Amazon's Alexa just got a new job. In addition to her other 15,000 skills like playing music and telling knock-knock jokes, she can now also answer economic questions for clients of the Swiss global financial services company, UBS Group AG. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), a new partnership between UBS Wealth Management and Amazon allows some of UBS's European wealth-management clients to ask Alexa certain financial and economic questions. Alexa will then answer their queries with the information provided by UBS's chief investment office without even having to pick up the phone or visit a website. And this is likely just Alexa's first step into offering business services.

Angie Harmon is ready to date again, but don't expect to find this single mom online anytime soon. The 44-year-old actress and her husband of 13 years, former pro football player Jason Sehorn, announced their separation in 2014. "I don't think I'd do [online dating]," Harmon admitted to Closer Weekly. "I need to suss it out a lot before I go on a date." While Harmon is taking it slow in the dating department, she's finding joy in her work.

What do you get when you combine the world's most valuable tech company and the self proclaimed "hardest working man in show business?" ENORMOUS ASTEROID DUBBED'THE ROCK' WILL MAKE ITS CLOSEST APPROACH TO EARTH YET Apple and Dwayne Johnson – better known as The Rock – have joined together to create an advertisment to teach people how to use Siri every day. Known as "The Rock x Siri Dominate The Day," the ad sees Johnson call up a Lyft car, fly a plane to Rome, appear at a fashion show and more, all using the iPhone 7. Johnson, who notoriously has a busy schedule, enlists Siri to help him with these tasks as Apple attempts to push the voice assistant to be a more active part of people's daily lives. "You should never, ever, under any circumstances, underestimate how much Dwayne Johnson can get done in a day with Siri," Apple put in a caption under the ad on its YouTube page. At its developer conference in June, Apple said Siri was being used on more than 375 million iOS devices each month.

Aditya Challa, IMImobile: choose the right technology and use AI wisely! Aditya Challa of IMImobile takes a look at some current and future applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for customer experience in the financial and banking sector, as well as the challenges that still need to be overcome. Beyond the current race to build chatbots, he predicts that voice-driven AI services will ultimately become the main interface between banks and their customers. When four out of five bankers agree on something it's worth taking notice. According to Accenture's Banking Technology Vision 2017 report, that's how many think AI will revolutionise how they interact with their clients and collect information.

This summer, KPCB partner Mary Meeker's 2017 Internet Trends report singled out healthcare as a sector ripe with opportunity. The report proposed that the healthcare market, driven by a number of converging technologies, is approaching a "digital inflection point" and is currently positioned for rapid growth. Due to increasing digitization of inputs since 2013, the amount of global healthcare data has been increasing 48 percent year-on-year, according to Meeker's research. With the rising availability (and accompanying burden) of such rich informational resources, medical and healthcare practices are being reimagined on every front. Leveraging this explosion of data will create a complete transformation of both markets and service delivery norms.

Over the past year, Verto Analytics has published critical research identifying and tracking rapidly-emerging trends in consumer behavior, particularly on mobile devices. Hannu Verkasalo, CEO, Verto Analytics, introduces the conditions under which AI driven apps are influential, from the rise of multitasking to the continued influence of cross-device behavior on digital usage. One thing is clear, says the report: "consumer habits are changing faster than before, aided by an increasingly novel technologies and shorter device innovation cycles. The prevalence of Internet access, the rise of social media, e-commerce, and most recently, mobile apps, have all shaped how consumers behave with digital devices. Within the past few years, we've witnessed the rise of AI-powered apps, which harness cloud-based natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to power a more sophisticated wave of apps and services," continues the introduction.

Think about your favorite work of art. Why do you like it so much? What does it do for you? Be it painting, sculpture, music, or writing, we love art not just for its beauty, but for the reactions and emotions it evokes in us. You probably feel a sort of kinship with your favorite artists even though you've never met them, because their work speaks to you in what feels like a unique and personal way.

Now here's something you probably didn't see coming. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has revealed that he's starring in a Siri-themed movie (The Rock x Siri) that launches July 24th on Apple's YouTube channel. He's shy about details (other than that it's the "coolest, sexiest, funnest" movie ever), but it's safe to say there will be some plugs for Apple's voice assistant. We've asked Apple if it can elaborate on the premise. It's not hard to see why Apple would go to the lengths of crafting a movie with an A-list celeb (even if it's ultimately a glorified commercial).

After decades of false starts, artificial intelligence (AI) is already pervasive in our lives. Although invisible to most people, features such as custom search engine results, social media alerts and notifications, e-commerce recommendations and listings are powered by AI-based algorithms and models. AI is fast turning out to be the key utility of the technology world, much as electricity evolved a century ago. Everything that we formerly electrified, we will now cognitize. AI's latest breakthrough is being propelled by machine learning--a subset of AI which includes abstruse techniques that enable machines to improve at tasks through learning and experience.

Microsoft has unveiled its first home thermostat, which can be controlled using its virtual assistant Cortana. Known as the GLAS thermostat, the new device includes a translucent touchscreen display that owners can use to alter the temperature of specific rooms. It is not yet known when it will be released or how much it will cost, but a promotional video released by Microsoft hinted that it will initially be targeted at businesses. Microsoft has unveiled its first home thermostat, which can be controlled using its virtual assistant Cortana. Known as the GLAS thermostat, the new device includes a translucent touchscreen display that owners can use to alter the temperature of specific rooms.