Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the branch of computer sciences that emphasizes the development of intelligence machines, thinking and working like humans. Today, Artificial Intelligence is a very popular subject that is widely discussed in the technology and business circles. Many experts and industry analysts argue that AI or machine learning is the future – but if we look around, we are convinced that it's not the future – it is the present. With the advancement in technology, we are already connected to AI in one way or the other – whether it is Siri, Watson or Alexa. Yes, the technology is in its initial phase and more and more companies are investing resources in machine learning, indicating a robust growth in AI products and apps in the near future. The following statistics will give you an idea of growth!

With the end of the year drawing nearer, the pace of innovation in tech sees no rest as things in the IT world are moving faster than ever before. Recently Vice President and Gartner Fellow in Gartner Research, David Cearley has identified a top ten strategic technology trends for the year ahead. Artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced machine learning (ML) are composed of processes and technologies such as deep learning, natural-language processing, and neural networks. Initially started as a means to automate tasks, it's now transcended past traditional rule-based algorithms and developed into creating systems that have the ability to learn autonomously and use data to predict the future. Cearly said ""Applied AI and advanced machine learning give rise to a spectrum of intelligent implementations, including physical devices (robots, autonomous vehicles, consumer electronics) as well as apps and services (virtual personal assistants, smart advisers).

Nest is improving both its apps and its camera smarts. An update to both iOS and Android apps (if your phones and tablets are on the latest versions) focuses on notifications, with Nest Aware subscribers getting the bulk of the benefits. Over the next few weeks, Aware customers will see automatic door detection appear on both their indoor and outdoor Nest Cam feeds. The cameras will attempt to recognize motion patterns over time, feeding the data into deep learning algorithms to make it all automated, automatically creating "activity zones" around doors it picks up. The cameras can then send you notifications when there's movement in that area.

Today on In Case You Missed It: We get a much closer look at electrical discharge phenomena courtesy of a video filmed from the International Space Station. Called "Transient Luminous Events", the phenomena are notoriously hard to study as they occur 25-60 miles above thunderstorms. Even satellites have had little luck at capturing images of the upper-atmosphere lighting. However, viewing angles were less of a challenge for ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen who was able to a highly-sensitive camera to snag video footage of 245 flashes of blue lightning while he was stationed on the ISS in 2015. Meanwhile, Agility Robotics introduced us to Cassie, a bipedal robot that can walk smoothly over pavement, grass and lose soil without issue. The three-month old bot walks much the same way as humans do, which makes it more adept at handling various types of terrain, and has a similar three-planed hip joint movement which makes it more steerable than earlier bipedal models.

Tysons Corner, Va.--February 14, 2017--BluVector, the leader in applying supervised machine learning to detect and respond to advanced security threats at digital speed, announced its expanded operations following the completion from the recent LLR acquisition. BluVector is now positioned for rapid growth powered by new executive hires, new product enhancements and expansion into key verticals such as financial, retail and healthcare. BluVector's supervised machine learning technology allows organizations to monitor high bandwidth, globally dispersed networks for advanced threats that are consistently evading traditional security infrastructures. The technology is based on over a decade of research that inspects millions of packets per second of North-South and East-West traffic to predict, in real-time, if software and application files pose a threat to an enterprise on-premise and in the cloud. Evaluating vast collections of both benign and malicious software and applying machine learning science, BluVector is uncovering the markers and mutations of today's modern threats.

A couple of months ago, my 13 year old cousin sat at our kitchen table and looked at me dubiously as I recalled one of the most desired gadgets I had when I was his age, a simple pocket calculator. Today, he and his friends have such a dizzying array of'toys' designed to amuse, educate and stimulate, that the wonder of a hand-held calculating machine is completely lost on him. What I don't think he realises, is the true potential of the extraordinary technical revolution we are blessed to be living in, where lifestyle devices are only some of the first widely recognised results. The next wave of sophisticated tools, many of which are being perfected by teams of specialists, will truly change our lives – and society as a whole. Just imagine a society in which potential illnesses are identified before we even contract them, or are tracked before they spread, in which we can control air pollution and reduce energy consumption, or where a healthy meal, thanks to technology, is cooked to perfection before anyone gets home.

Recent breakthroughs in machine learning and artificial intelligence mean AI-enabled technologies are gaining traction. The billion-dollar cybersecurity industry is no exception, as vendors begin to scale and automate their processes intelligently – all while locked into the early stages of a security arms race with professional hackers. A recent report from analyst firm ABI Research estimates that machine learning in cybersecurity will enormously bolster spending in big data, intelligence and analytics, reaching as much as $96 billion (£71.9 billion) by 2021. Vendors are likely to find buyers in large enterprises, and more than likely, across industries that are especially prone to attack: think government and defence, banking, and across the technology sector. At the moment, ABI's report says, User and Entity Behavioural Analytics – using machine learning for threat detection by analysing data at scale – is the driving force. "Using static machine learning models to detect previously unknown malware is the only use case I'm aware of that offers clear evidence of effective results," says cybersecurity analyst at 451 Research, Adrian Sanabria.

San Francisco startup Sense.ly has raised $8 million in a Series B round of venture funding to bring its virtual nurse technology to clinics and patients of every kind. The company's app helps physicians stay in touch with patients, and prevent readmission to the hospital. Adam Odessky describes the platform as "A cross between Whatsapp and Siri that captures all the important signals about a person's health." On the patient side, Sense.ly asks users to tell a nurse avatar how they're doing with 5-minute "check ins" either once a day, or every few days, on their smartphones. Patients can simply talk to the app, no typing required.

A universal basic income will become necessary because of all the jobs that will be lost to automation in the coming years, says the founder and CEO of Tesla Motors. "There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better," billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk told a crowd on Monday at the World Government Summit in Dubai. "These are not things I wish will happen; these are things I think probably will happen." Elon Musk, Chairman of SolarCity and CEO of Tesla Motors, speaks at SolarCity's Inside Energy Summit in Manhattan, New York October 2, 2015. The man behind the Tesla electric car, the SpaceX private space flight program and solar power company SolarCity then brought up the question of what to do about a future with fewer jobs.

IBM and ServiceNow outlined a multi-year partnership that will integrate cloud, automation and artificial intelligence technologies. One of today's biggest opportunities for IT to make an impact is by automating business processes, manufacturing, repetitive tasks, and more. Under the partnership, IBM and ServiceNow, which offers a service automation platform, will focus on automating manual business processes for Global 2000 companies. IBM has been a ServiceNow global partner and managed service provider since 2011. The partnership covers multiple groups and has the following moving parts.