There is a palpable, ominous feeling in the air that something huuuge and unstoppable is about to happen to our world -- a tectonic shift in our understanding of who we are, and how we define our reality, that we excitedly anticipate, but are deathly afraid of at the same time. Whatever this "next level" in humanity's evolution is, this much is clear, it will be powered by Artificial Intelligence in unimaginable ways that will potentially propel us to utopian heights, or destroy us in a great ball of fire, depending on who you ask [insert Elon Musk "AI robots will kill us" quote here!]. In short, AI has arrived. Either get on the train, or get run over by it. Most people, however, don't know what to do -- they're sort of stuck standing in the tracks, like dear in headlights, with the train barreling towards them full speed ahead.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is building out Azure as the first artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer, the company's CEO, Satya Nadella, said at an event in Dublin. Microsoft's existing Azure tools for machine learning (ML) and cognitive computing will see massive adoption due to the company's foray into making the AI supercomputer. This initiative has the potential to empower Microsoft to challenge even IBM's (NYSE:IBM) AI expertise by posing a significant threat to the latter's cognitive computing platform Watson and business intelligence (BI) platform Cognos. With currently being the number 2 player in the cloud IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) market following Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) AWS, Microsoft can become one of the leading AI players alongside IBM (or might even surpass IBM). At the same time, the software giant can become the number 1 cloud IaaS player, displacing AWS in a shorter span of time than earlier expected.

Silicon Valley and the EU have never really seen eye to eye, but a recent regulation – that means citizens have the right to demand an explanation to an algorithmic decision by 2018 – could drive the two to legal war. You only have to look to see how often many of the largest tech companies – but particularly Google – find themselves in front of EU courts, over their applications and how the average user interacts with them. Its search results wield enormous power and leverage online, not only in terms of what content appears on the first page of search results, but also with incredibly lucrative e-commerce business. This is where it has previously been accused of favouring its own products. What the vast majority of Google users do not realise – or any user of a search engine for that matter – is that their results are defined by months or even years of harvested data. Every search result, every click is analysed by an AI algorithm to decide what it wants to show you.

'Let's build a single supercomputer that is smarter than all of humanity put together.' While that sounds ominously similar to what a mad scientist in a fictional universe would say before unleashing a deadly robotic that destroys all humanity, that is exactly the ideal behind the advancement of artificial intelligence as we have come to call it. Technologists around the world have long fantasized about an artificial intelligence so powerful, that it is smarter than all of humanity combined.They have had romantic dreams about how an advancement of that caliber could forward the scientific advancement of the human race by several millennia, provided it doesn't kill them first. While such a negative utopia is still far from being realized, the development of artificial intelligence has officially commenced, the only question that remains is whether it will be humanity's greatest achievement or its biggest mistake. Artificial intelligence is a vast and expansive genre.

IBM, Microsoft Vie for Lead in New-Age Advanced Computing By David Ramel 10/26/2016 Whether it's machine learning, artificial intelligence, cognitive computing or whatever, new-age software development is opening up huge new opportunities, with IBM and Microsoft vying for the lead in this new technological space. During this week's World of Watson conference, IBM unveiled a new Watson Data Platform and made available the Watson Machine Learning Service, among a host of other announcements. Microsoft, meanwhile, stole some of Big Blue's thunder by releasing an updated Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit for "deep learning," yet another moniker in the new movement. Coincidentally, these announcements were made just one day before a news release was issued by research firm IDC to tell the world that "Worldwide Cognitive Systems and Artificial Intelligence Revenues Forecast to Surge Past $47 Billion in 2020." That gives an indication of the kind of stakes that IBM, Microsoft and other leaders are competing for.

What will determine who leads the AI efforts in the next decade and beyond? It will be the companies best equipped to teach using massive amounts of data.

The report by Oxford University and Deloitte titled, The State of the State, highlights the industries most impacted by the world of automation. The research shows that over one million Brits could be out of work by 2030, with the strong possibility of being replaced by robots. Leaving the EU is an era-defining task for the UK government. What will it mean for devolved governments? There is a 77 percent probability of around 1.3 million "repetitive and predictable" administrative and operative roles being given to robots within the next 15 years.

Not only has Google created the new Google Cloud brand and introduced a number of new apps under the G Suite umbrella, but the company has also announced that it will be using artificial intelligence to beef up Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and even Calendar. So what exactly does that mean? Among other changes, a new feature called Quick Access, which is available in Google Drive for Android, is claimed to shave 50 percent off of the average time it takes to find a file by removing the need to ever search for it. That's because machine learning predicts which file you'll need to access before you try to access it, and will display those files at the top of the screen. As mentioned, Calendar is also getting a few new features.

The decision to launch in-app signals a departure in Bank of America's bot strategy. For one, it might have decided that the risks of disintermediation from using an external messaging app were too high -- if consumers were to associate Facebook Messenger with banking services, rather than BofA, that could result in an erosion of loyalty. Laurie Beaver, research associate for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on chatbots that explores the growing and disruptive bot landscape by investigating what bots are, how businesses are leveraging them, and where they will have the biggest impact. Finally, it compares the potential of chatbot monetization on a platform like Facebook Messenger against the iOS App Store and Google Play store.

General Motors Co. GM -0.27 % is enlisting digital smarts from International Business Machines Corp. IBM 0.84 % 's Watson artificial intelligence technology in an effort to leapfrog other tech companies angling for a role inside the car. The auto maker on Wednesday is unveiling a new version of its OnStar system to offer mobile-commerce services beyond navigation and entertainment. The system, dubbed OnStar Go, is designed to learn from users' behavior to deliver personalized offers from partners such as Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM -0.04 % For instance, the system might alert drivers who need fuel to make it to their next destination and point the way to Exxon Mobil stations en route. IBM CEO Ginni Rometty talks about how her company has changed its focus as the world has changed.