Meet Jill Watson, a first-time teaching assistant at Georgia Tech assigned to moderate an online forum for a computer science class. Jill was 1 of 9 TAs assigned to help answer questions about coursework and projects from the 300 students enrolled in the advanced course. During the first few weeks in January, Jill really struggled. This was Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence, after all, a course with the goal to "build AI agents capable of human-level intelligence and gain insights into human cognition." It was also a requirement for graduate students to earn their master's degree.

The Pixel XL is an amazing achievement for the first Google branded phone but is it good enough to give the iPhone 7 Plus problems? I switched, as an experiment, from the iPhone 7 Plus to the Pixel XL. This is my take after more than a month, expanding on -- and wrapping up -- earlier takes. Note that I did not -- and will not -- ditch my iPhone 7 Plus. And note that reportedly holiday sales of the Pixel were strong, with Pixel devices accounting for 12.3 percent of phone activations with Verizon, according to Bloomberg.

Picture a virtual assistant that helps find directions, schedules appointments or plays music, and the soothing yet robotic sound of a female voice likely comes to mind. From Apple's Siri to Amazon's Alexa, a majority of the world's most popular virtual assistants have female personas. But that's starting to change as a growing number of consumers -- and companies -- turn to digital assistants. Some developers are going against the grain, creating chatbots and messaging apps that no longer conform to one gender and challenging a tradition of female digital assistants that some say display submissive personalities. Making virtual assistants female by default can be bad for business and perpetuate stereotypes, these chatbot developers say, so they're offering more options to consumers.

Amazon and Google always thrive in the fourth quarter as people get out their wallets for Christmas. Both companies – or in Google's case, its parent group, Alphabet – are therefore expected to announce booming revenues in their fourth-quarter results over the next fortnight, with Alphabet going first on Thursday and Amazon the following week. But analysts are already looking beyond the simple question of how many cardboard boxes Amazon filled and how many searches Google answered. They're wondering which company will win the battle to control your home. That battle is being fought by two carafe-sized cylinders from the respective companies.

In the 2013 movie Her, Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer, falls in love with a digital assistant designed to meet his every need. She sorts emails, helps get a book published, provides personal advice, and ultimately becomes his girlfriend. The assistant, Samantha, is AI software capable of learning at an astonishing pace. Samantha will remain in the realm of science fiction for at least another decade, but less-functional digital assistants, called bots, are already here. These will be the most amazing technology advances we see in our homes in 2017.

Google Assistant service might now be able to make payments online for you, using its artificial intelligence bot for devices which support it. According to the programs written for the APK in the latest beta version of Google's Android app, gives us a hint that the Assistant will enable users to make direct automatic payments. Currently, it is not clear how it will function as the feature has not started working yet. But the codes suggest that users will be able to buy things using the Pixel smartphones by Google. It will also include the Google Home which might also be able to authorise payments.

Ford and Amazon team up to offer consumers the ability to access their car from home, and call up other features from their vehicle via Alexa – Amazon's cloud-based voice service LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2017 – Millions of consumers who befriended Amazon Alexa over the last year, including many who just received an Echo or Echo Dot as a holiday gift, will soon be able to experience Alexa like never before from a Ford vehicle. A new collaboration between Ford Motor Company and Amazon is making this capability possible. The Alexa integration – the most comprehensive ever in a vehicle – allows Ford owners to play and resume audiobooks, order items on Amazon, search for and transfer local destinations to the in-car navigation system, and more. From home, Ford vehicle owners will be able to remote start, lock or unlock doors, and get vehicle information using voice commands. "Ford and Amazon are aligned around a vision that your voice should be the primary way to interface with your favorite devices and services," said Don Butler, executive director, Ford Connected Vehicle and Services.

The machines haven't taken over. However, they are seeping their way into our lives, affecting how we live, work and entertain ourselves. From voice-powered personal assistants like Siri and Alexa, to more underlying and fundamental technologies such as behavioral algorithms, suggestive searches and autonomously-powered self-driving vehicles boasting powerful predictive capabilities, there are several examples and applications of artificial intellgience in use today. However, the technology is still in its infancy. What many companies are calling A.I. today, aren't necessarily so.

Your devices will know everything about you. Millions of people own smart devices that do simple things like adjust temperature, turn down lights or lock doors when they go out. You can buy a connected fridge that tells you when you have run out of food or set up security cameras that tell you when suspicious movement is detected. There is even a toothbrush that tells you what areas of the mouth you have neglected and an intelligent hair brush that does … something. Depending on which market forecast you believe, the install base for connected devices could be anywhere between 20 billion to just over 30 billion by 2020.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has increasingly become one of the hottest topics in both business and science. More leading tech companies are showing their interest in AI investment, from Google's $400 million acquisition of DeepMind and Faraday Future's unveiling of self-driving supercars at CES 2017. These are just a few examples of the commitment companies have towards this cutting-edge technology, but one of the most promising areas for AI is in mobile. The idea of having a personal assistant to help tackle everyday tasks is becoming more appealing to users everywhere. However, intelligent apps are not just limited to digital assistants but for a variety of purposes from security to e-commerce.