Most people don't realize that they're likely exposed to AI each and every time they shop online -- whether it's on eBay, Nordstrom.com, When you are searching for an item and a merchandising strip appears saying something like "similar items" -- that's AI in its simplest terms. It's what gives retailers the ability to automatically make informed recommendations. AI has been around for many years, but recent advancements have moved AI out of the realm of science fiction and made it a business imperative. The game changers: powerful new GPUs, dedicated hardware, new algorithms, and platforms for deep learning.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has exploded in recent years. Common AI personal assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant are helping people figure out their daily schedules, controlling the lights and thermostats in homes, and helping commuters find the best route to work. And while these recent advancements are amazing, they're really only a sneak preview of how AI can and will impact society as a whole. Sales efficiency is an area ripe for AI assistance – AI is at the point where it can be just as useful, if not more useful, in the office than at home on one's handheld device. Business AI has evolved from being a sophisticated calculator or database analyzer to an entity that can tell businesses solve their biggest challenges and enhance their market offerings. Although more organizations spanning industries are tuning into the potential of AI, many are still not capitalizing on its potential to transform their sales practices.

Artificial Intelligence is changing the way we think of technology. It is radically changing the various aspects of our daily life. Companies are now significantly making investments in AI to boost their future businesses. Ericsson, in the sixth edition of its annual trend report, 'The 10 Hot Consumer Trends for 2017 and beyond,' predicts that 35 percent of advanced internet users want an AI advisor at work, and one in four would like an AI as their manager in the next one year. Another study performed by Forrester Research predicted an increase of 300% in investment in AI in the next one year. CXOToday finds out some of the most revolutionary artificial intelligence technologies that will rule in the next 1-2 years.

The Apple HomePod is slated to come out later this year, but it might be difficult to find on store shelves. Limited shipments at launch may give the Siri-powered home speaker a gradual rollout, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. During an earnings conference call Monday, HomePod supplier Inventec Appliances gave further details about the new Apple device's launch schedule. Inventec president David Ho said via the Review that the company is expecting to have a smaller amount of units when the HomePod launches this fall. "We will finally ship the smart home device this year, but its contribution will be fairly limited and hopefully that will improve next year."

The AI space is a crowded arena, but not all are solely focussed on competing, as many are providing research to the benefit of all. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been progressing at a record rate in recent years, with its numerous names and voices becoming familiar in daily life and within the enterprise. These include Siri, Alexa, Cortana, Watson, Einstein and Coleman, to name but a few. Innovation has of course been driving the advancements and developments of AI, but a huge amount of investment has fuelled the progress, ensuring the continuation of exploration. Research and funding are almost symbiotic in requiring one another to progress in areas such as the AI space.

If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA TODAY's newsroom and any business incentives. We've come a long way since we first looked at smart bulbs back in 2015, but there's one thing that hasn't changed. If you want the best smart bulb for your money, then you should get the Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit (available at Amazon). If this is your first time exploring the world of smart bulbs, there are a few things you should know.

The "smart home" has not yet distinguished itself. Sure, you might dim your lights with an app; you might even talk to your large appliances. But despite years of promised ubiquity, the connected home has yet to cleave with mainstream reality. It's too expensive, too futzy, too filled with interoperability landmines. You know who can fix that?

There's nothing quite like feeling as though you got more than what you paid for. That's how you'll feel if you drop a C-note on JBL's Flip 4 Bluetooth speaker. Small, easy tote, and waterproof to the point of being submersible, this speaker sounds like it's considerably bigger and much more expensive. It can easily fill a large bedroom with sound, and it can also hold its own outside. But the Flip 4 is more than just loud.

Sexting is now a normal part of human relationships, according to a massive new study of sex and tech -- 74 percent of Americans say they exchange saucy electronic messages with their lovers. "Sexting may be becoming a new, but typical, step in a sexual or romantic relationship," said Amanda Gesselman, a research scientist at the Kinsey Institute, which released its annual International Sex Survey this week. The researchers surveyed more than 140,000 people from 198 countries about the role of tech in their sex lives, and found Americans are some of the most prolific sexters on the planet -- second only to South Africans. Japanese and South Korean adults are the least likely to trade racy missives. Worldwide, 67 percent of adults said they've sexted -- a staggering increase from just five years ago, when only 21 percent said they engaged in the practice.

Currently, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are having an increasing impact on many aspects of daily life. I recently spoke with Interactions Dr. Michael Johnston, a veteran of speech and language technology with over 25 years of experience in the industry, to discuss the benefits of combining artificial intelligence with human understanding. Artificial intelligence refers to the capability of a machine to mimic or approximate the capabilities of humans. Increasingly, systems combining constellations of AI technologies that previously were only found in research prototypes are coming into daily use by consumers in applications such as mobile and in-home virtual assistants (e.g. Despite these successes, significant challenges remain in the application of AI -- especially in language applications as we scale from simpler information seeking and control tasks ("play David Bowie", "turn on the lights") to more complex tasks involving richer language and dialog (e.g.