Everyone has seen all of those sci-fi movies where the machines took over the planet while the unwary humans weren't looking, The good news is that we aren't quite there yet Still, there are real examples of machines that are seeping into our world and most of us aren't really paying attention to them. Artificial intelligence has arrived and the applications that are using it are running the gamut from voice powered assistants like Cortana or Siri or Alexa to the more fundamental ones such as search suggestions, to the downright amazing ones such as self driving cars and trucks, we've got AI working all around us. AI as a technology is a newborn technology, barely in its infancy. In fact, what some companies are calling AI actually--isn't. Real AI is an entity that actually learns on its own.

The topic of artificial intelligence (AI) is buzzing through academic conferences, dominating business strategy sessions, and making waves in the public discussion. Every presentation I see includes it, even if it's only used as a buzzword – its frequency is rivaling the use of "Uber for X" that's been so popular in recent years. While AI is a trending topic, it's not mere buzz. It is already deeply ingrained into the strategy and design of our products – well beyond a mere shout-out in presentations. As we strive to optimize our products to better serve our customers and partners, it is worth taking AI seriously because of its unique role in product innovation. AI will be inherently disruptive.

Hackers could use inaudible, undetectable commands transmitted via ultrasound in order to compromise speech recognition systems and popular voice assistants, security researchers in China discovered. The technique, dubbed "DolphinAttack" by researchers from China's Zhejiang University, could be carried out by an attacker to hijack voice-controlled assistants like Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa or Google's Assistant. DolphinAttack could be carried out by using ultrasonic frequencies that reach pitches above 20,000hz--well beyond the range humans can hear, but still audible to the microphone in a smart device like the Google Home or Amazon Echo and Dot. Newsweek is hosting a Structure Security Event in San Francisco, Sept. 26-27. By transmitting commands at those undetectable frequencies, the researchers were able to direct a number of devices with built-in microphones and speech recognition to carry out actions with potentially harmful results.

Stock markets are overrun with AI traders, and Swedish banks now use AI chatbots or'virtual consultants' to answer client's queries; a move echoed by Discovery Health, Absa Bank and Lancewood. Discovery Health unveiled its artificially intelligent Virtual Agent on July 5. "At the JSE we don't have AI deployed in our environment, but it is possible that some of our member firms may have deployed AI as part of algorithmic trading," says Tshwantsho Matsena, information officer at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In the dealing room, AI is processing massive amounts of data and turning it into decision support."

China's 19-year-old Go player Ke Jie reacts during the second match against Google's artificial intelligence programme AlphaGo in Wuzhen, eastern China's Zhejiang province on May 25, 2017. Artificial intelligence is firmly embedded throughout the economy. Financial services firms use it to provide investment advice to customers, automakers are using it in vehicle autopilot systems, technology companies are using it to create virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri, and retailers are using artificial intelligence (AI) together with customers' prior sales histories, to predict potential purchases in the future, to name but a few examples. The potential of AI to boost economic growth has been discussed in numerous forums, including by Accenture, the Council on Foreign Relations, the McKinsey Global Institute, the World Economic Forum, and President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, among others. The most dramatic advances in AI are coming from a data-intensive technique known as machine learning.

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.

China's 19-year-old Go player Ke Jie reacts during the second match against Google's artificial intelligence programme AlphaGo in Wuzhen, eastern China's Zhejiang province on May 25, 2017. Chinese netizens fumed on May 25 over a government ban on live coverage of Google algorithm AlphaGo's battle with the world's top Go player, as the programme clinched their three-match series in the ancient board game. Artificial intelligence is firmly embedded throughout the economy. Financial services firms use it to provide investment advice to customers, automakers are using it in vehicle autopilot systems, technology companies are using it to create virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri, and retailers are using artificial intelligence (AI) together with customers' prior sales histories, to predict potential purchases in the future, to name but a few examples. The potential of AI to boost economic growth has been discussed in numerous forums, including by Accenture, the Council on Foreign Relations, the McKinsey Global Institute, the World Economic Forum, and President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, among others.

The BBC has unveiled a new project designed especially for Alexa and Google Home smart speakers called'The Inspection Chamber'. The show includes chunks of story followed by a decision taken by the listener - meaning users can take an active role in the story. Creators hope this format will help people feel like they are genuinely interacting with the characters in the story. The show includes chunks of story followed by a decision taken by the listener - meaning users can take an active role. Pictured is someone listening with Amazon's Alexa home speaker The show includes chunks of story followed by a decision taken by the listener - meaning users can take an active role in the story. Creators hope this format will help people feel like they are genuinely interactive with the characters in the story.

You might not have, but Alexa did. Voice assistants have been successfully hijacked using sounds above the range of human hearing. Once in, hackers were able to make phone calls, post on social media and disconnect wireless services, among other things. Assistants falling for the ploy included Amazon Alexa, Apple's Siri, Google Now, Samsung S Voice, Microsoft Cortana and Huawei HiVoice, as well as some voice control systems used in cars. The hack was created by Guoming Zhang, Chen Yan and their team at Zhejiang University in China.

I remember my roommate, way back in 1986, laboriously stringing together phonemes with Apple's Macintalk software to get his Mac to utter a few sentences. It was pioneering at the time -- anybody else remember the Talking Moose's jokes? But boy, have things improved since then. Publishing a new round of papers on its new machine learning journal, Apple showed off how its AI technology has improved the voice of its Siri digital assistant. To hear how the voice has improved from iOS 9 to iOS 10 to the forthcoming iOS 11, check the samples at the end of the paper.