Amazon has a new version of Alexa for hotels. Voice assistants such as Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) Siri, Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL) Google Assistant and Amazon's (NASDAQ: AMZN) Alexa have integrated themselves into our digital lives. Almost half of American adults used voice assistants last year, according to Pew Research. Earlier this year, PwC reported that U.S. internet users who spoke to their devices interacted with smartphones most frequently. However, users are also talking to their tablets, PCs and smart speakers.

Google's controversial Duplex artificial intelligence voice project could answer your next insurance call. According to a report by The Information, an unnamed insurance company expressed interest in the technology. Duplex could handle "simple and repetitive" phone calls, a person close to the project told The Information. Additionally, a human could step in when the insurance call gets too complicated. While a natural next step for voice assistant technology like Duplex is an enterprise solution, Google made it clear that it will focus on consumers first in a statement to Engadget.

Today's software industry requires individuals who are proficient in as many programming languages as possible. Structured query language (SQL), as an adopted standard, is no exception, as it is the most widely used query language to retrieve and manipulate data. However, the process of learning SQL turns out to be challenging. The need for a computer-aided solution to help users learn SQL and improve their proficiency is vital. In this study, we present a new approach to help users conceptualize basic building blocks of the language faster and more efficiently. The adaptive design of the proposed approach aids users in learning SQL by supporting their own path to the solution and employing successful previous attempts, while not enforcing the ideal solution provided by the instructor. Furthermore, we perform an empirical evaluation with 93 participants and demonstrate that the employment of hints is successful, being especially beneficial for users with lower prior knowledge.

When you picture a personal assistant, you probably envision a celebrity -- or at least someone very wealthy -- walking around with a "shadow" who takes her messages, makes her travel plans, helps her pick out the perfect outfit, and eliminates other daily tasks from her lengthy to-do list. If you've ever wished you could have a personal assistant of your own, then you're in luck. Personal assistants are quickly becoming accessible to the masses -- thanks to AI and other emerging tech. In fact, technology really has been an equalizer when it comes to providing everyday people access to personal concierge services. Besides Siri or Google on your smartphone, Amazon's Alexa and Google Home may be some of the first digital "personal" assistants that come to mind.

As artificial intelligence gains traction as a preferred method for communicating with consumers, debt collectors must adapt to new contact methods to maintain a competitive edge. Professionals from Diversified Consultants Inc. (DCI) and Enhanced Resource Center (ERC), two of the first agencies that have deployed Intelligent Virtual Assistants to interact with their consumers as an alternative to live agents, can help you learn to use this technology during a Hot Topic Seminar July 18. Gordon Beck III, CEO of DCI and Marty Sarim, CEO of ERC, will lead the seminar: Preparing for AI & Evolving Consumer Preferences, sponsored by Interactions Corporation. Sign up today to gain access to the latest information to help you communicate with consumers. Follow ACA International on Twitter @ACAIntl and @acacollector, Facebook and request to join our LinkedIn group for news and event updates. ACA International members are welcome to submit news items for possible publication to comm@acainternational.org.

There are smart speakers, which connect wirelessly to other devices, and then there's the new era of smart speakers, designed to offer services through voice-controlled virtual assistants. Sonos, for a long time, was all about the former, having been a pioneer of high-quality, WiFi-connected speaker systems. Now it's entered the next era with products like Sonos One and Sonos Beam, which work with Amazon's Alexa and other virtual assistants. But Sonos' partners are also rivals, and Sonos' reliance on companies like Amazon, Google, and Apple makes it vulnerable, as it revealed in filing for an initial public offering Friday. To cite one example: Amazon can disable Alexa on Sonos devices any time, with "limited notice," according to the filing.

A car is never just a car. Yes, there's the engine, windshield, and axle; these parts have been fundamental to cars since they were known as "horseless carriages." But the modern automobile is heavily computerized, with oxygen sensors, a stability controller, a powertrain module, and a vast network of other functions. Now, cars are more sophisticated than ever: Bluetooth, rear-view cameras, and zoned temperature controls are standard features in 2018 models. Too many people don't think about the vast amount of data collection that happens.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto both come standard on the 2018 Crosstrek (Photo: Reviewed.com A car is never just a car. Yes, there's the engine, windshield, and axle; these parts have been fundamental to cars since they were known as "horseless carriages." But the modern automobile is heavily computerized, with oxygen sensors, a stability controller, a powertrain module, and a vast network of other functions. Now, cars are more sophisticated than ever: Bluetooth, rear-view cameras, and zoned temperature controls are standard features in 2018 models.

SAN FRANCISCO: Google's voice-calling "Duplex" - which lets Artificial Intelligence (AI) mimic a human voice to make appointments and book tables through phone calls - may soon enter call centres assisting humans with customer queries. According to a report in The Information late on Thursday, an unnamed insurance company has shown interest in "Duplex" which could "handle simple and repetitive customer calls" before taking help from a human if the conversation gets complicated. Google, however, said in a statement that the company is not testing "Duplex" with any enterprise clients. "We're currently focused on consumer use cases for the'Duplex' technology and we aren't testing'Duplex' with any enterprise clients," a Google spokesperson told Engadget in a statement. "'Duplex' is designed to operate in very specific use cases, and currently we're focused on testing with restaurant reservations, hair salon booking and holiday hours with a limited set of trusted testers," the company added.

CES 2017 was a breakout year for Amazon's Alexa digital assistant. The helpful, disembodied entity showed up in everything from speakers to appliances. The 2018 show proved a similar opportunity for the Google Assistant. One of the big promises on the Google Assistant front was a wave of "smart displays" from companies like JBL and LG, but those products are only just getting ready to trickle out here in July. Smart screens have also busted out of their small frames a bit since CES 2018, too.