What's all the fuss about the voice-activated home speaker that Amazon is due to release in the UK and Germany in late September? This gadget has been available in the US for over a year and has proven a minor hit, with sales estimates between 1.6m and 3m. But these figures belie the potential impact this kind of artificial intelligence device could have on our lives in the near future. Echo doesn't just let you switch on your music by voice command. It's the first of what will be several types of smart home appliances that work beyond simple tasks like playing music or turning on a light. It uses an artificial intelligence assistant app called Alexa to allow users to access the information and services of the internet and control personal organisation tools.

According to Gartner report, by 2020 about 85% of interaction with consumers will take place without any human participation. It could happen due to Artificial Intelligence and Voice Recognition technologies that are rapidly developing. The apps that work on the basis of Artificial Intelligence should make users' life easier but what principles should be main in such apps? Arkenea developers have consulted the specialists that created programs successfully using Artificial Intelligence. The successful app using Artificial Intelligence gives a "wow-effect", the feeling of magic, the breakthrough that wasn't possible earlier.

Intel is now more than just a PC company. At industry events, the company's keynotes feature drones flying around, robots walking on stage and musicians creating tunes from wearables. The chip maker is helping BMW build an autonomous car, will sell modems to Apple, and is leading the development of next-generation 5G cellular networks. For all these new markets, it will provide chip and data-center technologies. The transformation is happening partly under the leadership of Venkata Renduchintala, president of the Client and Internet of Things (IoT) Businesses and Systems Architecture Group at Intel.

Software developers are turning cars into rolling personal computers. Lots of attention is still paid to horsepower, curves in the metal, and giving drivers the ultimate creature comfort behind the wheel: the ability to relax and let the car take over. But even as the industry accelerates toward a self-driving future, it's the touch screen in the dashboard and the slick smartphone app that increasingly sway buyers' decisions in the showroom. Many vehicle models now offer versions of the iPhone or Android interface in the car's touch screen, giving users the familiar look and feel of their smartphones. Meanwhile, app developers are leveraging the car-phone link and improved voice-recognition systems to offer extras such as music streaming and the ability to send or receive text messages with hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

This spring, Kik, a messaging app with 275 million registered users, launched a bot store for brands and publishers to build their own bots that deliver services to users. Sephora and H&M have kik-powered bots that help shoppers browse and buy their products. Taco Bell showed off its TacoBot, a way to use the messaging app Slack to place a meal order. Amazon introduced its Echo, Google announced Allo, Facebook built their bot engine on top of their Messenger (and it is capable now of accepting payments!). Recently, Microsoft launched their Bot Framework that allows developers to write bot code once and, using the Microsoft Bot Connector, deploy on multiple channels, including Skype, Slack, and SMS.

Web 2.0 was a social revolution: many hands make light work. In stark contrast, the current revolution, powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, is industrial: the automation of tasks displaces human work. But trite definitions don't prepare us for change. Whatever you call it, our digital economy is in the midst of profound changes. By placing these changes within the frame of industrial manufacturing, the true values and motivations that underlie them than are illuminated.

Keeping users around is not. Since Facebook Messenger bots launched at F8 in April 2016, over 30,000 bots have been created. Major brands like ESPN, Star Wars, and Yelp have released apps on Apple's iMessage. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all heavily invested in platforms for bots and conversational and voice experiences. Pandorabots, one of the oldest chatbot platforms, boasts over 285,000 bots made by over 225,000 developers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has already transformed our lives--from the autonomous cars on the roads to the robotic vacuums and smart thermostats in our homes. Over the next 15 years, AI technologies will continue to make inroads in nearly every area of our lives, from education to entertainment, health care to security. The question is, are we ready? Do we have the answers to the legal and ethical quandaries that will certainly arise from the increasing integration of AI into our daily lives? Are we even asking the right questions? Now, a panel of academics and industry thinkers has looked ahead to 2030 to forecast how advances in AI might affect life in a typical North American city and spark discussion about how to ensure the safe, fair, and beneficial development of these rapidly developing technologies.

Latest technologies in artificial intelligence, chip, virtual reality and smart communities were the highlights of the Shanghai International Popular Science Products Expo, which closes today. A Shanghai-based startup has developed a chip system with an artificial intelligence feature that works in a high performance and energy efficiency manner. Developed by Shanghai Westwell, it can be used both in the home and by industrial sectors, such as ports requiring artificial intelligence to recognize product category. During an on-site demo at the expo, Westwell's chip system recognized and classified 1,000 pictures within one second with an accuracy rate of almost 100 percent, compared with traditional methods with an accuracy rate of 86 percent. Smart Rider, a car-sized virtual reality experience device, attracted long queues during the expo.

Xinhua News Media Holdings Ltd. said Monday it is seeking to raise up to 42.9 million Hong Kong dollars via a share placement and will use the net proceeds for general working capital. Macau Legend Development Ltd., which operates casino and hotels, said Monday Laurence Yuen resigned as executive vice president and chief financial officer effective immediately. Salesforce.com Inc. said it would embed artificial intelligence technology into its software for salespeople, making it the latest in a gaggle of companies racing to enhance workplace tools with human-like abilities. The company will demonstrate the new software at its annual user conference next month in San Francisco. Newcrest Mining Ltd. said it has agreed to sell its 50% stake in a Papua New Guinea gold operation to partner Harmony Gold Mining Co. Ltd. .