Jim Beam's smart decanter answers questions and can pour a glass of bourbon using a voice command. Jim Beam is joining the in-home smart device train with an artificially intelligent bourbon decanter called JIM. JIM is not exactly an Amazon Echo or Google Home, but it can answer questions about bourbon and even pour a shot when asked. The best part might be the voice of 7th Generation Master Distiller Fred Noe, who speaks with a matter-of-fact Kentucky accent. More: Hawking: AI could be'worst event in the history of our civilization' The smart decanter operates using 3G.

Nest was a pioneer in internet-connected home devices such as thermostats and home security cameras. Inc. recently launched a home-security device that competes with Nest. Making Nest and its 1,000 employees part of Google would mark a retrenchment of Alphabet's strategy to separate its core Google internet business from a number of other units, such as its research lab and life-sciences firm. When Alphabet was formed in August 2015, Nest was the model "other bet," with its own headquarters, hiring process and perks--even its own branded bikes for employees. At the time, CEO Larry Page said in a public letter that "the whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands."

Harrison told me in an email that he's gotten a lot of feedback on his proposal. One common objection is that people say "computer" too often in everyday conversation. But it shouldn't be too hard to program the software to infer from tone and context whether it's being directly addressed. Another is that the term feels increasingly anachronistic: Several respondents brought up the iPad Pro commercial in which a kid asks, "What's a computer?" That doesn't strike me as a real obstacle, but it's easy enough to imagine alternative, equally generic wake words if others find "computer" inapt: "device," "machine," and "robot" come to mind.

Amazon.com Inc wants to be your new executive assistant at work. The company on Thursday said that Alexa, its increasingly popular digital aide that shoppers command by voice, is now programmed to handle a range of tedious office tasks. Businesses can buy Alexa devices that help employees dial into conference calls, manage their calendars, find open meeting rooms and - not surprisingly - order work supplies from Amazon. Amazon is looking to make money in the long term from people shopping with Alexa and using it - rather than Apple Inc's Siri or Alphabet Inc's Google Assistant - as their go-to voice technology Amazon wants Alexa to be everywhere, and it needs more voice data to feed and'train' it so that talking to the assistant feels like talking to a friend. The company is looking to make money in the long term from people shopping with Alexa and using it - rather than Apple Inc's Siri or Alphabet Inc's Google Assistant - as their go-to voice technology.

Artificial intelligence has received its fair share of hype recently. However, it's hype that's well-founded: IDC predicts worldwide spend on AI and cognitive computing will culminate to a whopping $46 billion (with a "b") by 2020, and all the tech giants are jumping on board faster than you can say "ROI." But what is AI, exactly? According to Hilary Mason, AI today is being misused as a sort of catch-all term to basically describe "any system that uses data to do anything." A truly artificially intelligent system is one that learns on its own, one that's capable of crunching copious amounts of data in order to create associations and intelligently mimic actual human behavior.

Like rival assistants Alexa and Siri, Google Assistant keeps adding new features, including identifying songs and controlling Chromecast. But now it can help users find local businesses, too. Instead of just providing a top list, however, Google Assistant will ask several questions to get the right nearby shop that fits the user's needs. To be clear, this isn't just to advise users of the best nearby restaurants, which Amazon's Alexa has been doing for years. The new Google Assistant questionnaire helps find specialists, like plumbers and electricians.

April 27, 2017, people walk past an Amazon Go store, currently open only to Amazon employees, in Seattle. Amazon Go shops are convenience stores that don't use cashiers or checkout lines but use a tracking system that of sensors, algorithms, and cameras to determine what a customer has bought. Ultimately, Amazon wants to sell Amazon and Whole Foods shoppers alike, even more, goods and services, including stuff they might not even realize they need. In the world of customer service, we're experiencing the rise of chatbots, virtual digital assistants, and artificial intelligence (AI) agents, answering basic queries which allow humans to tackle more complex problems and improve the speed and efficiency of decisions. Emerging technology such as machine-learning applications, chatbots, and mobile messaging will play a much more significant role in customer interactions in the next five years.

It has been an absolute banger of a news week for Destiny 2 . The popular first-person shooter/role-playing game hybrid was embroiled in controversy about deceitful in-game systems before developer Bungie posted an apologetic blog post detailing the near future of the game. All of the improvements Bungie outlined for Destiny 2 seem necessary and valuable, but none of them are as important as being able to finally talk to your favorite video game. Destiny fans may recall that the Ghost is the quippy little robot who floats around your character and does most of the talking for your silent protagonist. With the Destiny 2 Ghost skill on your Alexa-enabled device, you can use voice commands to bypass the many, many hours you would otherwise spend staring at menus in the game.

The Google Home Mini might be 40 percent off right now, but if you'd rather have a Google smart speaker with a little more oomph you might not have to wait much longer. Mountain View's self-calibrating Home Max will be released on December 11th according to a Best Buy listing spotted by 9to5Google. This could be a gaff, but Google did say the $400 device would be out before year's end. And, well, today being November 30th means the company doesn't have much time left to fulfill that promise. The 11th feels like an odd placeholder date, though.

Google Assistant on your Google Home is going to get a lot more useful this week. The AI butler has recently been updated to support commands that have up to two conditions. Meaning, now you can tell your smart speaker to do things like the bump the temperature in your kids' room and start playing Slayer's "South of Heaven" in there as a lullaby. Or, if you'd rather set the mood in your living room rather than give your offspring nightmares, you could ask Assistant to dim the smart lights and start streaming something from Google Play on your TV. It's wholly separate from the Routines Google promised back at the Pixel 2 event earlier this fall, too.