Have a question about taxes, vehicle licensing or simply need the phone number for a state agency? If you live in Mississippi, just ask Alexa, Amazon's digital assistant that has been programmed to also work with state and local governments. In fact, Mississippi is one of several governments that uses so-called chatbots to handle a range of basic but frequently asked questions. In Utah, teenagers can solicit help reviewing questions that might be on a driver's test. In Los Angeles, residents can get detailed information about city-sponsored events.

If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA TODAY's newsroom and any business incentives. The holidays are underway, and Christmas is inching closer and closer. If you've still got shopping to do, Free Shipping Day is the perfect time to get a lot done. However, if you're looking to pick up a tech gadget or smart device for a loved one, there are a few great options to be found on Amazon.

Before you buy any "smart" gadgets, make sure they're not dumb. This holiday season, a third of Americans plan to buy a smart home device, according to the Consumer Technology Association. The trick is figuring out which ones are worth the cost, trouble and inevitable security risks. I've been in those weeds. After reviewing dozens of smart home products, I've learned to be skeptical of any gadget that feels like a Star Trek prop--and a little paranoid about things that are listening, watching or collecting data.

Amazon has one of the new additions to the Echo family at a Black Friday-level discount: For the past few days, the retailer's been selling the Echo Show for $150. This Alexa device normally sells for $230. This deal is also available at Echo-friendly stores like Best Buy, Target, and B&H. The big feature with the Echo Show is that it offers a 7-inch touchscreen with a 1024x600 resolution. The display can show weather updates, calendar appointments, shopping lists, and so on instead of just reading them back to you.

When I have written about Apple's AI and Machine Learning initiatives in the past, the articles have usually centered around Siri and Voice Dictation. It's easy to put these things together because Siri is the most visible and user-centered Apple interface that involves AI. However, as we have seen this month, there is a lot more than meets the eye going on beneath the surface at Apple. Last week, Wired ran a story about a lunch talk given by Apple's leading AI expert, Rutland Salakhutdinov, for around 200 others in the field during the NIPS machine learning conference. The most interesting thing to come out of his presentation was fresh news of Apple's continued work in the field of self-driving cars.

You would be forgiven for thinking that your private conversations were just that, but two leading voice assistants are listening to everything you say, a new report claims. Patent applications from Amazon and Google revealed how their Alexa and Voice Assistant powered smart speakers are'spying' on you. The study warns of an Orwellian future in which the gadgets eavesdrop on everything from confidential conversations to your toilet flushing habits. Future versions of gadgets like the Echo and Home will use this data to try and sell you products, it says. You would be forgiven for thinking that your private conversations were just that, but two leading voice assistants are listening to everything you say, a new report claims. Patent applications from Amazon and Google revealed their smart speakers are'spying' on you Google and Amazon appear most interested in using the data they get by snooping on your daily life to target advertising, Consumer Watchdog said.

Artificial intelligence is gradually taking over various aspects of human life, and no matter how well-intentioned the creators of these highly intelligent machines have been, they continue to elicit mixed feelings from different people. While some are of the opinion that artificial intelligence shouldn't exist in the first place, others have received it with open hands because of the numerous advantages they offer man. Artificial intelligence should not be viewed only from the robotic aspect that some see it to be but should be considered with a broader mind with emphasis on how much it has eased humanity's ways of doing things. While some narrow artificial intelligence is designed to carry out small tasks like car driving, facial recognition, speech recognition or internet search, the artificial general intelligence (AGI) can perform broader and multiple cognitive functions. According to Forbes, some great examples of areas where artificial intelligence are being used include voice-powered personal assistants (such as Alexa and Siri), self-driving cars that are powered autonomously, suggestive searches, behavioral algorithms, and the rest.

Like it or not, artificial intelligence is changing how companies find, hire and manage talent.

Having Siri answer questions out loud can be helpful, but sometimes too loud for the environment the user is in. A new patent, spotted by Gizmodo, shows Apple is trying to address that inconvenience. The patent reveals Apple is looking into improving Siri by allowing her to detect when a user whispers to her, and in return having the voice assistant whisper back. The documents, titled "Digital Assistant Providing Whispered Speech," details a system that would recognize when a person is using his or her regular voice or when the user is whispering by measuring an input's amplitude and frequency patterns. Whispering to Siri now might pose a problem, since voice assistants usually need to hear commands loud and clear to answer questions or carry out tasks.

For the past few years, devices and services powered by artificial intelligence have been the most popular and interesting items at tech shows around the globe. This will surely be true in 2018, but there is already a noticeable shift in the market. First, mainstream consumer products are increasingly integrating AI, and not just high-end, premium products. Second, many of these products have intelligence built into the edge device, instead of relying on the cloud. These trends are improving accessibility, privacy, and effectivity of intelligent applications, making them more widely adopted. With the world's biggest consumer electronics and technology trade show right around the corner, here's a look at the innovative and interesting products that will garner attention this year, and the technology that enables them.