As Silicon Valley investors and tech giants continue to pour cash into burgeoning artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning and chatbots, the relatively nascent A.I. industry is emerging as the latest mega-hot new ticket in town--the heir to online delivery apps, anything-hailing services, and virtual reality start-ups. But much like another buzz-worthy predecessor, Big Data, many A.I. cheerleaders and investment check signatories probably don't quite understand it. But in Silicon Valley, when has that ever stopped anyone? The obsession in the Valley with artificial intelligence is almost palpable. Just last week, Twitter announced its acquisition of London-based machine learning start-up Magic Pony Technology.

Microsoft has a birthday present for Windows 10 users: more capabilities for its Cortana digital assistant and new ways to ditch passwords. The company is also changing the notices it sends to users of previous versions, following complaints that it was too aggressive in pushing them to get the free Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft's "Anniversary Update," scheduled for release Aug. 2, will let users activate Cortana with a spoken command ("Hey Cortana") even while their screen has gone into sleep mode. Cortana will be able to recall more types of information, such as frequent flier numbers or parking locations. Users can also ask Cortana to remember specific photos, such as a wine bottle to buy again later.

Last month Salesforce released details on some recent acquisitions in machine learning, reporting spending of almost 33 million on the AI startup MetaMind, and an additional 41.6 million for two other companies, including the intelligence systems startup PredictionIO. This all furthers the Salesforce commitment to bolster their AI capabilities. Current predictions suggest that the global AI market in general will grow to over 5 billion by 2020, driven in part by the rising adoption of predictive marketing intelligence and natural language processing technologies across all business sectors. SugarCRM recently announced that they are developing a new intelligence service with a Siri-like agent called Candace. According to their literature, Candace will be able to listen in on business meetings and use natural language processing to analyze the conversations.

Justine Cassell has taken her virtual assistant Sara on a road trip. They're in Tianjin, China, where Carnegie Mellon University's associate dean of technology strategy and impact traveled to offer a glimpse of tomorrow at this week's Annual Meeting of New Champions. Sara, for "socially aware robot assistant," has spent the past several days greeting hundreds of people coming to the event, hosted by the World Economic Forum, at a station showcasing the office of the future. A life-size face and torso on a big-screen TV, Sara served as the front end to the event app. That presentation might make you think of Max Headroom, the stuttering AI character from the 1980s show.

Have you thought about how artificial intelligence (i.e. I hope so, as the rise of artificial intelligence is undeniable in the digital marketing world. In just the past few years, artificial intelligence has already started to make us think about what can and should be delegated to automation controlled by AI. In this article I will explain how online marketing with artificial intelligence will allow you to drive better results through more quantified and automated strategies. More companies than ever -- from Google and Facebook to your aunt's crafting business -- are turning to AI to improve their business and marketing tactics and I hope to help you do so as well. A few years ago, everyone was talking about the rise of big data. Businesses would soon have more information about the industry, their customers, and even employee performance than ever before.

Microsoft's "Anniversary Update," scheduled for release Aug. 2, will let users activate Cortana with a spoken command ("Hey Cortana") even while their screen has gone into sleep mode. Cortana will be able to recall more types of information, such as frequent flier numbers or parking locations. Users can also ask Cortana to remember specific photos, such as a wine bottle to buy again later.

As Silicon Valley investors and tech giants continue to pour cash into burgeoning artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning and chatbots, the relatively nascent A.I. industry is emerging as the latest mega-hot new ticket in town--the heir to online delivery apps, anything-hailing services, and virtual reality start-ups. But much like another buzz-worthy predecessor, Big Data, many A.I. cheerleaders and investment check signatories probably don't quite understand it. But in Silicon Valley, when has that ever stopped anyone? The obsession in the Valley with artificial intelligence is almost palpable. Just last week, Twitter announced its acquisition of London-based machine learning start-up Magic Pony Technology.

Justine Cassell has taken her virtual assistant Sara on a road trip. They're in Tianjin, China, where Carnegie Mellon University's associate dean of technology strategy and impact traveled to offer a glimpse of tomorrow at this week's Annual Meeting of New Champions. Sara, for "socially aware robot assistant," has spent the past several days greeting hundreds of people coming to the event, hosted by the World Economic Forum, at a station showcasing the office of the future. A life-size face and torso on a big-screen TV, Sara served as the front end to the event app. That presentation might make you think of Max Headroom, the stuttering AI character from the 1980s show.

NEW YORK--The first-year anniversary of the Windows 10 launch is still about a month away. But Microsoft executive Yusuf Mehdi announced today in a blog post that the next major iteration of the company's operating system--dubbed the Windows 10 Anniversary Update--will become available on August 2. Microsoft is encouraging folks to request it in advance. Indeed, ahead of July 29, the one-year anniversary launch date, anyone running Windows 10 on a PC today can request the upgrade for free, after which it will cost is 119. Either way, you'll still have to wait until August 2 to get it. Mehdi says that more than 350 million devices are currently running Windows 10 worldwide, with customer satisfaction levels higher than any previous version of Windows.

Microsoft is set to release a new, major update to Windows 10 on Aug. 2 -- just a few days after the system's first anniversary. The company made clear when Windows 10 debuted that the new system would break from the old rhythm of updating -- going years between major upgrades. Instead, the firm said that it would release smaller, but more frequent updates to the system. The company already released a significant upgrade in November, which added some Skype-based messaging apps, features for business and some visual tweaks. The Windows 10 Anniversary update adds a few features, including a major change to the company's voice assistant, Cortana.