Artificial intelligence has been a dream in technology ever since Alan Turing first wrote his seminal paper, Computing Machinery and Intelligence, Now, thanks to advances in hardware power and algorithm design, AI is a growth industry – and it has no shortage of vocal advocates. These are some of the most vocal and influential leaders working on artificial intelligence, robotics, chat bots, virtual reality, the ethics of autonomous software and vehicles and more. Organizes the London.AI meet up and the annual Playfair AI Summit. Thanks to all who kicked off discussion on the back of my piece on "6 areas of #AI/ML to watch closely" Keep going! Designs intelligent systems into working AI systems to help understand natural intelligence.

If it wasn't already clear that AI-powered voice assistants are ready for the workplace, it is now. IBM is not only launching Watson for Cybersecurity, a cognitive computing service that parses legions of security reports to extract relevant info, but is unveiling an experimental voice helper to go along with it. Havyn lets digital defense experts ask for threat updates and recommended solutions when it would otherwise be too time-consuming. If security analysts are already hip-deep in work, they don't have to sidetrack themselves with a new research path when Havyn can produce a useful answer in seconds. The combo could be particularly helpful given Watson's depth.

PubNub BLOCKS enables you to process your data mid-stream, to execute functions on your data in motion. This is huge, because you no longer need to spin up and manage new servers to run a simple function. It's all done in the network. That's why we say that PubNub is a programmable network. IBM Watson is a powerful technology that brings cognition to applications, with the ability to understand, reason, learn, and interact. I like to say it gives your application a brain, extending the capabilities of your application beyond simply interacting through a set of rules.

The tax code is more than 74,000 pages long, and there are thousands of new changes made each year that impact a client's tax outcome. H&R Block with Watson combines the expertise of 70,000 tax pros with the powerful technology of Watson to help ensure clients get back what they deserve. It's a first in the tax prep industry, and it represents H&R Block's most personalized tax experience ever. To get there, H&R Block tax professionals and IBM development teams are training Watson on the language of taxes. They're first applying the technology to the thousands of tax-related questions and topics discussed with an H&R Block Tax Pro during the return filing process.

From visual recognition to speech-to- text, the technology landscape continues to transform itself and it's happening rapidly. In 2017, the adoption and application of artificial intelligence is a more than just a far reaching dream, but a reality for most technology users. Not only is it critical that we identity these trends, but also build a workforce that adapt to these changes and build the new technologies that will advance society. We kicked off in New York City, hosting more than 40 coders, developers, early adopters, and those just interested in cognitive technology. All attendees were encouraged to take a coding course on the Learning Lab to prepare them for the event.

After a rough 2016, H&R Block is pulling out all the stops to win this year's tax season. In December, the tax-service provider debuted a campaign with new spokesman Jon Hamm. Now, the brand is returning to the Super Bowl after an eight-year hiatus to pitch a first-time partnership with IBM Watson. H&R Block plans to use the technology of Watson to improve the tax preparation services at its 12,000 retail locations. "It's this idea of man and machine together--it's not any attempt to get rid of the experts but instead to just enhance their judgements," said Kathy Collins, chief marketing and strategy officer at H&R Block.

Have you ever wanted to bottle-up and save that feeling when you have had a great vacation? Now, that joyful excitement of travel can be bottled in'Holiday Spirit' -- a new rum that's crafted using artificial intelligence. According to Joe Harrod -- a big data analyst and Artificial Intelligence expert -- Virgin Holidays used IBM Watson's linguistic AI to interpret millions of social media posts to pick out key emotions associated with holidays. IBM Watson then analyzed thousands of rum reviews to uncover which ingredients elicit different emotions and sensations in reviewers. The second data set analyzed the language and tone of 5,000 rum reviews and tasting notes found online.

Whether you're interested in cognitive computing, artificial intelligence or machine learning, you probably know that the fourth industrial revolution is well underway and accelerating rapidly. The speed of change presents a challenge to developers who want to stay abreast of the latest ideas and approaches. Conferences, workshops and other meetings provide opportunities to learn where the jobs and technology is headed and a chance to learn and practice the skills necessary to keep up. Why you should attend: AI engineers, practitioners, researchers and scientists will discuss the latest developments in the field, while tutorials and workshops will give attendees a chance to hone their skills. Speakers will be drawn from a wide variety of sectors, including Microsoft, MIT, the National Science Foundation and NASA Ames Research Center.

Sears wants to use artificial intelligence to help to shop for your next tire. Sears Auto Center announced the pilot launch of its Digital Tire Journey, a web app that uses IBM Watson Natural Language Classifier service to help customers find the best tires that fit their needs. Hoffman Estates-based Sears says that beyond a vehicle's make and model, customers need tires that are built for their everyday routines, and its new AI-powered site is designed to make the shopping experience more efficient. Rather than using a drop down menu with available selections, Sears' Digital Tire Journey provides tire recommendations based on a customers answer to certain questions. The program asks questions like: "When it comes to tires, what's most important to you?"

What can bots do right now to make their user experience better than that of visiting a website? They can personalize the experience -- either with user context or AI. See, most sites try to appeal to the general user by splitting the homepage in one of two ways: by sales or by product category. They'd prominently display brands that have expressed their efforts in these areas -- like Nike or Yesah They have awesome watches, btw. This might be the case when choosing an outfit for a formal event.