We have all heard the hype surrounding technological advancements in AI, VR, and robotics. These are just a few of the emerging forces that are drastically changing B2C and B2B operations. Digital eminence is a business need. However, these new technologies have also brought an array of challenges. With increasing concern over protecting personal information, trustworthiness is becoming critical with respect to online commerce.

Yesterday, Big Blue released its "IBM 5 in 5," an annual list of innovations that the company predicted will have major impacts on the way we live over the next five years. "With advances in artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, we aim to invent a new generation of scientific instruments that will make the complex invisible systems in our world today visible over the next five years," said Dario Gil, vice president of science and solutions at IBM Research, in a statement. One of the developments identified in the list is the use of deep learning machine intelligence to help clinicians predict and monitor brain and mental health disorders such as psychosis, schizophrenia, mania and depression. The company said its scientists are currently using transcripts and audio recordings of psychiatric interviews to find speech patterns that can indicate such disorders. In addition to giving health professionals unprecedented access to the human mind, artificial intelligence will also play a role in providing a larger window into the world around us.

I would question the question though in this way. Is intelligence something that has "levels"? I tend to think of it more as a tree than a stair-step however. A pear is not "smarter" or "dumber" than a banana. Hard to say whether a squirrel or a squid is smarter.

This year has been rollercoaster crash for many with numerous tragedies and crises occurring all over the world, but it doesn't mean that everything was grim in 2016. Join IBTimes UK as we take a closer look at the many new developments across various fields of technological research, each with the potential to revolutionise human life for the better. This section is devoted to the computer science research into replicating the human mind and helping computers solve complex tasks. For developments concerning the machines themselves, see our articles on robotics. In 2016, computer scientists have begun concentrating more efforts on building deep learning neural networks which are large webs of artificially intelligent classical computers that are trained using computer algorithms to solve complex problems in a similar way to the human central nervous system, and where different layers examine different parts of the problem to combine to produce an answer.

He asks Scott how Audi keeps up. We're now at the forefront of technology and at improving society, Scott says. The fact we can bring this kind of safety onto the road is amazing. Self-driving, he said, gets him out of the bed in the morning, letting the elderly enjoy cars and helping kids get transportation. Says Jen-Hsun: "This is the largest consumer show in the world. It's so fun to be in the middle of technology industry right now. The technology that will reshape how we use tech in the coming years. We can realize now the dreams we've had for years." We want to bring video games to everyone.

Following years of mounting interest in a type of artificial intelligence (AI) called deep learning, the biggest public cloud infrastructure provider, Amazon Web Services (AWS), today announced its first Amazon AI services that make use of deep learning. Deep learning generally involves training artificial neural networks on lots of data, such as photos, and then getting them to make inferences about new data. One of AWS' top competitors, Google Cloud Platform, introduced the Cloud Machine Learning service that can do deep learning earlier this year. In China, the Alibaba public cloud has the DT PAI service available for AI workloads. There is the new Rekognition image recognition service -- presumably drawing on the talent and technology from deep learning startup Orbeus, whose team Amazon hired in the past year.

OZY and Giant Spoon are excited to partner on special live coverage from CES 2017 -- where the most forward-looking technology and media come together. Rather than cover just the latest gadgets, though, we're taking you deeper with key takeaways, little-known rising stars, unconventional trends and, yes, the coolest sh*t from the convention. Apparently, though, his affection is pre-programmed. Robots may be unfeeling servants, but they don't have to be cold and unblinking, says Lau. Which is why she's got her little one here and a fleet of other "unruly robot children" under her wing. Casual and calm during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Lau doesn't seem the type to play God.

He spells out a series of threats that all boil down to poorly constructed cost functions that result in unintended consequences.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly making headlines recently, although few may be aware of it. The most recent of these was with the announcement of Amazon Go, a concept store in Seattle that is powered by machine learning and AI. Many of us now carry an AI device in our pockets, work with AI on our PCs and even have AI sitting in our living rooms. But randomly ask someone on the street what AI means to them and they're likely to mention robots, and not the technology we use in our daily lives. Less than 20% of consumers feel that they know a lot about AI, with this stat rising to almost 50% when asked if they know a little. What's clear is that mainstream awareness of AI is still limited, so you need to keep this in mind when talking about it.

Without a doubt, 2016 was the year "disruption" became tangible. Events like Brexit and the U.S. election brought home the reality we are living in a fast-changing global society where a sense of anti-establishment and rebellion is accelerating change. This shows no sign of stopping in 2017, with new and existing technologies allowing institutions to ultimately offer more unique banking experiences. From my meetings with decision-making executives at the world's leading banks, here are the top five trends dominating their technology investment discussions: In 2017, several banks will undoubtedly take their first steps toward "conversational commerce," a term coined by Chris Messina of Uber to describe the future of messaging within apps. In 2016, we already saw several leaders like Santander and Bank of America announce their plans for chatbots; however, 2017 is the year when the rebirth of this very old technology will come into its own.