Business intelligence (BI) tools first appeared on the enterprise technology scene several decades ago, at birth clumsy and difficult to use but ultimately improving the flow of data through organizations from their operational systems to decision support. Data warehousing cut the time it took to access data, but even at their full maturity, BI systems could do little more than produce data and reports in a traditional organized way. But with the advancement of artificial intelligence and--more importantly--machine learning, true business intelligence is actually on its way to the enterprise. Such self-learning software will run on servers, be built into bots, drive decision-making systems, be embedded into cars or aircraft, and become the beating heart of mobile devices. Increased data-processing power, the availability of big data, the Internet of Things, and improvements in algorithms are converging to power this actual business intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is likely going to change our world like no other technology ever has. AI might steal our jobs. But what we know for sure is that 2017 is the year artificial intelligence is hitting the mainstream. Smart assistants like Alexa, Cortana, Siri, and Google Assistant live on our phones and in our homes. AI is influencing what we find in Google search results and what we see in the Facebook news feed.

Instant messaging apps have taken over. WhatsApp, iMessage, WeChat, Signal, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat -- billions of users exchange information in bite-sized chunks on any or all of these platforms on a daily basis. In fact, as of mid-2015, people were spending more time on messaging apps than on social networks, and as messaging apps become increasingly more sophisticated, this trend shows no sign of reversing. Messaging platforms have expanded far beyond simply enabling users to send and receive text messages, photos, and videos. Many of them allow users to exchange documents and files, voice memos, location information, and sometimes even cash.

Join Entrepreneur's The Goal Standard Challenge and make 2017 yours. Artificial intelligence (AI) gets more advanced every year, but there are still some major limitations keeping us from seeing a futuristic reality that includes robot butlers and near-complete societal automation. Fortunately, some of these limitations are on the verge of being overcome, and if you watch and plan carefully, you'll be able to take advantage of those improvements for your business. Right now, most AI systems "learn" new information through a kind of structured force-feeding, relying on information given to those systems by humans. However, this form of "supervised learning" isn't scalable, and doesn't mimic the way that human beings naturally learn.

Here's a fun experiment: Next time you're on a crowded bus, loudly announce, "Hey Siri! Chances are you'll get some horrified looks as your voice awakens iPhones in nearby commuters' pockets and bags. They'll dive for their phones to cancel your command. But what if there was a way to talk to phones with sounds other than words? Unless the phones' owners were prompted for confirmation--and realized what was going on in time to intervene--they'd have no idea that anything was being texted on their behalf. Turns out there's a gap between the kinds of sounds that people and computers understand as human speech. Last summer, a group of Ph.D. candidates at Georgetown and Berkeley exploited that gap: They developed a way to create voice commands that computers can parse--but that sound like meaningless noise to humans.

"I had the worst dream," said Professor Einstein. "My vast intellect had been downloaded into a prosthetic body. I was then made to present the world of science to perfect strangers." Within moments of being activated, the 14-inch robotic replica of Albert Einstein made a meta comment about being trapped in a knowledge-dispensing machine. It shook its head from side to side and slowly blinked its eyes as if it were contemplating his situation.

The Neon Sign From Legendary Rock'n' Roll Club Whisky a Go Go Is Up for Auction Madonna Defends Anti–Donald Trump Speech at Women's March: 'I Do Not Promote Violence'

Amazon Echo, Google Home, Siri and the myriad of other "assistants" that are out there are slowly but surely getting smarter and could, one day, be your doctor if researchers from New York University's Langone Medical Center have their way. According to new research, short voice clips can be used to diagnose a variety of diseases and conditions which means we just might be saving lives and catching diseases way sooner than we are currently. Prevention usually means big money saved and that interests a lot of different parties from billion dollar industries like pharma, fitness, government services and NGOs. Using complex algorithms and machine learning the researchers hope to find vocal patterns that might signal illness and more complex disorders via a five-year study. Researchers at New York University's Langone Medical Center believe post-traumatic stress disorder and even heart disease could be detected in a few years rather than decades.

I'm willing to bet you didn't say "an Android Wear watch." What was supposed to be the year of wearables turned into repeated delays and mounting frustrations, as Android Wear 2.0 missed its launch date and manufacturers bailed on anticipated releases. To put it bluntly, Android Wear is in sad shape. But there is hope for salvation. In February, Android Wear 2.0 will finally drop, bringing a host of improvements such as standalone apps, easier typing, and on-watch purchasing to a reasonably long list of compatible models.

Earlier this month we had CES 2017 in Las Vegas, a techie's mecca of new whiz-bang products set to hit the market, in some cases later this year, but in others in 2018 and beyond. A person tracking the CES trade shows over the years likely remembers the changes in inputs from clunky keyboards and standalone number pads to rollerball driven mice to laser based ones, which gave way to trackpads and touchscreen technology. Among the sea of announcements this year, there were a number that focused on one aspect of our Disruptive Technology investing theme that is shaping up to be the next big change in interface technology -- voice recognition technology. Over the years, there have been a number of fits and starts with voice technology dating all the way back to 1992 when Apple's own "Casper" voice recognition system that then CEO John Sculley debuted on "Good Morning America." As the years have gone by and the technology has been further refined, we've seen more uses for voice recognition technology in a variety of applications and environments ranging from medical offices to interacting with a car's infotainment system.