The ability of artificial intelligence to make ethically sound decisions is a hot topic in debates around the world. The issue is particularly prevalent in discussions on the future of autonomous cars, but it spans to include ethical conundrums similar to those depicted in sci-fi flicks like Blade Runner. These high-level debates are mainly about a future that's still years away, but it is true that AI is already becoming part of our lives. Think Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and the photo-sorting function on many smartphones. The popularity of technologies like these already influences how people think about machine intelligence.

The rise of Machine Learning (ML) has the potential to dramatically impact how business as we know it operates. It is a vast and rapidly developing field – and still a new concept for most. ML, as a subset of artificial intelligence, can learn and predict outcomes providing tangible benefits like recommendation engines, fraud detection, security threat detection, personalized content and more. According to a McKinsey Global Institute report, Machine Learning's greatest potential across industries include improving forecasting and predicting outcomes. It's potential to deliver real-time optimization across industries will quickly accelerate in the coming years.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already affecting our lives in many ways. From intelligent video curation on Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) YouTube and Google web search to Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) Siri personal assistant, AI is already making our lives easier. AI can also help corporations and customers fight against rapidly evolving cyberthreats. For instance, FireEye's (NASDAQ:FEYE) Helix cybersecurity platform is able to automate threat detection and prevention with the help of this emerging technology. The early adoption of AI by Alphabet, Apple, and FireEye could help them steal a march over rivals.

Artificial intelligence is introducing itself in our lives, from chatbots like Siri to complex tools that replicate our tastes, robots are learning from us and they might become our best travel mates. Just few days ago, Google revealed in its I / O conference its effort to focus totally on AI, something already anticipated when it introduces the predictive autocomplete in Search. One of the innovations is the update of Google Assistant, an application that was born as Siri or Alexa, integrating the rest of the Google applications, as well as searches. This has enormous implications, since this application with the soul of a concierge can search our flights, reserve a table in a restaurant, buy our vacation package, as well as look for curiosities, send calendar invitations or make calls. Facebook, Google, Twitter and other leading mobile technology companies are recommending us where to go and what route to take according to the traffic in the area, adding our events to the calendar, and warning of possible strikes. Taking out a bit of stress can make our lives easier and one of the key areas that are redoubling their efforts in the construction of audiobots, chatbox and others bots is the travel industry.

Year 2017 has been one of the most exciting years of developers and technology lovers. Technologies such as big data, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, drones, autonomous vehicles, wearables, virtual reality, and smart homes are some of the fastest growing innovations. Gartner breaks down in its hype cycle of emerging technologies of year 2017 that shows AI, machine learning and deep learning are the focus while autonomous vehicles, virtual assistants, computer security, blockchain and cognitive computing is on the rise. The below graph indicates the lifetime of various technologies. In this article, I will focus on the cutting-edge technologies that are directly related to jobs and expected to grow at a faster pace than previously anticipated.

From voice assistants to self-driving cars, machine learning is revamping not only the way we interact with machines but also how we interact with the world. It is becoming one of the hottest technologies in the market, making mobile apps and services smarter and better than ever. According to IBM, about 90% of data existing in the world has been generated in the last 2 years. On average, we generate about 2.5 Quintillion bytes of data every day. This massive amount of data can't be processed and managed by humans physically.

The fight to sell you speakers you can also talk to is getting more intense – and more cheap. Sonos has announced it will sell its One smart speaker – which uses Amazon's Alexa – for cheaper than normal, in a deal launching just a day before the Apple HomePod. Apple's smart speaker contains many of the same features, and the two are part of an increasingly busy markets for sound systems you can talk to. Sonos is referring to the bundle as "Sonos Two" – that is, two of its Sonos One smart speaker. That speaker includes many of the same features as the HomePod: built-in microphones for talking to a voice assistant, and the ability to listen to music from your home.

Ubisoft just made an interesting addition to Ubisoft Club: a personal gaming assistant named Sam that functions just like Apple's Siri but only for Ubisoft's games. On Wednesday, Ubisoft published an introduction to the gaming assistant on its YouTube channel. The video shows a user launching the Ubisoft Club app on his iPhone then pressing the microphone button to talk to Sam. The user asks Sam, "How long have I played'Assassin's Creed Origins,' exactly?" And Sam quickly responds with a very specific answer: "You have played 17 hours and 52 minutes. The ad then shows that Sam does more than just answering questions about game progress. Bayek or Ezio?" Unfortunately, the promo clip jumps to another scene instead of showing which Assassin Sam picked.

Google's parent company just announced a new project to give the digital world'an immune system' It's official: Samsung will announce the Galaxy S9 on February 25th India pushes Amazon's international losses to $936 million Flipkart is out with yet another offer but this time around it's exclusively for its employees The world's most valuable bitcoin startup just grabbed an ex-Twitter exec to make cryptocurrency more user-friendly Microsoft's Cortana might be lagging behind Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant - but Microsoft says there's a master plan Atlassian's stock has doubled in the last year - but its president says the Australian tech company has lots of room to grow The author of the bestseller "Getting Things Done" reveals how entrepreneurs can avoid stress How to use Google's mega-hit viral app, which compares your selfies to famous works of art The company that makes chips for top Android phones announced its new model - here's what it means for Android phones in 2018

Baidu announced a trio of hardware products at the Consumer Electronics Show today that all connect to its Duer personal assistant, including a smart projector designed to serve the Japanese market. All three of the devices work like smart speakers from other companies including Amazon and Google, providing customers with the ability to talk with a virtual assistant -- in this case Duer, which is focused on the Chinese market. While these speakers aren't necessarily meant for launch stateside, they show that Baidu remains an important force in the virtual assistant market that could go on to be more influential worldwide. The Little Fish VSI Smart Speaker looks a lot like the Amazon Echo Show, with a display that enables video calls, media playback, and more. It's connected to services like Baidu Search, the iQiyi streaming service (one of the largest in China), and a cloud photo album for families to display their snaps on the countertop.