Worldwide, the number of SM users has topped 2 billion. That's twice as much as the number of people who own a car. Every minute social media users generate 350 thousand Twitter updates and 4 million likes and shares on Facebook. In light of recent events – that is, the growing threat of terrorism and high-profile cyberattacks – security agencies, social media websites and business owners need a powerful tool to monitor and analyze user-generated content. And that's where social media AI comes in handy.

Artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted technologies have been on the rise over the past few years. From virtual personal assistants to video games, smart cars, online customer support, and music or movie recommendations, AI has infiltrated nearly every aspect of consumers' everyday lives. Yes, we can all thank AI for our Netflix addiction. While AI certainly makes consumers' lives easier, it's also working in nearly every industry to help streamline operations. One company that saw significant improvement in its sales thanks to AI was Dole Asia.

I'll be the first to admit that the outlook was a little bleak. When you consider the fact that these machines may be allowed to make decisions that affect mankind, without having or after evolving past the innate ethics that (most) people operate by, the future can look scary. It's time to scope out the positives now, because when it comes to AI in the workplace, there are HUGE benefits in store. Tech giants are racing to get their slice of the AI pie, and are adding more fuel to the fire - Google bought DeepMind in 2014. Facebook's planning to use neural networks to'narrate' photos to blind users, and using deep learning to find out what their users actually want.

While they might currently be seen as rivals, Amazon and Apple's smart assistants could soon work together, according to a senior executive from Amazon. He claims that future versions of the Amazon Echo device will support rival software. This could mean that users could choose whether to use Amazon's Alexa assistant on the device, or other assistants, like Siri. Amazon's senior vice president of devices at David Limp (pictured) told audiences at the Wired Business Conference held yesterday in New York that future versions of the Echo smart speaker could support rival software like Apple's Siri Apple unveiled its new $349 (£270) smart HomePod home speaker at its 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday. Amazon and Google's existing speakers have also proved popular with consumers since the Echo launched in the UK in 2016 and Home earlier this year.

The world's most pampered rhino is having his mudpack applied by hand. Sudan the veteran northern white rhinoceros stands placidly and allows his personal assistant to rub dollops of wet clay into his hide, to moisturise his skin and keep insects away. 'He loves that,' says Zach, his 24-hour-a-day PA. Zach lives next door to the rhino enclosure, permanently on call in case His Lordship should require anything. And Sudan is very high maintenance – he used to have a man whose job was rubbing oil into his hooves.

After a 20-year marriage and a separation, I decided to try online dating. I quickly learned to keep the first meeting short, not dinner, in case things didn't go well. On one date I arranged to meet a UCLA law school graduate at a Santa Monica coffee house. As a lawyer myself, I anticipated at least some interesting conversation with a well-educated woman. At first sight, I thought she had sent her mother, not the woman pictured in her dating profile.

The technology behind artificial intelligence and deep learning is intriguing. But what fascinates me is how AI algorithms and applications force us to rethink everything we know about the meaning and purpose of life and work. This story explores the last of these questions by focusing on the example of Fintech. Artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning are doing something that once seemed unthinkable. They are transforming heavily regulated industries, such as the "financial services and trading industry" or the "healthcare and life sciences industry".

Artificial intelligence--in the guises of personal assistants, bots, self-driving cars, and machine learning--is hot again, dominating Silicon Valley conversations, tech media reports, and vendor trade shows. AI is one of those technologies whose promise is resurrected periodically, but only slowly advances into the real world. I remember the dog-and-pony AI shows at IBM, MIT, Carnegie-Mellon, Thinking Machines, and the like in the mid-1980s, as well as the technohippie proponents like Jaron Lanier who often graced the covers of the era's gee-whiz magazine like Omni. AI is an area where much of the science is well established, but the implementation is still quite immature. It's not that the emperor has no clothes--rather, the emperor is only now wearing underwear.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is not always easy to understand. It has a long and complex history that dates to the 1950s. Up until recently, the development of AI has been relatively slow and commonly confused with automation. The two are often referred to in the same sentence, but have distinctly different uses. Automation is the process of making software (or indeed, hardware) automate routine tasks, following a prescribed set of instructions.

Microsoft's Cortana could already help you with shopping thanks to image search and sales reminders. Now, it might help you get the most for your money too. In the latest Windows 10 Creators Update, Microsoft has rolled out a pilot feature in Microsoft Edge where Cortana can help you find the best price for a product you're interested in buying. Right now, this feature supports 14 retailers, which includes Amazon, Walmart and eBay, as long as they're within the US. So, let's say you're on a product page for a vacuum cleaner on Walmart.