Yet the clear darling of this year's show was not a gadget but the growing amount of artificial intelligence software helping these products run. The race between Amazon and Google to be the go-to service for integration of consumer products was on full display. In many booths, signs prominently advertised that products worked with Google Assistant or Amazon's Alexa. The smart home, car and TV all seemed to have been touched by Amazon or Google. "It's the year of A.I. and conversational interfaces," said J. P. Gownder, an analyst for Forrester Research.

CES 2018 is winding down, and we finally have a chance to pause and reflect on what we saw that was actually great. Products that advanced their category, or broke new ground. Things that leaped ahead of the competition, Or maybe they just looked cool. It's easy to hit saturation at CES, but these are the products we're still talking about when everything else has blurred together. We start with the product that was so innovative, two of us raved about it.

The UK has experienced a "lost decade" for productivity, with no increase in production efficiency between 2007 and 2017. Beware those who tell you they know the answer to our longstanding productivity woes. It is a highly complex question and there is no consensus on the precise causes, or what we should prioritise to solve the problem. Yet the bald facts are indisputable. In 2015, this country's output was just 76% of the level in the US, and well behind that of most of our other major competitors in the global marketplace.

Do you use artificial intelligence (AI)? It might sound like a high-brow discussion for coders and data scientists, but AI is everywhere. If you use an Amazon Echo, you use AI. If you use Facebook or Netflix, AI is used on you. AI is a catch-all term for several different technologies – including machine learning, neural networks, voice recognition and natural language processing – but they all have one thing in common (or should do); they allow machines to learn how to respond to your needs.

Artificial intelligence is a moving target. Here's how to take better aim. Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere. We experience it at home and on our phones. Before we know it--if entrepreneurs and business innovators are to be believed--AI will be in just about every product and service we buy and use. In addition, its application to business problem solving is growing in leaps and bounds.

Last year I attended the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit and had the opportunity to be entertained by keynote speaker James Corden of the CBS Late Late Show and of "carpool karaoke" fame. Central to Corden's talk was the importance of truth and transparency in both comedy and marketing. And aside from the obvious irony in today's era of alternative facts and fake news, he made a great argument for keeping things real. In addition to Corden, the buzz at the summit was all about the latest trends in marketing tech, particularly artificial intelligence (AI). Comments about AI's ability to facilitate listening, personalization and campaign management at scale floated around the halls and meeting rooms, causing almost everyone to wonder about the possibilities.

The effort is one of many signals that artificial intelligence is a huge theme at this year's show–mainly in the form of digital assistants like the Assistant, Amazon's Alexa, and Apple's Siri. Google wants those ads to create the vibe that its Assistant is the go-to choice for consumer electronics companies looking to build a brain into their device. But the current reality is different than the marketing message. This year, 45.4 million Americans will talk to an AI assistant inside smart speakers, says research firm eMarketer. But only about a quarter of them will be talking to Google's Assistant, while almost 68% will be talking to Amazon's Alexa. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who only occasionally shares specific numbers relating to hardware sales, said his company sold "tens of millions" of Alexa-powered devices over the holidays.

The verdict is still out on Sony's new pet dog'aibo,' but that's not stopping the company from planning a deeper push into robotics. The mechanical mutt, which goes on sale in Japan on Thursday, is just the beginning of the Tokyo-based company's return to robotics, Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai told Bloomberg TV. While aibo is primarily a toy, its artificial-intelligence capabilities and robotic architecture can be used to create machines for various service fields, he said. "The technology we incorporated into aibo -- A.I., robotics, and that combination -- in different form-factors can manifest itself in other robots that can be a part of transportation, education, health care," Hirai told Bloomberg's Emily Chang. "So it has a lot of different applications beyond just being an entertainment robot."

When you mention artificial intelligence (AI), plenty of images come to mind, thanks in large part to Hollywood depictions of the rise of the machines. While robots have yet to take over the world, many less threatening examples of AI have dominated our culture, from our everyday interactions with Siri or Alexa, to Google's self-driving car, or to Ken Jennings losing to Watson on Jeopardy! In reality, AI has already worked its way into our lives in ways that are far less sensational or even noticeable. Today's definition of AI is fluid, and the countless companies offering AI solutions in the market have as many different definitions for the concept as there are products. In short, the term "AI" is widely used to describe any computing function that mimics human intelligence or thinking.

While the idea of a robot assistant seems appealing to a wide swath of consumers, the reality may not live up to the anticipation. One of the most well-known artificial intelligence agents, Apple's Siri, is only reportedly used by about 15% of iPhone users. That leaves 85% of iPhone users who don't seem to find value in the robot pal who lives in their pocket. As Siri is a primary selling feature for a flagship product from one of the most renowned technology companies in the world, this begs the question – can anyone really execute an interactive voice recognition-based bot in a useful and meaningful way? (Intelligent Voice) The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas has adopted the use of an artificial intelligence concierge called "Rose" to assist their guests and provide a unique interactive experience. Since Rose's introduction, the hotel has seen a 39% increase in on-site spending and 90% of guests who interacted with Rose reported that they would recommend her.