Artificial Intelligence (AI) is taking the internet world by storm. You can see proof of this with all the talk in forums and all the articles being published pertaining to the latest trend in the digital world. Personalization has been another hot topic within digital marketing. However, with so many things to do with managing your online store and getting your work-life balance straight, it can get overwhelming. AI has been applied to various industries and has improved functionality and enhanced efficiency.

Almost a third (32%) of consumers surveyed globally by PwC plan to buy an AI device including robots or automated assistants, with retailers watching closely as'voice commerce' develops in the home. The findings are published today in PwC's Global Consumer Insights survey, which assesses the shopping behaviour, habits and expectations of over 22,000 consumers in 27 countries. The study reports that 10% of respondents already own artificial intelligence (AI) devices, such as robots and automated personal assistants like Amazon Echo or Google Home, and 32% said they plan to buy one. Both consumer and retailer habits and offerings still need time to adapt however, to make the most of the new voice commerce channel. Interest in the devices is strongest amongst consumers in emerging economies including China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.

Smart bulbs are great starting points when creating the connected home of your dreams. Because they connect to Wi-Fi, you can adjust them from an app, and control them via voice commands with your smart speakers. They also offer an awesome level of granular control, whether that means setting them on timers, or controlling their precise brightness levels and color profiles. For the smart home-curious, Philips has put its entry-level smart bulb kit on sale. The Hue White A19 60W Equivalent Smart Bulb Starter Kit is $44.99 on Amazon now--a significant price drop from its average offering of around $65.

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence IoT Briefing subscribers hours before it appeared on Business Insider. To be the first to know, please click here. Apple is reportedly considering releasing a less expensive version of its HomePod smart speaker later this year, according to Business Insider. The new device would cost between $150 and $200, which is significantly cheaper than the $350 price tag for the current device. The new speaker could be unveiled at the company's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) this June, where the original HomePod was first revealed last year, or at Apple's annual fall event during which it typically unveils new hardware.

"Siri, how many tablespoons are in a cup?" You probably use digital assistants to help you cook dinner at night and plan your clothes for the next day. But are you taking advantage of the same technology to get more done during your work day? And do you know the etiquette of working with digital assistants? We asked Robby Slaughter, productivity expert and principal at AccelaWork, a business consulting firm, what we all need to know about using digital assistants to get more done at work.

Amazon's Alexa is becoming less hospitable to people who prefer to buy music instead of just signing up for a music subscription service such as Spotify. Until recently, Amazon Music Storage was the best way to stream your personal music collection onto Alexa devices--provided it was encoded as MP3 files. But in December, Amazon stopped supporting new uploads for the free service; it stopped accepting paid subscriptions a month later. In January 2019, Amazon will shut down Music Storage entirely, rendering your MP3 collection inaccessible on Echo devices unless you purchased the songs directly through Amazon's digital store. To play your own MP3s (or music encoded in other formats, such as FLAC) on the Echo or other Alexa devices, you can still use Plex or My Media Server for Alexa, both of which allow you to stream songs that you've stored on another device.

Today, we are living in a smart digital era where technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality promise to disrupt our lives for better. Our homes are now equipped with intelligent virtual assistants like Alexa, and very soon there will be a plethora of smart home appliances and connected devices that can be controlled with simple voice commands or through mobile apps. Today, we are living in a smart digital era where technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Augmented Reality promise to disrupt our lives for better. Our homes are now equipped with intelligent virtual assistants like Alexa, and very soon there will be a plethora of smart home appliances and connected devices that can be controlled via simple voice commands or mobile apps. Our cities have become smarter and safer too.

Robo advisors, a class of financial advisor that provide financial advice or investment management online with moderate to minimal human intervention, are growing in popularity. These provide digital financial advice based on mathematical rules or algorithms to automatically allocate, manage and optimize clients' assets. This allows these companies to provide more affordable and accessible services. Unlike conventional asset management services which require large amounts of investment capital, digital asset management services can be obtained starting with much lower investment capital, sometimes only a few hundred bucks, other times, a few thousands. The robo advisor develops a personalized portfolio for clients and then monitors it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Amazon has a new way to reel you into Audible now that smart speakers are a big deal: give you a freebie just by asking. As of this week, anyone who's new to Audible can ask an Echo speaker to read a full audiobook at no cost. You don't have to be picky about your choice of book, either, so you can ask for the hot new novel if that's your preference. Naturally, Amazon is hoping you'll be so enamored that you sign up on the spot -- if you aren't, though, you can at least say that it didn't take much effort to get that free book in the first place.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning permeated HIMSS18 such that the dynamic duo was just about everywhere in Las Vegas last week. From expected experts such as long-time Google executive Eric Schmidt to surprise speakers, notably White House Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, discussing it on stage, the promise was palpable, the use cases more numerous than ever before. Add EHR vendors to that roster. Allscripts, athenahealth, Cerner, eClinicalWorks and Epic revealed big plans for adding AI into the workflow in forthcoming iterations of their electronic health records platforms. Anyone who hoofed it over to Microsoft's booth may have encountered a rendering of something at least conceptually similar in the form of a Surface monitor displaying Epic's EHR and AI running in conjunction with Microsoft's Azure.