For years I have followed annual tech predictions from events like Enterprise Connect. And 10 years ago, when Gartner predicted the rise of the robots, I thought they had it all wrong. Fast forward to today: I have Alexa in my kitchen and Cortana on my Windows touchscreen and iPhone. I can even control my pool settings using Alexa and my Apple Watch. Robots are everywhere, and artificial intelligence (AI) will make them even smarter and more impactful.

Microsoft and Xiaomi have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work closely in cloud computing, AI, and hardware. It has so far been uncommon for a US company to partner with a Chinese company on artificial intelligence, but it definitely makes sense as both countries are the biggest markets for those products and services. Microsoft is planning to allow Xiaomi to use its cloud computing products, including Azure, to develop upgraded phones, laptops, and smart devices to bring them to an international market. At the same time, the partnership will also give Microsoft more reach and access to the Chinese market. The two are also in discussions about possibly integrating Microsoft Cortana with the Mi AI speaker, a budget speaker with a modern look.

It's a widely accepted fact--at least in my circle of recent college grads--that Tinder, and the world of online dating writ large, is a wasteland. The lure of carefully curated profiles, relative anonymity, and endless swiping seem to bring out the worst behavior--catfishing, terrible bios, and misogyny abound. And even when motives are pure, the nagging idea that there's a better match one swipe away tends to make Tinder interactions feel like placeholders. This, combined with the fact that men swipe right on anything that moves (meaning women are forced to second-guess every single one of their matches), makes the entire situation feel like a huge time suck with little chance of romantic reward. An Oxford study revealed that about half of conversations between matches were one-sided, meaning the other person never responded.

Analyst Gartner put out a 10-strong listicle this week identifying what it dubbed "high-impact" uses for AI-powered features on smartphones that it suggests will enable device vendors to provide "more value" to customers via the medium of "more advanced" user experiences. It's also predicting that, by 2022, a full 80 per cent of smartphones shipped will have on-device AI capabilities, up from just 10 per cent in 2017. More on-device AI could result in better data protection and improved battery performance, in its view -- as a consequence of data being processed and stored locally. Its full list of apparently enticing AI uses is presented (verbatim) below. But in the interests of presenting a more balanced narrative around automation-powered UXes we've included some alternative thoughts after each listed item which consider the nature of the value exchange being required for smartphone users to tap into these touted'AI smarts' -- and thus some potential drawbacks too.

The way you control Apple's smart speaker, the HomePod, is pretty cool. You just talk to it. But Siri, Apple's voice assistant, can't make the speaker do much beyond the basics and can only summon music from Apple-owned cloud services. That sets it behind the other products in the voice-activated speaker race--most notably those from Amazon or Google--which are capable, flexible, and largely platform-neutral when it comes to streaming. It's too bad Siri can't play internet radio or the deep cuts from your local MP3 library, because the speaker itself sounds absolutely amazing.

We may not have to wait much longer before immortality becomes a reality. Swedish scientists believe that artificial intelligence can be harnessed to create'fully conscious copies' of our loved ones after they die, according to Sputnik News. Scientists are looking for volunteers who are willing to offer up their dead relatives for the study. They would use AI to reconstruct the voices of those who've died to allow family members to communicate with their deceased loved ones. Swedish scientists may be working to build'fully conscious copies' of relatives who have died.

In July, Chinese tech giant Xiaomi jumped into the smart speaker race with its answer to Amazon's Alexa and Google Home, the $45 Mi AI -- though it probably won't find its way to American shores, given how had a time it's had penetrating the US and European markets. Today, the company made a different move with artificial intelligence, signing a deal with Microsoft to partner up on projects involving AI, cloud computing and hardware to help the device company expand into other markets. As part of the Memorandum of Understanding, Xiaomi will harness Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to expand services for its users, including data storage and bandwidth. The American tech company will consult the Chinese tech giant on joint marketing and channel support to get Xiaomi's laptops into new international markets. And, of course, partnering will give Microsoft access to Xiaomi's users across the world.

It's 2018 and robots have officially taken over--or at least they're in charge while they roam around our floors, picking up everything from dirt to pet hair. Like most technology, robot vacuums are there to make our lives a little bit easier with scheduled cleanings at the press of a button--some even have smartphone apps. This makes those weekly (or monthly, we don't judge) deep, whole-house cleanings less strenuous and time consuming. Although robot vacuums can't completely replace the trusty handheld vacuum--yet--our readers are buying them like hotcakes (or whatever the vacuum equivalent is). Here are the top robot vacuums our readers have been buying lately.

If you're a music fan, the first wave of smart speakers was probably a disappointment. While Alexa and Google Assistant have definitively proven they have a place in the home, the first Echo and Google Home devices were unimpressive when it came to actually playing music. They did the job in a pinch, and being able to command Spotify with your voice is a killer feature, but many longed for better-quality audio. Fortunately, that call has been answered. In the past six months, Sonos, Google and Apple have all released music-first speakers with voice assistants built in. If you value audio quality above all else (and have about $400 to spend), what's the right smart speaker for you?

Google Assistant will soon be able to speak more than 30 languages. The internet giant said Friday its digital assistant software would be available in more than 30 languages by the end of 2018 as it steps up its artificial intelligence efforts against Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and others. New languages including Danish, Dutch, Hindi and Indonesian, among others, will be coming to Assistant this year, with more on the way throughout the year. Assistant will also become multilingual, 'so families or individuals that speak more than one language can speak naturally,' to the program, Google wrote in a blog post. Google Assistant released its AI software in 2016 and the technology is available on the firm's connected speakers, Android smartphones, TVs, Android Auto and other devices.