being said, chatbot tech solutions and strategy need some more polishing. A recent report claims that Facebook's chatbots "failed to fulfill" no fewer than 70 percent of user requests -- meaning that chatbots couldn't understand what users were saying, and in some cases humans had to step in. On the other hand, members of the millennial generation can't wait to get their hands on chatbot technology. According to a Retale poll, 86 percent of millennials said that brands should use chatbots to promote deals, products, and services, and nearly all of the 58 percent of respondents who had interacted with a chatbot said that it was a positive experience.

It's safe to say that as data sets grow and the time to create positive impressions shrinks, having compelling insights at your disposal becomes more critical to customer engagement success. Jim Sinai, vice president of marketing at Salesforce Einstein, notes how retailers are trying to build a better experience online and ultimately bridge the online and in-store experiences. "What the Salesforce Commerce Cloud with Einstein is actually helping people do is find opportunities to do product recommendations to visitors both for the web experience and the in-store experience and figure out how to bring that connected retail experience together."