The biggest retailer in the U.S., Walmart, is experimenting with robot shopping carts. The company has yet to release any details of how the robo-carts work. But the news highlights how rapidly automation is moving into shopping and warehouse fulfillment. It also shows how keen Walmart is to embrace any technology that might help it counter the shift toward online shopping and faster product delivery. Just a few weeks ago, Walmart also said it was testing whether drones could help check the inventory in its stores.

Half of consumers are interested in brands using artificial intelligence (AI) for customer engagement, such as chatbots or virtual assistants, according to new research. The study, conducted by the DMA examined consumer engage with the brands they love now and in the future. The survey also found that 40% consumers are actively loyal to brands, while 28% are actively disloyal and the remainder are only loyal depending on the context. Half (48%) of respondents expressed an interest in artificial intelligence approaches to engagement, such as chatbots or virtual assistants. But this increased dramatically for younger age-groups, rising to 79% for the 16-24 age-group, 76% for those aged 25-34 and 62% of those aged 35-44.

It is far from being the apocalyptic extermination of the human race depicted in films like the Terminator, but it seems the rise of the machines has begun. Robots are starting to perform a growing number jobs of that have traditionally been filled by humans – such as security patrols, courier deliveries and room service in hotels. These include five-feet tall security bots that are patrolling shopping centres and office buildings in California, using a range of sensors to look for anything suspicious. Robots are starting to perform roles that have traditionally been performed by humans. While there are many who fear robots are on the verge of stealing our jobs, it seems they have a weak spot - flat packed furniture.

From McDonalds' virtual reality Happy Goggles to Sony's tiny in-ear personal assistant, 2016 is set to be a year where your futuristic fantasies may become a reality. But how can online retailers keep up with this fast-paced tech world reducing consumers' attention spans? But while consumers are being drawn into hi-tech, marketers mustn't forget to remain human with their marketing strategies as it's crucial for consumers to be able to relate to ads. Ultimately, being human is crucial to converting consumers into buyers. As illustrated in Nielsen's recent report, personal recommendations remain the most trusted form of advertising, as 81% of UK respondents say.

Coming off its first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years, Apple Inc. kicks off its annual developers' conference Monday in San Francisco facing questions about whether the company's best days are behind it. The focus of the weeklong Worldwide Developers Conference is expected to be on Siri, Apple's digital assistant. When Apple introduced Siri as an iPhone feature in 2011, it heralded a future of people finding information or completing tasks on their devices by speaking rather than typing or tapping. That vision of Siri hasn't fully materialized, leaving the door open for other technology companies to push into Apple's turf. Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have all introduced voice-activated digital assistants that rely on artificial intelligence?technology that allows computers to understand inferences and context so they can make decisions like a human brain instead of following programmed instructions.

Coming off its first quarterly revenue decline in 13 years, Apple Inc. kicks off its annual developers' conference Monday in San Francisco facing questions about whether the company's best days are behind it. The focus of the weeklong Worldwide Developers Conference is expected to be on Siri, Apple's digital assistant. When Apple introduced Siri as an iPhone feature in 2011, it heralded a future of people finding information or completing tasks on their devices by speaking rather than typing or tapping. That vision of Siri hasn't fully materialized, leaving the door open for other technology companies to push into Apple's turf. Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have all introduced voice-activated digital assistants that rely on artificial intelligence -- technology that allows computers to understand inferences and context so they can make decisions like a human brain instead of following programmed instructions.

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has used virtual assistants in households ever since it rolled out with its Echo speaker, in 2014. Echo has been a great hit among customers. Many parents think that Amazon's digital assistant should incorporate a "family mode" to better help their kids learn manners and social ethics. Thanks to the device's ability to comprehend verbal commands, the advent of "Alexa", Amazon's digital assistant, has encouraged the trend of "smart homes." Users can simply activate their Alexa-powered devices by calling out "Alexa"--a fairly easy trick to switch on the Bluetooth speaker.

Many years ago (don't ask me how I know this!) the hamburger chain Burger King began branding themselves with this slogan: "Have it your way!" It was pure marketing genius! The idea that you could order something, in this case a hamburger, at a fast food dispensary that would be tailor-made to your specific personal tastes was revolutionary – it set them apart from their competitors. Something similar happened when Amazon.com, one of the first major online stores in the Internet era, began suggesting books (and other products) to their customers that were an amazingly good match to each individual's personal tastes. Of course, Amazon accommodated its customers with this value-added service by invoking a scientific procedure, data science applied to customer data, not by asking customers directly (as did Burger King).

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) has been talking about the commercial use of drones for quite some time now. However, in a recent interview, CEO Jeff Bezos assured artificial intelligence (AI) is the next big thing. Nonetheless, Chinese firm Ehang might disagree with this idea; in fact, the company is betting on drone taxis as the next attention-grabbing innovation in a move that could remind readers of Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s autonomous car initiative or Zee.Aero's flying car. Back in January, Ehang, a cameras and drones maker, presented its electric passenger drone, the Ehang 184. Now, the Chinese corporation has partnered with the Nevada Institute for Autonomous Systems (NIAS) and the Governor's Office of Economic Development (Goed) to test the vehicle and, ultimately, get regulatory approval.

Where else but the Code Conference can you expect to hear from the Tech industry's biggest players like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Google CEO Sundar Pichai? Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version gave the wrong year Amazon won Emmys for Transparent. Speaking to the Code conference here, Bezos, whose company has a hit on its hand with the Echo connected speaker, said, "it's hard to overstate how big of an impact this will have on society over the next 20 years. It doesn't mean phones are going to go away or that voice actions will replace screens. As long as people have eyes, they have screens."