Imagine a seamless, personalized user-machine experience driving business and home. Intelligent automation is the key. Forward-thinking enterprises are already delivering business and infrastructure optimization with IA and looking now to business transformation. If you are just beginning to get on the IA bandwagon, you may already be too late. Realize incremental value now as you plan integrations for the future with your business units and clients today. Linda Delbridge is the Director of Business Development for Robotic Process and Cognitive Automation at ISG, a technology research and advisory firm.

To say that the role of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare is intriguing, would be an understatement. AI and Machine Learning can bring about changes that have a substantial impact on healthcare processes and administration & while there is a lot we have to overcome to reach the stage of AI-dependent healthcare, there is sufficient potential in the technology today to drive governments, healthcare institutions, and providers to invest in AI-powered solutions. A study by Accenture has predicted that growth in the AI healthcare space is expected to touch $6.6 billion by 2021 with a CAGR of 40%. As on today, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are well and truly poised to make the work of healthcare providers more logical & streamlined than repetitive. The technology is helping shape personalized healthcare services while significantly reducing the time to look for information that is critical to decision making and facilitating better care for patients.

Oh, the rumors were right. Samsung's new TVs are taking in all the services and features around. First it was Apple, and now Google Assistant will be coming to its newest sets later this year. As seen at Samsung's glitzy showcase on Thursday night (see above), and backed up by reports from CNET and The Verge, it's not the usual setup. New TVs will be able to respond to voice commands issued to Alexa and Google Assistant-powered smart speakers, not through the TV directly.

Conversational intelligence is another area that AI is making the biggest wave. Voice is not just an interface, but a personification of devices which is then mirrored on the brand. Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and the most recent Google Duplex are capable of carrying out almost seamless conversations. Conversational intelligence is extensively used in the BFSI sector to help customers navigate the loan management, insurance premium payments, or wealth advisories. With sophisticated algorithms, these Robo-advisors are able to provide the best price for loans, insurance premium calculation, or settle your tax returns.

The film studio A24 that created "Ex Machina" has teamed up with AI-powered personal assistant service x.ai so that the robotic main character "Ava." The robot can be cc'd at ava@x.ai when scheduling meetings. Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag (where he served as Senior Editor). Most recently, he was as the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications.

Apple's HomeKit doesn't have a wide range of device support, but that's changing very shortly. Netatmo has unveiled the Smart Video Doorbell, which it says is the first doorbell to support HomeKit. You can view it through the Home app, or ask Siri to show you the doorbell when someone's waiting outside. And yes, it'll integrate nicely with your other devices -- you can turn on the porch lights the moment the device spots someone at the front door. You don't need an Apple-made device to control it, of course (there are also Android and web apps, not to mention IFTTT support).

At CES 2018, Jabra debuted its Elite 65t true wireless earbuds, an audio device that would eventually become one of our favorite headphones of the year. For CES this time around, the company has a more traditional new product: a set of over-ear noise-cancelling headphones. With the Elite 85h, Jabra offers an option that will help block out the world around you and provide hands-free access to your virtual assistant of choice for $299. Active noise cancellation (ANC) is great, but a lot of flagship headphones these days have some type of adaptive sound to adjust the feature to whatever environment you're in. Jabra has done just that.

Moen is about to make its showers a little smarter. Last year, the company announced that it would be incorporating Alexa and Siri into its U by Moen smart shower series. What's more, the Alexa functionality has now been upgraded from being just a third-party skill to one that's fully integrated as an official Amazon Alexa Skill. For example, instead of saying "Alexa, tell Moen to turn on the shower," you can now say "Alexa, turn on the shower" for the command to take effect. It works similarly with Siri and Google too; simply swap "Alexa" with either "Siri" or "Google."

Matthew Braga is the senior technology reporter for CBC News, where he covers stories about how data is collected, used, and shared. If you have a tip, you can contact this reporter securely using Signal or WhatsApp at 1 416 316 4872, or via email at matthew.braga@cbc.ca. For particularly sensitive messages or documents, consider using Secure Drop, an anonymous, confidential system for sharing encrypted information with CBC News.

BEIJING - Chinese gay dating app Blued is halting new user registration for a week, it said Sunday, following media reports that underage users caught HIV after going on dates set up via the world's largest networking app for the LGBT community. China has a vibrant lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender scene, though activists say conservative attitudes among some groups in society have prompted occasional government clampdowns. On Saturday, citing academic research, financial magazine Caixin said juveniles were heavily involved in the gay dating app, where some teenagers had even hosted live-streaming. It added that many gay teenagers had unprotected sex through the app and contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In response, Blued vowed to launch a "comprehensive content audit and regulation," and crack down on juvenile users posing as adults and on texts, pictures and groups that involve minors.