In the original Blade Runner--set in 2019--technologists had already developed replicant humans and flying cars. Although I'm doubtful we'll hit that mark in real life, I'd venture we're not too far off. Indeed, artificial intelligence (AI) has already become an everyday part of life for most humans in 2017. We use it at work and at home--often without even realizing. As we close out the year, I'd say there isn't much artificial intelligence hasn't touched.

A fraudster who met her victim on a dating website for naturists scammed him out of £50,000. Moira Etchells, 45, met Ian Chatting-Tonks in 2013 and persuaded him to lend her the cash to start a business artificially inseminating cows. Swansea Crown Court heard she spent £35,000 on a new Land Rover and banked the rest. Etchells, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, admitted fraud and got an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years. Widower Mr Chatting-Tonks, from Norfolk, went online to search for a new partner who was also interested in naturism, which is when he found Etchells' profile.

Okay, marketers and technology enthusiasts have been talking about the coming of the Internet of Things (IoT) for years. But with products like Google Home and Amazon Echo emerging and gaining popularity, it's reasonable to suspect that 2017 is the year that IoT finally starts taking off. Even though original estimates held that we'd see 50 billion "connected" devices by 2020, revised estimates are still targeting nearly 30 billion, representing an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the near future. So here's the question--is your business ready for the IoT? Even if you don't deal directly with technology, IoT devices are going to have a massive impact on how you do business.

I have previously been critical of Apple's AI effort. Siri lags both Google and Amazon (Alexa) in terms of speed and accuracy. Apple's Shazam acquisition is good for consumers in that it bundles a service people enjoy with Apple Music. More importantly, the acquisition will drive more Siri queries – something Siri needs to get itself into fighting shape to better compete with Google and Amazon.

Is this a childhood obesity story? No, this is Amazon's Alexa – the voice-activated virtual assistant that can help you find music, make to-do lists, adjust your thermostat and ensure your ideological purity. That all sounds quite helpf- wait, what was that last one again? Not sure if it comes as standard or only with Amazon Prime, but according to some commentators, it's there. What form does it take?

Smart assistants are designed to tackle a whole host of everyday tasks, but some users are unhappy that this seems to include taking a stand on political issues. Amazon's Alexa has come under fire on social media thanks to the AI-powered speaker's thoughts on a number of hot button topics. Some have branded Alexa a'social justice warrior' because of her responses to questions on subjects ranging from feminism to the Black Lives Matter movement. Smart assistants are designed to tackle a whole host of everyday tasks but some users are unhappy that this seems to include taking a stand on political issues. Amazon's Alexa has come under fire thanks to the AI powered speaker's thoughts on a number of hot button topics The response has been particularly vociferous among the alt-right community on social media.

As Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri battle for dominance in hotel rooms, we are entering a new era of efficient communication and collaboration in travel. However, the most significant opportunities to transform the travel industry are around the widespread adoption of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. As the digital transformation gathers pace, it's clear that the travel industry is ripe for disruption. Upon entering an airport, we are immediately greeted with legacy friction points. Long check-in lines, passport control and a lack of communication are just the beginning of a series of frustrations that occur before boarding a flight.

Marketing automation and advertising technologies are often presented as the silver bullet to all your marketing needs. However, the reality is often disappointing, as messaging is targeted at predefined segments and sets of rules, falling short of actual individual user needs and wants. This isn't true personalization, as it doesn't scale to the individual, and it isn't capable of predicting the context, needs, behavior (or aberrations in behavior) of a single human being. Fortunately, with the rise of sophisticated artificial intelligence capabilities, particularly machine learning, this can all change. We're already seeing some of the more advanced players move away from formulaic segment-based messaging towards a more truly personalized way of marketing.

For many years, the main goal of the Netflix personalized recommendation system has been to get the right titles in front each of our members at the right time. With a catalog spanning thousands of titles and a diverse member base spanning over a hundred million accounts, recommending the titles that are just right for each member is crucial. But the job of recommendation does not end there. Why should you care about any particular title we recommend? What can we say about a new and unfamiliar title that will pique your interest? How do we convince you that a title is worth watching? Answering these questions is critical in helping our members discover great content, especially for unfamiliar titles.

Artificial Intelligence From The Terminator to Blade Runner, pop culture has always leaned towards a chilling depiction of artificial intelligence (AI) and our future with AI at the helm. Recent headlines about Facebook panicking because their AI bots developed a language of their own have us hitting the alarm button once again. Should we really feel unsettled with an AI future? News flash: that future is here. If you ask Siri, the helpful assistant who magically lives inside your phone, to read text messages and emails to you, find the nearest pizza place or call your mother for you, then you've made AI a part of your everyday life. Even current weather forecasting systems, spam filtering programs, and Google's search engine – among so many other practical applications – are AI-powered. Now, artificial intelligence doesn't seem that alarming, right? AI refers to machine intelligence or a machine's ability to replicate the cognitive functions of a human being. It has the ability to learn and solve problems. In computer science, these machines are aptly called "intelligent agents" or bots. Not all AI are alike.