In the year 1820, a person could expect to live less than 35 years, 94% of the global population lived in extreme poverty, and less that 20% of the population was literate. Today, human life expectancy is over 70 years, less that 10% of the global population lives in extreme poverty, and over 80% of people are literate. These improvements are due mainly to advances in technology, beginning in the industrial age and continuing today in the information age. There are many exciting new technologies that will continue to transform the world and improve human welfare. Here are eleven of them.

We've talked before about the prospects of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it will likely disrupt things like we've never seen before with some estimates predicting that up to 80% of all service jobs will be impacted. Healthcare is one area where AI is receiving a good chunk of funding. We looked before at one example of an artificial intelligence company called Enlitic that uses machine learning technology to read X-rays better than a human radiologist who makes 286,000 a year on average. There are actually quite a few artificial intelligence companies in healthcare and CB Insights recently identified 65 of them at various stages of funding. Founded just last year, Chinese company iCarbonX has taken in nearly 200 million in funding from investors that include the 200 billion Chinese internet giant Tencent.

Just this week, American fast food chain Taco Bell announced the TacoBot, which you can text via the Slack messaging app. You can use the bot to order food for yourself or a group of friends or co-workers, ask for recommendations and pay for it through Slack. As an executive said at the launch: "TacoBot is the next best thing to having your own Taco Bell butler…and who wouldn't want that?" You can order Domino's pizza through Amazon's AI assistant Echo (which hasn't made its way to the UK yet), and multinationals like Unilever and BMW use a simple Q&A bot that can answer any question a customer services employee would. The Henn-na hotel, which opened in Nagasaki, Japan last summer, is the world's first hotel to be fully staffed by robots – from check-in staff, to porters and the concierge.

With this month finally seeing the release of No Man's Sky, in which players can investigate and explore a huge universe full of diverse planets, I couldn't help but be reminded that although outer space has always held a fascination for many, there's another largely unexplored area much closer to home – the ocean. Although water makes up about 70% of Earth's surface, it is estimated that humans have only explored around 5% of the seabed. Aquatic legends such as Atlantis, the Bermuda triangle, and the disappearance of the USS Scorpion in 1968 have captured the imaginations of many a budding oceanographer, and as such the depths of the sea are an unknown region still ripe for mythologizing – which is exactly what Abzu does, in the first release from Giant Squid software. Directed by Matt Nava, who worked as art director on Journey and Flower for thatgamecompany, the style is instantly reminiscent of his previous work, with players taking control of a stylised'Diver' character. Dropped into the ocean with little explanation, the first thing you notice is how - no matter how long you spend underwater - there's no air gauge to run out.

U.S. stocks are trading lower Wednesday morning as losses for phone and utility companies continue to drag the market from its recent record highs. Retailers including Target and Lowe's are skidding after disappointing earnings. The Federal Reserve will release minutes from its July meeting in the afternoon. KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 58 points, or 0.3%, to 18,493 as of 10:25 a.m. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gave up 6 points, or 0.3%, to 2,171.

Tapan Agarwal, Product Council Head at iGTB, has been cited in Global Trade Review in an article discussing the use of AI in the financial services industry. The article describes how financial services provides a fertile ground for AI applications because AI's strength comes from the quality of the data fed to it, and financial institutions themselves are data mines. In trade finance, AI applications can be found particularly in the field of compliance to prevent money laundering and fraud. Banks are currently facing the challenge of increased regulation in these areas, and keeping up with various requirements can be challenging for compliance departments. "Banks are failing to identify threats and fraudulent activities by relying solely on curated databases," commented Agarwal.

Boltt is a new sports technology startup that wants to change the way athletes use wearables. Rather than just providing metrics like most fitness wearables, it wants to introduce usable guidance through artificial intelligence. In short, while the athletes focus on their training, an AI-enabled personal coach crunches the data and gives personalized instructions. Boltt is working on this technology in partnership with Garmin. To come up with customized and informed advice, it will track movements of the athlete and classify them according to time, type and intensity.

With the corporate world embracing digital technologies, organisations are increasingly looking for resources with a difference who could enable them to create a distinctive presence in the marketplace. They are keen that the resources they onboard have analytical skills, visioning skills, learning skills, innovation capabilities, social skills and problem solving skills at all levels in the organisation--not just at the top. This is because digital transformation is unleashing a virtuous change at a regular interval to the processes and interactions with various stakeholders at multiple levels within the organisation and within the industry and it is expected of employees to adapt and respond quickly to these changes. Hence in addition to reorienting the employees within the organisation towards the need for the skills mentioned above, the new generation employees organisations wish to employ are expected to have these competencies. The mindset and the capabilities required to be successful in the digital era have to be developed while the next generation is still part of the academic system.

I just got back from SXSW where I was on a panel entitled "Can AI Systems Really'Think?'"

Neuroscience innovation is colliding with digital technology in unprecedented ways. Advances in machine learning, AI, and Virtual/Augmented Reality are revolutionizing brain health and wellness. Our diverse panel includes experts in Neurosurgery, Psychiatry, Digital Health, and VR/AR. We will illustrate the latest uses of neurotechnology for targeted treatment of brain and behavioral health disorders. These will include examples from mental health, VR/AR, neuro-gaming, wearables, brain surgery, and medical devices.