The Apple Store is offline ahead of its big event today. The company is holding its Worldwide Developers Conference where it will show off the software that will power the iPads, Macs and iPhones of the future. But it's also going to start selling some of those new futuristic computers, as well. The biggest new product of the day is expected to be the Siri speaker, Apple's answer to the talking assistants encased in cylinders like the Google Home and Amazon Alexa. But that might not actually make it onto the store today – it's expected to be unveiled during the keynote but not actually made available until later on.

Artificial intelligence (AI) used to be pure science fiction. But now AI is science fact. This once futuristic technology is now implemented in almost every aspect of our lives. Luckily, we're used to adjusting, pivoting, and expecting a change of any kind – and quickly. The use of AI in our digital marketing strategies is no different.

Apple appears poised to unveil a voice-activated, internet-connected speaker that would create a new digital pipeline into people's homes. Tapping Apple's Siri digital assistant, such a speaker is expected to serve as a butler as well as an outlet for listening to music. If the speculation pans out, the speaker would be Apple's first new product since its smartwatch in 2015. And it would mark an effort by Apple to catch up with Amazon and Google. An early glimpse at updates to iPhone and Mac software has become a tradition at Apple's annual conference for app developers, which begins Monday in San Jose, California.

It's general election week, and politicians have only four days left to curry favour before we fill those ballot boxes on June 8th. Between work and everything else, staying on top of the week's developments can be a tall order, so Amazon's tasked Alexa with keeping you informed while you're busy cooking dinner and cleaning up after the kids. You can now bark various commands at your Echo devices (or any other Alexa prison) to catch up on latest news, including "what's the latest with the election/the Conservatives/Theresa May?" You can also surface other info with phrases such as "what is the polling like?" and "who is the leader of X party?" Alexa will tell you about upcoming debates and where to watch them, and keep you up to date as the results are announced in response to questions such as "how many seats do the Liberal Democrats have?"

Apple is expected to reveal new products and give the public a glimpse of the iOS 11 update during the Worldwide Developers Conference. WWDC will take place from June 5-9 in San Jose, Calif., with the keynote address at 1 P.M. EST Monday. You can watch the event live stream using this link on your MacBook, iPad, iPhone or a PC with Microsoft Edge on Windows 10. You can also watch the keynote address on the Apple TV (second and third generation). Here's what could be announced at WWDC: Apple could give a preview of some features that will be on iOS 11, the upcoming update for iPads and iPhones which is expected to be released this fall alongside the iPhone 8, iPhone 7S and iPhone 7S Plus.

Apple kicks off its 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week, with the company expected to make several major announcements. Rumours suggest that Apple will unveil four new iPad models, the iPhone 8, as well as a Siri-powered smart speaker to rival Amazon Echo and Google Home. The company's keynote speech begins at 6PM GMT (1PM ET) today, in which top executives, including Apple boss Tim Cook, will take to the stage to announce an array of new software and hardware. Two sources last month shared photos of cases for each of a 10-in (left) and 12.9-in (right) iPad Pro, which could be unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this week alongside four new devices listed in a recently leaked Russian regulatory filing Rumours suggest the firm could announce a new Apple wireless keyboard, the latest version of its iOS software, a MacOS update, and a new line of Mac desktop computers. Updates to the Apple Watch and Mac laptop range are also expected.

Apple is expected to make both software and hardware-related announcements at the World Wide Developers Conference 2017 (WWDC 2017) Monday 1 p.m. EDT. The company is expected to launch new versions of iOS, WatchOS, TVOS and a premium iPad, a Siri Speaker and a pair of smart glasses. Of all those expected announcements the smart glasses seemed the least likely until a Reddit user called FoxconnInsider revealed the features of the device in an ask-me-anything (AMA) session where it was referred to as'Project Mirrorshades'. Read: Apple To Create Snapchat Spectacles Competitor? "Rough bill of materials of Project Mirrorshades – Apple Iris Kopin NED Acetate frame Polarisized or prescription lens with Zeiss smart optics, bone induction modules for Microphones (noise cancellation), light sensor Accelerometer for step tracking and head movement, app navigation, Magnetometer for navigation, Capacitive Pavel Ceramic battery Apple chipset Charging circuit in a BL5 Induction module," the user stated. While Apple has been silent as usual on its upcoming announcements, it has in the past been rumored to be working on Snapchat Spectacles-style smart glasses with "hundreds of engineers" engaged in the project. Apple smart glasses are expected to be focussed on augmented reality (AR) rather than camera and video technology unlike Snapchat Spectacles.

A few months ago we wrote about The Top 10 Artificial Intelligence Startups in China and Mobvoi made that list. Founded in 2014, Massachusetts startup Semantic Machines has taken in $12.38 million in a single round of funding. This startup is developing a new platform that is language-independent by shifting conversation from understanding commands to understanding conversations (even tonal languages like Mandarin). Automat is making it easier for anyone to build a bot that uses artificial intelligence and human expertise to enable "business conversations at scale".

Monday marks the start of WWDC, the annual showcase of all things Apple. WWDC is a developer conference, but it's also the stage to show off everything Apple's been tinkering with in Cupertino. This year's event promises plenty of excitement: A new iPad? A new place for Siri to live? And since this year marks the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, it's also pretty likely we'll hear murmurs about what's next for the device that Steve Jobs famously predicted would change the world.

In the year 2016 bots, AI, and machine learning seemed to be all the rage, with all of these topics getting mixed into one big bundle. Many people seemed to forget that they are not the same but only related to each other. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an umbrella term that describes the part of computer science that deals with making computers emulate human intelligence. Machine learning is the part of AI that makes a computer appear intelligent. Bots are an application -- an application being most helpful if it is based upon a minimal level of (artificial) intelligence, and that particularly serves interaction purposes.