There are two types of chatbots, one functions based on a set of rules, and the other more advanced version uses machine learning. Bots are created with a purpose. A store will likely want to create a bot that helps you purchase something, where someone like Comcast might create a bot that can answer customer support questions. You start to interact with a chatbot by sending it a message. Click here to try sending a message to the CNN chatbot on Facebook.

Artificial intelligence is not a term anyone should take lightly. By a strict definition, it means a computer system is able to perform tasks that normally require human intervention. As companies like HP, Staples, CNN, and Expedia start to roll out Facebook chatbots to help you with mundane tasks, don't expect anything like Roy Batty from Blade Runner. It's more like one of those robotic dogs that can perform a limited set of tricks (stand up and sit but not roll over) and are designed not to imitate a human or even replicate a human function but only to steer humans toward online information, making a purchase, or...making a purchase. While the programming for that chatbot became a puppet for Internet trolls, at least it could pretend to talk like a human.

With Earth Day come and gone the initiative to save our planet is fresh in our minds. And that's not limited to global warming and putting a stop to pollution; poaching remains a big problem when it comes to preserving the world around us. Luckily researchers have been testing out how we can use scientists to help the fight against poaching. According to Science Daily, organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Army Research Office have teamed up to look into how artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to stop poaching and illegal logging. Led by scientists at the University of South Carolina (USC), researchers have found ways to use game theory, or the mathematical theory of conflict and cooperation, to protect parks in a more proactive way.

Arghon steps in to settle the argument... Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe to ArghonTV for more videos, vlogs, and Arghon demos coming your way! Subscribe to get the updates about all the cool stuff we're doing at Arghon!! http://bit.ly/1X0wQg3 Arghon's mission is to bring meaningful convenience to the world through personal artificial intelligence. Using neural networking and sentient learning technologies, Arghon, the personal artificial intelligence, orchestrates users' connected IoT devices and environments seamlessly and invisibly, while also giving users access to the businesses, services, and information they need, in real-time. In the near future, users will communicate with Arghon by speaking out loud to their general environment, in the same manner they would speak to a friend. Arghon is currently available for free on all Android and iOS mobile devices at arghon.com/mobile and via Google Play.

It's technology available today already being applied to search engines. Leading visionaries in search technology, including Google's Beshad Behzadi in his keynote speech at the SMX West Keynote to Satya Nadella at Microsoft's Build conference, are articulating a vision of smarter and more capable personalized help that will drive efficiency, focus and ultimately, happiness. Nadella believes the next big bet for Microsoft is "conversation as a platform." This is a more intuitive and accessible canvass integrating into apps, as well as artificial intelligence (A.I.) and bots that can interact with other bots. While the devices and technology used to access search are evolving, search will still be an increasingly integral part of everyday life.

A comprehensive report on AI and how it can be used in marketing. Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly establishing itself as a field of great potential value to business and marketers. This 34-page report spells out how marketers can benefit from developments in AI, while helping you to develop your point of view on this fascinating subject. Report author Martin Talks, an expert in digital transformation and emerging technology, demystifies what is actually meant by artificial intelligence, and how organizations across different sectors can start to approach different use cases. Fill in your details below to receive your complimentary copy.

Mia is your new marketing assistant, according to Signpost. Signpost is a marketing automation and CRM solution with out 6,000 customers, all of which are about to sample artificial intelligence in a new area of their business. Mia, their latest feature, uses "machine learning to eliminate the need for a traditional CRM and other forms of manual marketing." Given Mia's perceived intelligence, Signpost has been referring to her as a person, and apparently, she's set to change the way marketers interact with customers. That last claim is a bold one indeed, but it seems as though Mia may be up to the task in some respects.

When Ian Burkhart was 19 years old, he was in an accident that damaged his spinal cord. He was paralysed from the chest down, losing all feeling in his hands and feet. Now a team of scientists and doctors in the USA have been able to restore some control in Burkhart's right hand through the use of innovative technology. For five years Burkhart – who broke his neck when he dove under a wave at a beach in North Carolina – has been unable to do mundane tasks like stir a straw. The procedure has enabled Burkhart, now 24, to use his hand and fingers, but it has not eliminated the paralysis.

Auckland-based software developer Touchpoint Group has launched a new artificial intelligence program, designed to help companies better understand customer behaviours. Labelled Ipiphany, it is the first cognitive analytics program in the world to be able to simultaneously "learn" from combinations of customer information collected via text, machine learning and natural language processing. Launched following a three-year cognitive behaviour research project by data scientists in Australia and New Zealand, the research allowed Touchpoint Group to develop a cloud-based solution designed to deliver faster insight compared to traditional research methodologies. Formed in Auckland in 2001, Touchpoint is one of the region's leading developer of customer engagement software across industries including banking, insurance, and utilities, and already provides solutions for many of the largest banking and financial services companies. Touchpoint Group CEO Frank van der Velden believes Ipiphany could "dramatically improve" the financial returns from existing investments in "customer data" made by large companies.

If this year's selection of electable decisionmakers feels like it leaves something to be desired, then here's a story for you. Imagine a world without politicians, or, really, politics. Policy options are instead plugged into a sophisticated program and 1,000 or 100,000 simulations are made. Likely outcomes of the policy change are analyzed and unintended consequences are made visible. Politics are reduced to an argument over what inputs should take precedence in the model, not over what decision to make, and the arguments have to contend with data, which takes precedence over all.