We can run the world without consuming the earth. That was a sentiment expressed multiple times at ABB Consumer World this week in Houston, and it was one that ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer highlighted during his morning keynote early in the week. An airplane can now fly around the world without consuming a single drop of fuel. That was achieved for the first time last year by Solar Impulse 2, Spiesshofer noted, and it's just one indication of what can be achieved as technology advances. Advancing technologies also include the sheer connectedness of devices.

A cognitive business takes advantage of recent developments in cognitive computing to improve the overall effectiveness of its people, processes and technology. Data is starting to be pulled from more and more sources today to help solve problems in diverse fields – from health care to national defense and from daily operations to setting the right metrics that measure progress towards strategic and tactical goals. In 2016, the amount of global data being collected and analyzed is unprecedented--and growing. Working with that data in smarter ways is the key to future business success. For example, IBM's Watson relies on deep learning algorithms and neural networks to process information by comparing it to a teaching set of data in research hospitals to diagnose symptoms and recommend better patient treatment plans. As Internet of Things (IoT) sensors expand to new areas, and as artificial intelligence becomes more and more of a reality over the next two decades, businesses will rely on a new mix of real-time data, analytical processing and cutting edge alternative solutions to transform the way services are delivered. The right data will be collected and processed faster--yielding improved results for clients. Bottom line: a cognitive business is an increasingly smarter, data-driven business.

BNN speaks with David Garrity, principal at GVA Research, who says innovation in artificial intelligence is poised to accelerate this year. We find out what new advancements we can expect in 2017 and what will still have to wait for another few years.

The world population is expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050. China and India, the two largest countries in the world, have populations totalling around one billion. In four years, by 2022, India is predicted to have the largest population in the world, surpassing China. This means we need new ways to grow food that are smarter and helps regulate our use of land, water and energy in order to feed the planet and avoid a global food crisis. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute believe the answer lies in sensors, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots.

On February 9, 2017, two technology market leaders made announcements: SAP unveiled its next-generation intelligent ERP system, and Nvidia announced that demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications was driving demand for its graphics platform. On the face of it, these announcements were business as usual – routine sound bites that proliferate in the tech news landscape. Look a bit deeper, though, and you realize that this day marked a profound shift in both the way businesses use technology and the implications for the rest of us. For decades, developing a computer that could think has been the Holy Grail of technology. And while we have made tremendous progress in our ability to process vast amount of data, the "thinking" part has remained mostly elusive.

Advancements in AI, Big Data, the Internet of Things and automation have many industries worried that these systems will push them out, absorb their work, make humans redundant, or accelerate the speed of business too fast for them to adapt. From formal models of legal reasoning to automated information extraction from legal databases and texts, the interaction of artificial intelligence and law will disrupt the contemporary status of legal practice. With the latest'wonder automation' in the form of JP Morgan's COIN, building upon the adoption of AI systems by firms such as Clifford Chance, and development projects like Denton's NextLaw Labs leading the way, are lawyers set to be replaced? AI will spell the end of lawyers. However, the age of automation and digitisation gives birth to an even more beautiful legal specialist: the cyber-lawyer – an augmented specialist, combining the processing power of AI with powerful searches of legal indexes in mere seconds through Big Data, produced through a human interface.

Four billion years ago, Earth was a lifeless place. Nothing struggled, thought, or wanted. Seawater leached chemicals from rocks; near thermal vents, those chemicals jostled and combined. Some hit upon the trick of making copies of themselves that, in turn, made more copies. The replicating chains were caught in oily bubbles, which protected them and made replication easier; eventually, they began to venture out into the open sea. A new level of order had been achieved on Earth. The tree of life grew, its branches stretching toward complexity. Organisms developed systems, subsystems, and sub-subsystems, layered in ever-deepening regression. They used these systems to anticipate their future and to change it. When they looked within, some found that they had selves--constellations of memories, ideas, and purposes that emerged from the systems inside. They experienced being alive and had thoughts about that experience. They developed language and used it to know themselves; they began to ask how they had been made. This, to a first approximation, is the secular story of our creation. It has no single author; it's been written collaboratively by scientists over the past few centuries. If, however, it could be said to belong to any single person, that person might be Daniel Dennett, a seventy-four-year-old philosopher who teaches at Tufts. In the course of forty years, and more than a dozen books, Dennett has endeavored to explain how a soulless world could have given rise to a soulful one. His special focus is the creation of the human mind.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. Iorek is learning to communicate and ask a question which helps it clarify what a person wants. Scientists say human language developed around 50,000 years ago.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. These and many other insights are from a recent survey completed by MIT Technology Review Custom and Google Cloud, Machine Learning: The New Proving Ground for Competitive Advantage (PDF, no opt-in, 10 pp.). Three hundred and seventy five qualified respondents participated in the study, representing a variety of industries, with the majority being from technology-related organizations (43%).

Sometimes, a year in review can be just as exciting as the preview. Looking back I discovered that all of the key topics I listed in my last year Industry 4.0 review are as relevant today as they were then. Today, I want to invite you to join me as I look back at the Industry 4.0 year 2016 and take a look ahead to what will shape the world of Industry 4.0 in 2017. Note: I have deliberately left out tech trends such as RFID, augmented reality, gesture control, 3D printing, and miniaturization. According to recent studies, many of the big industrial enterprises are developing Industry 4.0 platforms.