My wife and I were just settling into bed one night when Alexa, the other woman in my life, decided to make herself heard. Without being summoned, the Amazon Echo Dot at my bedside -- one of the half-dozen devices that Alexa inhabits in our house -- lit up its spectral blue ring, as if it had heard its triggering wake word, "Alexa." But instead of offering help with some household chore, the voice assistant began to wail, like a child screaming in a horror-movie dream. "Huh," I said to my wife when it was over. She said something less kind. But here's what's really strange: By the next morning, we had forgotten all about it.

The banking world is racing to get smarter via artificial intelligence (AI), but how can intelligence that's artificial stack up to human expertise and the demands of human consumers? To tackle this issue, companies are looking to infuse AI with a bit of humanity, help consumers better connect with computer-operated services and offer improved insights. In the February edition of the Digital Banking Tracker, a Feedzai Collaboration, PYMNTS explores the latest developments surrounding AI and machine learning in the financial services space. Can AI help consumers become smarter spenders? Several industry players seem to think so.

When arrested, Mohammed already had two of the ingredients needed to make the highly unstable TATP (acetone peroxide), known as the "mother of Satan", which was used by a suicide bomber in an attack on a pop concert at the Manchester Arena last May, killing 22 children and adults.

This undated handout photo issued by Counter Terrorism Policing North East shows Sudanese asylum seeker Munir Mohammed. A man and woman who met on a Muslim dating website have been handed prison sentences for plotting an Islamic State-inspired bomb attack in Britain. Prosecutors say Munir Mohammed, an asylum-seeker from Sudan, and London pharmacist Rowaida El-Hassan met on SingleMuslim.com On Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018, judge Michael Topolski sentenced 37-year-old Mohammed to life with no chance of parole for 14 years. El-Hassan, who is 32, was jailed for 12 years, plus five years on probation.

Amazon's Alexa smart speakers certainly helped normalize the idea of a digital assistant inside the house, but the Google Home is helping spur the expansion of a connected ecosystem. As a result, if all you're looking for is an unobtrusive device in your home to answer questions and act as an entertainment controller, either one of these smart speakers will serve you well. If you're looking for a more contextualized experience, however, or you're merely so tied to the Google ecosystem that you'd rather not play outside of the sandbox, there are reasons to choose a Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker over an Alexa one. Like the fact that there are some commands and services that are compatible with the Google Home and not with the Amazon Echo. I hate the washing the dishes.

AirPods have been a huge success. Future models of Apple's wireless earbuds will reportedly feature better support for digital voice assistant Siri and water resistance. According to Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, Apple is expected to roll out a version of AirPods as early as this year with hands-free Siri support. Instead of tapping the headphones to activate Siri, users could simply say "Hey Siri" as they would when calling the assistant on an iPhone hands free. Another model expected to launch next year would offer water resistance, allowing AirPods to withstand splashes of water, such as when it's raining.

LONDON – A man and woman who met on a Muslim dating website have been handed prison sentences for plotting an Islamic State-inspired bomb attack in Britain. Prosecutors say Munir Mohammed, an asylum-seeker from Sudan, and London pharmacist Rowaida El-Hassan met on SingleMuslim.com Last month, a jury at London's Central Criminal Court found them guilty of preparing terrorist acts. On Thursday, judge Michael Topolski sentenced 37-year-old Mohammed to life with no chance of parole for 14 years. El-Hassan, who is 32, was jailed for 12 years, plus five years on probation.

Hackers could break into your Tinder account using just your phone number, experts say. The security flaw in the popular dating app could let attackers access your entire chat history without the need for a password. It takes advantage of a flaw in both the dating app's login process as well as a piece of Facebook-developed software that it's based on. The finding comes hot on the heels of a pair of major security flaws discovered in January that threatened to reveal your every swipe and match to strangers. Hackers could break into your Tinder account using just your phone number, experts say.

In recent years the customer experience landscape has seen the emergence of chatbots, virtual digital assistants, and AI. By automating repetitive tasks these tools have saved costs, allowing humans to focus on more complex issues. The long term impact of AI and machine learning applications, however, is potentially tremendous and far reaching. Machine learning refers to the ability of information systems or computer programs to learn and improve from experience, without being programmed. Essentially, the machine interprets existing data using algorithms allowing the computer program or information system to find hidden insights without being explicitly programed where to look.

Idemandu Founder Pooya Abka wants to help make your daily life easier with AI technology. Earlier this year, Pooya Abka attended the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show and walked away feeling validated. CES was all about Google Assistant this year and he knew he was definitely on to something in the artificial intelligence space. You see, Abka is the founder of Idemandu, an AI agent that learns and adapts to your needs over time. As Abka explained to me, we "created the first AI agent that can understand customers' service needs over voice, connect them to vetted service providers instantly, and learn about their personal preferences with time."