Artificial Intelligence is the latest hotness. We've heard how bots are going to be the new apps allowing natural conversational interfaces. Siri, Cortana and Google Now are no longer a gimmick and are becoming more useful every day. Machine Learning sits behind artificial intelligence and on the surface it may seem like a deeply technical, scientific topic. We are here to tell you that it is more accessible than you think.

About eight years ago, I remember talking with Fortune 1000 clients about Cognos. You know, the tech that takes data, creates 1 version of the truth for you, and sends you pretty reports via email for you and your team to make optimal business decisions? Have you heard about Celia (AKA the Cognitive Environments Laboratory Intelligent Assistant)? Celia is Cognos on steroids -- well, she is Watson with human elements. You can ask Celia: What businesses should we, as a company, buy or sell?

Just about the only real innovation happening in phones right now surrounds smart digital assistants - the likes of Google Now, Siri and Cortana - who gather up as much information about us as they can and then try and predict what it is we need next. And amidst all the talk of new cameras and extra storage, it's likely that the artificial intelligence powering our mobile phones is going to make the biggest impact on our lives in the years ahead. Here's what we can imagine coming in the not-too-distant future... We're already seeing basic versions of this on some phones, where your most-used apps appear at the top of the screen, but imagine that idea made much more intelligent: a phone that knows you so well, it launches Instagram before you're able to tap the icon. In the future there's no reason why Google Now couldn't use what it knows about you, how you use your phone, and past behaviour to work out when you're going to call home, or launch a maps app, or even take a photo (if you're near a famous landmark, say). There would be no need for an app drawer and no need to meticulously arrange your home screens, because every time you unlocked your phone, the app you were thinking about (plus some useful context-aware information) would be displayed on the display.

But the upcoming innovation in chat is about being more human, not less. With the proliferation of adequate speech recognition, AI assistants and wireless headphones, the tech is ready to unlock the potential of our most basic form of communication. Soon, we'll talk and listen to our messaging apps when it's more convenient than typing or reading. The age of voice is about to arrive. When we've got our hands full.

We've seen the move from desktop apps to web apps, from web apps to mobile apps and now we see the rise of AI, bots and Digital Assistants. Unit4, together with leading IT-strategists, is convinced that we've seen the next major technology shift already. Why is this happening now…and why is it happening so fast? This new generation who have been raised with iPhones and Androids as well as super simple web apps have a totally different expectation of software than previous generations. Software is something that you can get from an app store, download, and start working with in 10 seconds.

By 2021, robots will have eliminated 6% of all jobs in the US, starting with customer service representatives and eventually truck and taxi drivers. That's just one cheery takeaway from a report released by market research company Forrester this week. These robots, or intelligent agents, represent a set of AI-powered systems that can understand human behavior and make decisions on our behalf. Current technologies in this field include virtual assistants like Alexa, Cortana, Siri and Google Now as well as chatbots and automated robotic systems. For now, they are quite simple, but over the next five years they will become much better at making decisions on our behalf in more complex scenarios, which will enable mass adoption of breakthroughs like self-driving cars.

In the consumer universe, artificial intelligence is best known as a nice-to-have if stealthy feature that can suggest movies or book rides. But AI's greater worth could well be in the money-making enterprise arena, where sales, service and marketing initiatives stand to be streamlined by the data-crunching deductive power of machine learning. That's certainly the bet customer relationship management giant Salesforce is making by unveiling Einstein, the no-brainer name given to a suite of advanced AI capabilities. With Einstein, salespeople can focus on leads that statistically show the most promise of becoming clients, and customer service reps may be better prepared to answer a rainbow of consumer queries. "The strongest aspect of Einstein is that it is deeply embedded in the platform, it's just working automatically," says Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, whose company officially rolled out the base product Sunday.

The London borough of Enfield has enlisted artificial intelligence Amelia to take on customer service tasks for its residents starting late this year. Developed by IPSoft, Amelia is a cognitive agent, capable of automating certain tasks as well as learn from its interactions. As to what makes Amelia a competent asset to the council, IPSoft says she is "[c]apable of analysing natural language, she understands context, applies logic, learns, resolves problems and even senses emotions." Amelia currently handles cognitive customer experience for professional services company Accenture and financial consultancy firm Deloitte. This will, however, be her first public sector role.

Google today said that it's acquired API.ai, a startup with tools for speech recognition and natural language understanding. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. In addition to its developers tools, Api.ai offers a conversational assistant app with more than 20 million users. Google did not disclose its plans for integrating the startup's technology. That will be important, as Google already has tools for natural language understanding and speech recognition, and it has unveiled a Google Assistant that will be available through text messaging interface and the Google Home smart speaker.

But the upcoming innovation in chat is about being more human, not less. With the proliferation of adequate speech recognition, AI assistants, and wireless headphones, the tech is ready to unlock the potential of our most basic form of communication. Soon, we'll talk and listen to our messaging apps when it's more convenient than typing or reading. The age of voice is about to arrive. When we've got our hands full.