Discover how to use Python--and some essential machine learning concepts--to build programs that can make recommendations. She helps you learn the concepts behind how recommendation systems work by taking you through a series of examples and exercises. Once you're familiar with the underlying concepts, Lillian explains how to apply statistical and machine learning methods to construct your own recommenders. She demonstrates how to build a popularity-based recommender using the Pandas library, how to recommend similar items based on correlation, and how to deploy various machine learning algorithms to make recommendations. At the end of the course, she shows how to evaluate which recommender performed the best.

A nine-year-old boy is facing juvenile charges after an Amazon Echo device recorded his voice during a break-in. An unnamed child is facing charges of breaking and entering and larceny after his neighbor told police her iPhone, phone charger and cash were stolen from her apartment on Tuesday. Authorities in Gloucester, Massachusetts, were able to identify the boy through a voice recording captured by Amazon's Alexa which was sent to the woman's phone. A boy, nine, is facing charges after a break-in on Tuesday in Gloucester, Massachusetts. A neighbor was able to identify him through a voice recording by Amazon's Alexa (file photo) Police said the boy confessed to entering the woman's home on Arthur Street three separate times and taking the stolen items.

Bots (and articles about bots – oops!) are popping up everywhere these days. Indeed, very few concepts have shot up the hype curve so fast, especially considering that the idea of conversational UI has been with us for a long time in various forms, and under different denominations. It looks like a jungle, but all bots are essentially doing the same thing: adding conversational capabilities to FAQ and search. You can read a good evolution and state of the art here and here. Personally, I had the pleasure of working for two companies that developed their own virtual assistant (basically a chatbot with a cute face).

Technology, be it the driver-less cars or the ubiquitous smartphone, is impacting every sphere of our life. Technology-driven automation is omnipresent and pervading our lives like never before. From robots and chatbots to virtual/augmented reality, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and beyond, the physical space is littered with digital influence. The impact of increased automation is already upon us and influencing our lives in all possible ways. Up till now technology adoption has never been so rapid, versatile and secular but the presence of connectivity has enabled this growth.

Avnet last week unveiled a beta version of Ask Avnet, an automated virtual assistant that combines artificial intelligence with on-demand access to industry experts. Ask Avnet targets "engineers, designers, hobbyists, makers and purchasing specialists across the electronics supply chain -- which includes the product manufacturing chain," said Kevin Yapp, senior vice president for digital transformation at Avnet. Ask Avnet gathers information from the company's Web-based ecosystem -- including Avnet.com, element14.com Ask Avnet leverages AI to help anticipate a user's next move and provide the best answer, rather than listing all possible answers. Ask Avnet "aims to shorten the amount of time it takes for Avnet customers to access information," Yapp told TechNewsWorld.

Being around for more than 60 years, artificial intelligence (AI) is now a part of our daily lives - be it chatbots, robo advisors, cognitive computing and much more that act as an aid to many financial institutions. For many businesses transforming technology means enhanced customer experience to make it as personalised as possible. It has proved to be faster, engaging organisations further helping them grow. AI is the key to successful business operations. Apart from enhanced customer service, any financial institution can use AI to enhance its competitive position and improve performance.

Apple's HomePod is not scheduled for release until December, but the Cupertino giant may have wanted to out more details about its Amazon Echo competitor. Tim Cook's company has released the device's firmware, and some developers have managed to get their hands on it to get new information about Apple's very own smart speaker. On Friday, Apple reportedly pushed out the HomePod's firmware, and this led developers like Steve Troughton-Smith to learn more about the new device. In his quest to unearth tidbits about Apple's smart speaker, Troughton-Smith found out that the HomePod is going to run the full iOS stack. This is an interesting detail as it suggests that the HomePod would pretty much be like an iPhone sans the screen, MacRumors has learned.

In the not-too-distant future, if you can't find your house keys, you'll know exactly where to look: In the Smithsonian. Thanks to Amazon, keys are on their way to becoming artifacts. Today, all you really need to lock and unlock your front door are vocal chords and a simple word: "Alexa." Amazon Smart Home, the company's home security program, has been around since 2014, but only recently has it started working with voice recognition. "Smart Home is something that's been around for a long time," said Daniel Rausch, vice president of Smart Home at Amazon, "but it turned out that customers had to fish in their pocket to control their home. Pull out the remote control, find the appropriate app, find the right page in the app and click a button just to do something as simple as turning on a light."

"The Emoji Movie" succeeded from its zero percent score on Rotten Tomatoes Friday after one reviewer gave the film a certified-fresh review, bumping its score up to 3 percent. Betsy Bozdech is the first critic to give the movie a positive review. The reviewer responsible for the boosted score hails from Common Sense Media, claiming the 3D computer-animated comedy flick "isn't bad, but it isn't great, either. Common Sense Media aims to educate parents with quality reviews on the latest media and technology arrivals. The review on the Sony-Columbia Pictures collaboration evaluates the movie's educational value, positive messages, positive role models and language, among other factors. Bozdech came to the conclusion that the film's overall message "emphasizes the importance of being true to yourself, as well as the value of honesty and teamwork." Bozdech also cited the movie's protagonist Gene, voiced by "Silicon Valley" alum T.J. Miller, as a good role model for children viewers. "Gene starts out desperate to fit in and do what he's'supposed' to do, but he learns that his ability to be many things is what makes him special -- and he can be useful by being himself," she wrote. "Gene's parents love him, but at first they're also a bit embarrassed by him and his differences.

Apple unveiled its Siri-powered HomePod speaker hub at WWDC back in June, and despite a hefty $350 pricetag and the inevitable comparisons to Alexa devices, it actually sounds pretty good. In the lead up to its release this December, Apple pushed out the hub's firmware, revealing that it runs on iOS -- basically like a screenless iPhone or iPad. Just to cut off speculation: there doesn't seem to be any kind of provision in the HomePod OS shell for installing apps or extensions. Obviously, that's not to say the device never will. Since it runs on a full iOS stack through a shell app called "Soundboard," they could always patch in the ability for third parties to load up their software later.