Nearly one in five U.S. adults today have access to a smart speaker, according to new research out this week from Voicebot.ai. That means adoption of these voice-powered devices has grown to 47.3 million U.S. adults in two years – or 20 percent of U.S. adult population. To clarify, "access to a smart speaker" means the adults have one in their home, but they may not be a primary user. So, a spouse, a roommate, or a live-in partner would also qualify as a smart speaker user, according to this study. That's a difference worth pointing out, especially if making a comparison to other technology devices, like smartphones or wearables, which tend to have only one owner.

Machine learning(ML) and AI are hot topics these days. So, I find a lot of product managers and would-be product managers come up to me and ask how they can become better ML PMs. Since the intersection of machine learning and product management is a fairly comprehensive topic, one post would not do justice to it. This post will focus on how to figure out if the problem you are trying to solve needs machine learning or not. The first principle of building a great product using machine learning is to focus on user needs.

Remember that bit in 2001: A Space Odyssey when the computer turns evil and purrs, 'I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that'? We may have reached that moment with Amazon's now-ubiquitous Echo devices, which seem to be emitting'evil' and'witch-like' laughs and refusing to obey their masters. One user claims that Alexa refused to turn the lights in his house off, repeatedly turning them on with an'evil laugh' So is it time to unplug the devices and shove them into a toaster before they turn on us and murder us all in our sleep? Lying in bed about to fall asleep when Alexa on my Amazon Echo Dot lets out a very loud and creepy laugh… there's a good chance I get murdered tonight. Amazon's Alexa is supposed to laugh when you tell it a joke – but users are reporting that the devices are laughing at inappropriate moments.

The artificial intelligence market is expected to reach USD 190.61 billion by 2025 from USD 21.46 billion in 2018, at a CAGR of 36.62%. The market growth can be attributed to factors such as growing big data, the increasing adoption of cloud-based applications and services, and increasing demand for intelligent virtual assistants. The limited number of AI technology experts is restraining the market growth to a certain extent Software to hold largest market share during forecast period Software is expected to hold the largest share of the artificial intelligence market. Continuous developments have been witnessed in AI software and related software development kits. Also, artificial intelligence software is used in various applications, such as virtual assistants, marketing, search advertising, identity access management, intruder detection, and cybersecurity Market for computer vision technology to grow at highest CAGR during forecast period The artificial intelligence market for computer vision technology is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.

The pace of progress is ramping up so quickly in this space, it's useful to pause for a refresher on what AI and machine learning actually are. Artificial intelligence is the study of how to make machines intelligent or capable of solving problems as well as people can. At its core, machine learning is a new way of creating those problem-solving systems. For decades, programmers manually coded computer programs to provide outputs when given a certain input. With machine learning, we teach computers to learn without having to program them with a rigid set of rules.

Samsung Electronics is showcasing an AI assistant this coming Sunday at SXSW 2018 Trade Show, and surprisingly, we are not talking about Bixby here. The South Korean tech giant is unveiling a visualized 3D character assistant at the event as part of the new technologies its C-Lab (Creative Lab) program is currently working on. The Galaxy S9 maker recently took to its online newsroom to announce that three new innovative projects from C-Lab will be showcased at SXSW 2018 from Sunday, March 11, through Wednesday, March 14. The company has disclosed that it will be exhibiting the new AI technologies at Stand #1538 in Exhibit Hall 3 of the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. One of the C-Lab creations that will be present at Samsung's booth is Aurora, a smartphone app and deck that features a visualized 3D character assistant.

The Noon Lighting System is easily our favorite smart switch, with only its weighty price tag keeping it from being our top recommendation. But this system is worth every penny. Its heart is the Noon Room Director, a single rocker switch with an embedded OLED touchscreen that controls not only the circuit it's wired to, but up to 10 Extension switches as well. This allows you to create and manage lighting scenes for an entire room of lighting fixtures without having to walk light to light. It also includes a motion-triggered night light and a vacation mode that learns to mimic your habitual light usage patterns so you can make potential intruders think you're still at home when you're actually away. Noon offers professional installation for $150 for up to three switches, plus $20 per each additional switch.

Autonomous vehicles, biometric recognition, virtual assistants and robo-advisors - these are just some of the many examples of artificial intelligence-powered technologies impacting our daily lives. They promise us increased safety, efficiency and productivity, but at what cost to our privacy, security and liberty? Host John Wright explores these topics with his guests discussing legal, ethical and public policy issues related to new and emerging technologies powered by artificial intelligence.

Huawei is expected to announce its 2018 flagship Android phone in a couple of weeks and it looks like the company will also debut its own virtual assistant for the Chinese market. Evidence has surfaced suggesting that Huawei will soon announce HiAssistant, the company's answer to Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The existence of HiAssistant was first discovered by XDA-Developers, which examined the firmware files of EMUI 8.1 for the Huawei Mate 10. Apparently, HiAssistant will only run on future Huawei phones that are being powered by the company's own Kirin 970 system-on-chip (SoC). This will most likely include the Huawei P20 and P20 Plus, which are both expected to be announced in Paris on March 27.

Google has started offering free voice calls through its Home smart speakers to UK landlines and mobile phones, bringing it in line with US offerings. Following an update rolling out this week, Google's Home and Home Mini smart speakers will be able to place calls to ordinary UK numbers over its wifi connection, for hands-free phone calls. It doesn't need a mobile phone to work, unlike some rival systems. Google Assistant will be able to call any number in your Google Contacts, as well as millions of businesses. Assistant is able to recognise the voice of up to six different users, giving them access to their own personalised contacts, meaning a command to "call mum" should call the right mother.