Retailers need to embrace next generation technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) if they want shoppers to continue using their apps, new research has found. The study found that nearly 30% of consumers would like to see more innovation in mobile apps, so that they provide a better, more personalised shopping experience. Shoppers surveyed said they would be more likely to download a retail app if it featured technology that helped them to make a buying decision, or let them preview products before purchasing them. The report, by mobile app developer Apadmi, surveyed 2,000 consumers who use retail apps to find out what they expect from apps and what they would like to see more of in the future. More than a quarter (26%) said they would like to see retailers implement AI tools in shopping apps, particularly if they help to remember past purchases and recommend products and deals based on shopping history.

About two weeks ago, I saw an article (actually, one of my colleagues posted it on our intranet) from the MIT Technology Review about the limitations of Artificial Intelligence. The article is here for those of you who want to read it in full, but the fundamental concept is; while AI has made great strides in the last 20 years or so (see the recent win by Google's AlphaGo over Lee Sodol, who is thought to be one of the best Go players of all time), it is still fundamentally inadequate in one respect – we have not yet built a machine that can carry on a conversation with anything remotely approximating human facility. Quite simply, the computer does not understand the meaning of words that it is using and is therefore unable to use them intelligently. The reason for this, according to the article, is that "words often have meaning based on context and the appearance of the letters and words." It's not enough to be able to identify a concept represented by a bunch of letters strung together.

Artificial Intelligence is the discipline of thinking machines. The field is growing dramatically with the proliferation of high powered computers into homes and businesses and especially with the growing power of smartphones and other mobile devices. Artificial intelligence software is assisting people in most every discipline. The many functions of AI are considered by many to be threatening many human jobs across multiple industries, but others consider it a great producer of jobs since it will help create entirely new industries and free more humans to innovate and create.

A machine that can handle basic tasks -- think the self-service checkout at Walmart or an ATM machine -- is a better option for one particular segment of the population. That's right -- introverts already know the benefits of machine learning. Full disclosure here: I have not paid a human for gas in about eight years. There have been a few times when I go into the gas station, but it's always to scour around for donuts or to find the restroom. A few friends and relatives are in the same boat.

Voice-based artificial intelligence (AI) has gone from obscurity to near ubiquity. My first experience using the technology was in the late 1990s on a PC that boasted a fraction of the computing power available on an Apple Watch today. For nearly two decades, the promise of voice interfaces seemed like something out of a Star Trek fantasy. But technology is finally catching up to the fantasy. Today, voice-based interactions are becoming one of the more promising ways in which we interact with technology.

First you could book a flight online. Then came online travel agents. And now you might check in for your hotel via mobile, a computer could set the price, while a chatbot answers your queries. Some travel experts expect the first autonomous cargo flights to start within several years, while big data analysis is on the rise at internet-based firms like Expedia, Lastminute.com and Skyscanner. "We have to reinvent the place of the man in the system," says Fabrice Otaño, chief data officer at AccorHotels group.

Even as Siri and Alexa slip quietly into the flow of our lives and we watch IBM's Watson play Jeopardy! Marketers play on this to draw attention, declaring in intentionally stark blog posts that "AI is better than humans" and it "really is going to take people's jobs." We can speculate, we can worry, we can ponder the defeat of humanity in the face of AI, but that focuses on provocative possibilities, not the reality. To understand the potential for machine learning, we must stop obsessing about the forest and sharpen our focus on the trees. On a macro level, there's no doubt that machine learning will reduce the need for manual labor across many industries and roles, including the maintenance aspects of IT.

Obviously, it's artificial intelligence, but it is an intelligence we can use to help us determine what's useful in all of the big data being collected through the Internet of Things (IoT). And we can teach it to tell us what's important to investigate there, too. AI won't replace humans, but it will give us a huge boost. Paul Muller, vice president of strategic marketing at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, has a conversation with technology analyst Theo Priestley about AI, including what it is, how to use it, fears about it, and how it can help us long term. They talk about the myths around AI--such as it's a human replacement vehicle rather than a way to augment our work, or it's just software rather than hardware and software--and how artificial intelligence doesn't mean it's not intelligent and doesn't practice self-preservation.

The reality will lie between these two extremes. Based on research gathered from surveying Asian business leaders and human resources and AI professionals, this report argues that AI's future will cleave much more closely to the positive outcome. Moreover, this future appears to be approaching quickly: advances in deep learning and the rapid expansion of process automation in such diverse sectors as manufacturing, transportation, and financial services mean that AI's impact is growing exponentially with each passing year. Decision makers in all organizations must now begin to understand how AI will alter their own operational processes and those of suppliers, partners, and customers. Asia's business landscape is poised not only to benefit greatly from AI's rise, but also to define it.

But how do you separate hype from reality? How can your company apply AI to solve real business problems in 2017? In September 2016, Luminary Labs convened 30 executives in healthcare, machine learning, and analytics for a grounded discussion on these questions with machine learning expert Hilary Mason, founder and CEO of Fast Forward Labs, and Sandy Allerheiligen, VP of data science and predictive and economic modeling at Merck. Here's a synopsis of what we discussed, and what AI learnings your business should keep in mind for 2017. AI and the Near Term 3 We've all seen the sensational headlines: The robots are coming, and they'll take our jobs! AI can do your job faster and more accurately than you can!