"Hi, I'm calling to make a reservation," the polite female voice on the other end of the line said. And that was how I found myself introduced to Google's latest AI masterpiece, the conversation-filler-injecting Turing test contender known as Duplex. When Google rolls it out to some users for testing in the coming weeks, Duplex will be a tool within the Google Assistant app that the testers can use to call stores on their behalf and find out their holiday hours. Later this summer, it will also be able to call restaurants and salons to set up reservations and hair appointments. It was unveiled in May at the company's annual developer conference to much fanfare and, in the days later, much fuss.

Artificial Intelligence was one of the hottest topics of 2017. A.I. in your life: While many think that AI is just the trend of the moment, it is much more real than they believe. You might have spotted it in many of the applications on your phone or in our computer: virtual personal assistants like Siri (Apple) or Google Now, online customer support and music or movie recommendations. When it comes to the workplace, the general belief is that AI will kill jobs. While this is true for certain sectors (e.g.

Chinese internet giant Baidu's co-founder Robin Li has revealed new technologies such as an unmanned bus, upgraded digital assistant, and smart chip at the firm's second artificial intelligence conference. Li introduced Apolong bus, developed with King Long United Automotive Industry, at its Baidu Create 2018 event today. The vehicle can operate without driver's participation after entering the desired destination, and this is why it has no steering wheel nor driver's seat. "We can think of autonomous driving as a four-wheeled robot," Li said, adding that it can help in daily activities such as logistics and cleaning, but in the future, also in security work, disaster relief, and agriculture. Baidu also released other AI-related products such as a digital assistant DuerOs 3.0, and smart chip called Kunlun, which it suggested to be China's first cloud-to-edge AI chip.

Your smartphone is not listening to you - but does secretly watch everything you do. Researchers have uncovered that smartphone applications record video footage and screenshots of your activity and then send the recordings to third parties. Scientists made the find while investigating the long-held rumour that apps are capable of hijacking microphones in smart devices to secretly record audio to help them better target advertisements displayed online. Smartphone users have for years complained of the creepy feeling their gadget is listening to their every word – even while stowed away in their pocket – but the new study found no evidence of the practice ever taking place. Your smartphone isn't listening to you - but it does secretly watch everything you do.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., July 2, 2018 – International Data Corporation (IDC) today published an IDC Innovators report profiling five technology providers that are considered key emerging vendors in the conversational AI platforms market. The five companies named as IDC Innovators are Personetics, Kore.ai, Conversational AI platforms are used to build applications that answer questions, provide advice and/or recommendations using natural language processing and other dialog related technologies. The market for intelligent conversational assistance is growing rapidly, fueled by the use and acceptance of consumer tools like Google Assistant, Apple's Siri, and Amazon's Alexa. To date, there are dozens of supplier companies seeking to address these emerging interface opportunities with new companies emerging in the marketplace every day.

Silicon Valley's quest for artificial intelligence has led it to build self-driving cars, drones, and robots that can do back flips. But often that journey has come down to something much more prosaic, such as ordering a pizza -- or booking a restaurant reservation. Duplex is the company's next-generation virtual helper. When the company first showcased it at its developer conference in May, it engaged in conversation so lifelike -- complete with humanlike "ums" and pauses -- that the person on the other end of the call couldn't tell that the speaker was just software. Some asked whether the interaction was fake.

Humans have a complicated relationship with artificial intelligence, and it's only getting more complex. Some worry that AI will replace us as the dominant species on the planet, while others envision the digital assistant as a panacea for the tedious tasks we humans hate doing. But, since we don't have those robot butlers just yet, here's a look back at the tech news you may have missed last week while you were toiling away, building a better world for our future robotic overlords. This week's episode includes a first-hand account of what it's like to talk to the Google Duplex AI bot that makes restaurant reservations--while doing a surprisingly convincing human impression (you can read more about that here). We also talk about the latest batch of waterproof gadgets to use by the pool, and fully admit how addicted we are to technology in light of the recent outages for Google Assistant and the group chat app, Slack.

Barbie becomes a robotics engineer, a new app for baby and Siri gets mad. You can now talk to Alexa through your iPhone, Barbie is becoming a robotics engineer and an app can tell you why your baby is crying -- the late-night comics talk about the newest rollouts related to technology, and why some of it isn't as impressive as you might think. Late-night comic Trevor Noah kicks things off by pointing out why, when it comes to parenting, apps can't replace good old fashioned common sense. Seth Meyers gives us the mansplaining Ken doll and Jimmy Fallon gets in some woman trouble. Find out why Siri tells him off in today's Best of Late Night, above.

The Israeli military says it's uncovered a plot by Hamas to spy on soldiers by befriending them on social media and then luring them to download dating applications that give the militants access to their smartphones.

It led him to pause his statement on the fight against Islamic State as Speaker John Bercow remarked on the "very rum business".