We've been hearing a lot about artificial intelligence and machine learning lately. From the big screen to Netflix, AI is a popular theme in Hollywood. Its most exciting developments, however, are in the real world, where tremendous strides in creating human-like cognitive capabilities are tackling real challenges. The goal is neither self-awareness nor autonomy. Rather, the forefront of cognitive computing is advanced systems that learn at scale, reason with purpose and interact with us naturally.

The Drum has released the first magazine edited using artificial intelligence (AI) following a partnership with IBM Watson to create the special issue. The magazine, published today (15 June), includes a number of features that involved the analytical functions that IBM's AI can provide in order to examine the role such technology can provide to modern day marketers. These will be available to match and play against other opponents through a specially created new online app. Those without a card will also be able to challenge other marketers in the industry by logging into the app and comparing their scores with further competitors. Watson has also been trained to answer questions put to it by industry luminaries around the insights of advertising legend David Ogilvy and a number of predictions around potential winners at Cannes Lions this year have also been made by the AI.

That dream of universal expertise is what IBM says its Watson question-answering, machine-learning system makes possible. Watson can be trained to answer questions on any subject you choose. The system uses natural language processing to read huge numbers of documents, extracts and organises information about a particular topic and then refines its understanding of that subject based on human feedback. But how useful are the answers given by Watson and how difficult is it to train? One person who's well-placed to talk about using the Jeopardy!-winning

"The models used in this pilot will be designed to continue to evolve according to a user's nutrition and activity habits along with other contextual information, which may improve the ability of Watson to predict glycemic excursions and other trends through the Medtronic app," said Annette Bruls, president of Medtronic's global diabetes service and solutions unit, during the CES conference earlier in 2016.

In July, we talked about whether the change in law should be characterized as "Disruption, Eruption or Interruption?" This week, we drill down into one likely source of change, IBM's Watson. Lawyers have been thinking for a while about whether artificial intelligence would ever start to displace or complement lawyers. Richard Susskind, the leading legal futurist/technologist, did his work in this area starting in the mid-1980s. In the August issue of the ABA Journal, one of the commenters to an article about LegalZoom feared: "Once we have fully artificial intelligence enhanced programs like LegalZoom, there will be no need for lawyers, aside from the highly specialized and expensive large-law-firm variety."

The American Diabetes Association and IBM Watson Health will partner on a long-term collaboration to bring together the cognitive computing power of Watson and the ADA's vast clinical and research data. Kevin L. Hagen, ADA CEO, said the ADA and IBM Watson Health will work to build a first-of-its-kind diabetes advisor for patients and caregivers, as well as develop Watson-powered solutions to optimize clinical, research and lifestyle decisions. "The goal of this endeavor is to develop and introduce cognitive technologies that support clinicians, researchers and people living with diabetes so that we can accelerate discoveries, personalize treatment and care, and improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes," Hagen said while announcing the partnership. "We also see potential to address social determinants of health." Unlike traditional computing systems that are programmed, systems like IBM Watson learn at scale, explained IBM General Manager David Kenny.

IBM's Watson Health and the American Diabetes Association have outlined a multi-year partnership to analyze clinical and research data to better manage diabetes. The partnership was outlined at the American Diabetes Association's (ADA) annual scientific powwow in New Orleans. The goal is to use data to build cognitive applications for doctors, researchers and patients. Watson Health and the ADA have been working together to analyze 300,000 patient records to model outcomes and the disease as well as manage care. Apple, acquisitions, and adherence: Inside IBM's Watson Health unit IBM Watson-powered app aims to make hospital visits less daunting for young patients IBM's bet on cognitive computing, Watson will take time to pay off IBM acquires Truven Health Analytics for 2.6 billion to bulk up Watson Health According to IBM, Watson's APIs have been used in the field for about two years.

HPE has maintained an aggressive stance on the company's proposed future in machine learning and AI at this week's Discover 2016 conference in Las Vegas.

I recorded a video of the amazing IBM Watson Analytics in action.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) is a company in transition. On the one hand, there are reorganizations and layoffs as the blue giant is transforming itself into a cloud-services company. On the other hand, there are flagship research projects such as Watson or the Quantum Experience as a foreshadowing of things to come in the next few years. I recently had the opportunity to ask IBM some questions about these projects and other things on my mind. This article contains said questions and IBM's answers.