While it's not a situation too many of us will ever find ourselves in, it doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, unfortunately, in the digital world, it's about to become our own worst nightmare. Having multiple voice-based assistants trying to answer or respond to our queries could lead to a cacophony of unwanted information. The problem is going to crop up in several different ways. First, several Android-based phones are going to include multiple voice-based assistants on their phones. Huawei's Mate 9, for example, includes Amazon's Alexa, and with future upgrades to Android, will have Google's Assistant as well.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 isn't even out yet, but technology enthusiasts have already worked out how to completely repurpose one of its main features. The recently launched handset is extremely well-designed, making every other flagship that's come before it look outdated. As well as the S8's stunning looks though, Samsung is hoping to lure consumers in with Bixby, a new virtual assistant that, in the South Korean firm's eyes, has the potential to change the way users interact with their devices. Samsung has even equipped the S8 with a dedicated Bixby button, a move designed to help establish the virtual assistant as one of the phone's core features. However, ahead of its 28 April release, it's emerged that the handset's Bixby key can be reconfigured to launch any other app, such as the camera or Bixby rival Google Assistant.

A tsunami of change is already arriving. Artificial intelligence is now capable of doing desk jobs that were previously safe from automation. The social and economic effects remain to be seen, but is AI what we think it is? Workplaces that include artificial intelligence (AI) will soon be reality, say researchers who believe the rise of AI in all areas of life is not only inevitable, it's set to reshape the way we think about consciousness and human identity. From Metropolis to 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Terminator, robots and super-intelligent AIs in film have seduced and terrified our collective consciousness, having an impact on how we view artificial intelligence.

The world's leading software technology companies, designers and business executives will be gathering is Dublin's Science Gallery on Thursday, May 4 for the landmark'ConverCon' gathering. The event will examine the best way of making'conversational interfaces' work in real life for businesses, brands and customers. It will get underway from lunchtime on May 4 and is billed as an absolute must for anyone managing customer experiences or call centres, digital transformation directors, heads of design and anyone who wants to ensure their company is tech fit for a very different future. ConverCon 2017 is the first conference of its kind where all the players required to deliver a usable, working, conversational interface will gather. The event is supported by Swrve and is being run in conjunction with Webio, ESB and the internationally recognised centre of excellence for ICT research and innovation, the Telecommunications, Software & Systems Group (TSSG) at Waterford Institute of Technology.

Most people think they know what the term "artificial intelligence" means, based on the results of a survey Pegasystems released Tuesday. However, their responses suggested that they probably don't fully understand how it's being used today, including in the customer service realm. Researchers polled 6,000 adult consumers in the United States, the UK, the Netherlands, France and Germany. Seventy-two percent of the survey participants said they understood what was meant by "artificial intelligence." While 32 percent said they weren't sure if they had interacted with AI, 34 percent said they had.

Discover how artificial intelligence is shaping eCommerce today. The age of AI and machine learning is upon us. Don't let your business get left behind. Artificial intelligence will take over. But it's not going to be an apocalyptic scenario, unless the latest U.S. military developments actually come up with a mind of their own.

Facebook's (FB, Tech30) first stab at an automated assistant, M could hold a coherent conversation, understand instructions and do your bidding. The early beta service, available to a handful of testers using Messenger, was powered by AI technology with a lot of help from invisible humans. On Thursday, almost two years after announcing the experimental feature, Facebook released a version of M to the general public. This M is not like the old M. Prepare to be underwhelmed. Instead of a full-featured assistant, new M eavesdrops on your regular Messenger conversations and then pops in "suggestions."

This shot shows M suggesting stickers to add into a conversation. SAN FRANCISCO -- Facebook's artificial intelligence assistant, M, will now pop into chats on Messenger to offer suggestions for stickers, payments, rides or to help coordinate a meeting time. Beginning Thursday, M will chime in when Facebook users are chatting via Messenger, to suggest "relevant content and capabilities," says Facebook. The service launched as a beta test in December and was rolled out to all iOS and Android Facebook Messenger users in the United States on Thursday as part of an update to the app. M uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to get better at suggesting relevant actions during conversations.

Artificial intelligence is gaining widespread momentum at a rapid rate. Machines recently attained voice and image recognition. Think Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa as well as Facebook and Google accounts. AI can be broadly-described as a computer system designed to interact with the world through capabilities and intelligent behaviors. AI's developing usefulness is striking, especially in light of some recent successes.

Matrix Labs has been hard at work creating a special AI voice recognition system for the Raspberry Pi, and now it seems to have come to fruition. After running a successful crowdfunding campaign to fund the project, we've gotten a look at the "Voice," which aims to have you creating your very own personal assistant a la Alexa and company. This could very well be the start of your own creations. The Voice, which was created by Rodolfo Saccoman and Brian Sanchez, will include an "open-source voice recognition platform" made up of 3.14 inch in diameter dev board with a radial array of 7 MEMS microphones connected to a Xilinx Spartan6 FPGA & 64 Mbit SDRAM with 18 RGBW LED's & 64 GPIO pins. In other words, it's a pretty powerful little device, and you can add lights into the mix with whatever voice recognition you set up.