Apple would be joining other technology companies in the group, including Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Although an announcement is expected as soon as this week, neither Apple nor the partnership has issued any official comment on the move. In some ways, joining the consortium would be a logical step for the company. Apple has become a major player in AI technology in recent years with the development of Siri, its natural language personal assistant. On the other hand, Apple is famous for the secrecy it maintains surrounding its major initiatives, including AI. Until recently, Apple researchers working on AI were even discouraged from publishing their findings.

Today (January 30), Starbucks is taking the next step toward evolving the digital customer experience by launching voice ordering capabilities within the Starbucks mobile iOS app and the popular Amazon Alexa platform.

In this new episode of Real Smart Marketing, we've posed this big question to four of our favorite influencers. If you're like me, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear "AI" might be this: But as I've come to realize, what we're talking about is a lot less creepy. AI is changing the face of SEO, but not like that. We're talking about algorithms that enable machines to make connections, "learn" to process data, and apply its learning in future tasks. Basically, improvements in artificial intelligence like deep learning and natural language processing mean that search engines are becoming smarter and more human-friendly.

The year 2016 proved to be an important milestone in the history of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Though the researchers have been working on creating intelligent machines for long, the year 2016 witnessed the concept leaving the realm of science-fiction to become more tangible and realistic. The year began with the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announcing his plans to build an artificial assistant for his home. As the year proceeded, organisations across the globe started increasingly investing their resources towards the research and development of AI. As the word caught on pace, tech titans including Google, Intel and Apple raced to acquire private companies working to advance artificial intelligence.

With marketing becoming taking a central role in many companies, CMOs are forced to think more strategic. While they wade through the thousands of martech and adtech software out there, they must also align with the board and line of business heads to ensure that their marketing strategies meet corporate goals. It has ushered a new interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help CMOs succeed. Such needs as created a frenzy among vendors to build the ultimate AI. Amazon, for example, recently announced three new AI tools – Lex, Polly, and Rekognition -- drawing on the character of the company's personal AI assistant Alexa.

Hunted The Hunters set up a fake online dating profile in an attempt to lure two out of hiding. Showtime at the Apollo Steve Harvey hosts a new reboot of the classic talent showcase featuring Chaka Khan, T.I. with Meek Mill, Quavo and RaRa, Mike Epps and comic Gabriel Iglesias. Spy in the Wild: A Nature Miniseries This new documentary features footage from cameras disguised as wildlife that are able to capture candid and closeup footage of wild animals including wild dogs, elephants and monkeys. Star Star, Simone and Alex (Jude Demorest, Brittany O'Grady, Ryan Destiny) are invited to perform at a charity event in this new episode. NOVA In a new episode "Search for the Super Battery," host David Pogue investigates how batteries work and what the future may hold for technical innovation.

During the 2016 Microsoft Build conference, CEO Satya Nadella said that the future of the company was "conversation as platform." In other words, less Windows and Office, and more Cortana and Tay--conversational interfaces that can understand the natural language of human users. If Nadella thought he was expressing some unique vision of the future, though, he was fooling himself. The idea of conversational UI has quickly colonized nearly every corner of Silicon Valley over the past year. Now seems like a good time to ask: What is a conversational interface?

A version of this essay was originally published at Tech.pinions, a website dedicated to informed opinions, insight and perspective on the tech industry. A great deal has been written recently on the growing importance of voice-driven computing devices, such as Amazon's Echo, Google Home and others like them. At the same time, there's been a long-held belief by many in the industry that software innovations will be the key drivers in moving the tech industry forward ("software is eating the world," as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen famously said more than five years ago). The combination of these two -- software for voice-based computing -- would, therefore, seem to be at the very apex of tech industry developments. Indeed, there are many companies now doing cutting-edge work to create new types of software for these very different kinds of computing devices.

Mark Zuckerberg envisions a software system inspired by the "Iron Man" character Jarvis as a virtual butler managing his household. The Facebook founder's dream is about artificial intelligence, which is slowly but surely creeping into our daily lives, no longer just science fiction. Artificial intelligence or AI is getting a foothold in people's homes, starting with the Amazon devices like its Echo speaker which links to a personal assistant "Alexa" to answer questions and control connected devices such as appliances or light bulbs. Analyst Carolina Milanesi of the research firm Creative Strategies said that "2016 was the year about raising awareness, and exposing consumers to the idea of AI in a more mass market way." Milanesi said it may take time for the technology to fulfill its potential, noting that companies need "a strong hook" to bring large numbers of consumers into this world.

Artificial intelligence has reached a new milestone, with a program beating four professional players in a poker tournament lasting 20 days. Libratus, an AI program developed by a team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, took on Dong Kim, Jimmy Chou, Daniel McAulay and Jason Les at no-limit Texas Hold'em in a Pittsburgh casino, eventually taking $1.76 million (£1.4 million) in chips. It's been hailed as a milestone for AI, with Libratus co-creator Tuomas Sandholm declaring, "The best AI's ability to do strategic reasoning with imperfect information has now surpassed that of the best humans." Boston Dynamics describes itself as'building dynamic robots and software for human simulation'. It has created robots for DARPA, the US' military research company Deep Blue, a computer created by IBM, won a match against world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. Apple's virtual assistant for iPhone, Siri, uses artificial intelligence technology to anticipate users' needs and give cheeky reactions Xbox's Kinect uses artificial intelligence to predict where players are likely to go, an track their movement more accurately Its human opponents had been sharing notes in an effort to expose Libratus' weaknesses, but the AI grew stronger as the tournament went on.