Man's best friend is about to get a major upgrade--but don't expect this dog to eat your homework. Roobo, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, recently pulled back the curtain on an artificial intelligence-powered "pet robot" named Domgy. An affectionate anagram of the phrase "my dog," Domgy could be yanked from an episode of the classic "Jetsons" cartoon--even though his functions are more like robotic housekeeper Rosie than the family's pet dog Astro. The beauty of Domgy, however, is that he won't require long walks, feedings or bathroom breaks. He's the latest is a line of cyber pets that were once heralded as the wave of the future before losing popularity.

Healthcare, advertising, sales & marketing, and business intelligence startups using AI technologies received the highest number of deals in 2015 compared to other sub-industries; healthcare is dominating 2016 so far. Several sub-industries are leveraging the advances in artificial intelligence algorithms, from predicting crop failures in agriculture to intelligent shopping assistants in e-commerce. Particularly, healthcare startups using advanced machine learning algorithms for medical imaging & diagnostics, remote patient monitoring, and risk prediction, among other things, have piqued the interest of investors in recent years. Deals to these startups increased from 8 in 2011 to 60 in 2015. There have already been over 40 deals to this sub-industry so far this year (as of 6/15/2016).

Artificial Intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems that normally require human intelligence. These days A.I. is also buzz word that contains any technology achieving intelligent systems. 'Cognitive' technologies -- designed to simulate human thought -- are organized into Cognitive Systems. They make use of Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to enable humans to interact more naturally with machines, with the aim of enhancing and scaling human expertise.

Cloud accounting software startup Smacc has raised 3.5 million in Series A funding from Cherry Ventures, Rocket Internet, Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures, Grazia Equity, and a number of angel investors. The Potsdam-based company uses AI to automate the accounting and financial processes for small and medium sized enterprises. The company's proprietary technology uses machine learning to continuously improve the automation process and provide real time financial transparency. Customers' financial data is secured with "state-of-the-art" encryption, according to the startup, and stored in data centres in Germany. "The capital from the financing round will be used to expand our proprietary technology platform and further accelerate growth," said cofounder Janosch Novak.

Cozmo is a 179 artificially intelligent robot that can recognize faces and react to human gestures. SAN FRANCISCO – At first glance, the palm-sized toy on the table looks unexceptional, an odd cross between a bulldozer and a forklift. Except that the toy is snoring. Suddenly, it wakes up, motors over to its human inquisitor and lets out a happy squawk as its digital eyes go wide. Made by Anki, the start-up that has found success with its self-driving Anki Drive racing cars, Cozmo goes on sale today for 179 with orders shipping this fall.

Artificial intelligence will take over the world! "There's very smart people, whether it's Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates or Stephen Hawking, who have said, 'Oh my gosh, this is really dangerous,'" Hawkins said. Hawkins stressed that Numenta is specifically trying to reverse engineer only part of the human brain: The neocortex, which is what lets us learn and create a model of the world based on our environments and experiences. You can listen to Recode Decode in the audio player above, or subscribe on iTunes, Google Play Music, TuneIn and Stitcher.

In this week's Brain Boost: Adidas' robots, AI and humans, and getting started with crowdfunding. Adidas' Robots Robotic manufacturing is going beyond cars for the first time. Adidas, the German sportswear company, announced that the first ever robotic reproduced shoe line will be available to customers in 2017 and, though Adidas is not aiming for full robotic automation, it is looking to learn more about the possibilities of robotic manufacturing, starting with this for a series of shoes. AI Humans However, on the other side of the Atlantic, the 2016 Exponential Manufacturing Conference wrapped up and one of the world's foremost data scientists, Professor Sandy Pentland of MIT, says that artificial intelligence is best used in collaboration with humans. Professor Pentland says that one of the most common challenges to large organizations is delivering the right information to the right people at the right time and he's proposing that software developers use artificial intelligence programs to predict who needs what data when and where and then use the internal computing systems to deliver key figures, best practices, etc. at the right time to the right people.

The factory floor is a marvel of automation. With a press of a button, the whole place can seem to run itself. But although today's factories use automated workflows, process change is still mostly manual. When demands arise in an industrial environment, managers and engineers must interrupt the automation to update the processes that make the machines go. Now, thanks to machine learning algorithms, it's becoming possible for smart software to scrutinize data from a variety of sources -- sensors on machines or changes in supply chains, for instance -- and redesign processes in real time.

Better, faster, more productive... these used to be words to describe what we wanted from our internet broadband connection. Now they describe what we expect not only from all our products and services but also from each other. The expectations that we have from the world and the world has from us are dynamic, ever-changing and transforming at speed. AI is all around us. Complicated and repetitive tasks are better performed by computer algorithms and mechanisms than by the human mind.

Microsoft envisions Cortana doing much more than reminding us to pick up toilet paper on the way home from work. Back in 2014, we Windows Phone fans could barely contain ourselves as we eagerly awaited Cortana's arrival on Windows Phone 8.1. At the time, like many writers, I had a vision of what Cortana would mean for Microsoft and mobile computing. So, well, I wrote about it. Alas, time has moved on, and that initial fervor that fueled the "Cortana conversations" of many Windows phone fans has transitioned through other topics. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL had their time in the limelight. HoloLens enters and re-enters the conversation. Windows 10 updates are a consistent topic, further fueled by Gabe Aul's passing of the torch to Dona Sarkar as the new face for the Insider Program.