How would you like it if you some stranger snapped your picture and then used that photo to find out your real name, your address and other information about you? If face recognition technology may not be brand new, anonymity in public could soon be a thing of the past. You may never again be just a face in the crowd. FindFace, a new application launched few months ago, by a Russian start-up has the power to identify total strangers on the street from pictures of their faces. It does so by matching the photos against profile pictures from VK --also known as VKontakte--a Russian social networking website like Facebook.

Mark Zuckerberg on Monday introduced the world to "Jarvis," an artificial intelligence system the Facebook chief created in his spare time, which can choose and play music, turn on lights, and recognize visitors, deciding whether to open the front door. Jarvis, named after the virtual assistant in the Iron Man movies, could be a step toward a new product, Zuckerberg wrote, although he cautioned that the system he had created in 100 hours over the last year was customized for his house. Zuckerberg announced results of the project, a personal challenge he set for himself this year, as digital home assistants by Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc compete for holiday sales and are expected to outsell popular emerging gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and drones. Creating Jarvis proved humanity is "both closer and farther off" from an AI breakthrough than we imagine, Zuckerberg wrote. Computers are getting very good at pick out patterns, such as face recognition, but it is difficult to teach them new things, he wrote.

U.S. retailer supply chain operations who have adopted data and analytics have seen up to a 19% increase in operating margin over the last five years. Design-to-value, supply chain management and after-sales support are three areas where analytics are making a financial contribution in manufacturing. U.S. retailer supply chain operations who have adopted data and analytics have seen up to a 19% increase in operating margin over the last five years. Design-to-value, supply chain management and after-sales support are three areas where analytics are making a financial contribution in manufacturing. These and many other insights are from the McKinsey Global Institute's study The Age of Analytics: Competing In A Data-Driven World published in collaboration with McKinsey Analytics this month.

Sure, Amazon made its first drone delivery last week, but 7-Eleven already has it beat. Today, the convenience store company announced that it has already made a total of 77 deliveries by drone in the state of Nevada. Of course the caveat here is that 7-Eleven relied on Flirtey, a drone delivery service company that's already made a name for itself by delivering Domino's in New Zealand and textbooks in Australia. It also made the first FAA-approved urban drone delivery earlier this year. Though the deliveries kicked off in July, it was in November when the company started making regular weekend deliveries from a 7-Eleven store to about a dozen customers.

And in ecommerce in particular, brands who want to stay relevant and ahead of the curve are embracing AI as a way to enhance the customer experience, making it more personalised, efficient and intuitive. Here are three ways that we are already seeing artificial intelligence in action across various sectors, which when applied to ecommerce, have the potential to take customer experience to the next level. We've all experienced the frustrations of trying to search with keywords – a constant process of trial and error which results in many of us giving up in frustration. Wouldn't it be better if we could just talk to our computers in full sentences, explain the exact parameters of our search, and have them understand? Artificial intelligence, combined with the power of natural language processing – which allows machines to understand the nuances of human language – is making this possible. Companies like Google and Microsoft are already using voice search and complex, multi-part queries to continually improve their understanding of natural language.

Imagine a store without lines or checkouts. You walk in, tap your smart phone, pick up he items you want. You know, like in the future. That's the shopping experience Amazon wants to bring to customers starting next year. Recently the company unveiled the ambitious new Amazon Go concept store.

Mark Zuckerberg on Monday introduced the world to "Jarvis", an artificial intelligence system the Facebook chief created in his spare time, which can choose and play music, turn on lights, and recognize visitors, deciding whether to open the front door. Jarvis, named after the virtual assistant in the Iron Man movies, could be a step toward a new product, Zuckerberg wrote, although he cautioned that the system he had created in 100 hours over the last year was customized for his house. Zuckerberg announced results of the project, a personal challenge he set for himself this year, as digital home assistants by Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc compete for holiday sales and are expected to outsell popular emerging gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and drones. Creating Jarvis proved humanity is "both closer and farther off" from an AI breakthrough than we imagine, Zuckerberg wrote.

The fashion industry – from your department store to your luxury boutique – is undergoing significant change at the hands of the digital revolution. Neither, mind you, is talking about things like artificial intelligence, virtual reality or blockchain as emerging technologies. Put those two together however, and things start getting interesting. Broad business adoption of machine learning (for instance) is one thing, but in the context of the impact that then has on shopping, we start to be able to see what the future might look like. At this time of year, the web is inundated with predictions for what lies ahead, especially in the marketing and technology space.

British consumers are expected to spend £280 each on gifts in the weeks leading up to Christmas. More than half of these purchases will take place online and almost a third of people will rely on online reviews to make their buying decisions, although recommendations from friends and family are still the main source of persuasion. Online shopping is estimated to rise by 24 per cent by the end of this year. However, as consumers are looking for more sensory and immersive shopping experiences, the pressure is on for online retailers to find new ways to excite customers and keep them satisfied – artificial intelligence (AI) is the new technology they will use. It is allowing businesses to analyse customer behaviour, predict consumer wants and offer tailored customer experiences.

U.S. retailer supply chain operations who have adopted data and analytics have seen up to a 19% increase in operating margin over the last five years. Design-to-value, supply chain management and after-sales support are three areas where analytics are making a financial contribution in manufacturing. U.S. retailer supply chain operations who have adopted data and analytics have seen up to a 19% increase in operating margin over the last five years. Design-to-value, supply chain management and after-sales support are three areas where analytics are making a financial contribution in manufacturing. These and many other insights are from the McKinsey Global Institute's study The Age of Analytics: Competing In A Data-Driven World published in collaboration with McKinsey Analytics this month.