From the era of the desktop app to the era of the web page to the era of the mobile app to the latest paradigm shift which seems to be happening now: the conversation. These providers will most likely sit at the center of an ecosystem which will handle NLP (Natural Language Processing), semantic analysis, and other core tasks such as location and calendar integration. Currently, there are "bits and pieces" for particulars like dialogs (IBM Dialog) and NLP (IBM AlchemyAPI) all the way to large sdk's for voice and digital assistants (Alexa, Siri, and Google). While the examples above are simplistic they do provide some structure and a view into the basic text lines of voice and chat applications.

New research by Narrative Science, predicted that 62% of organisations will be using artificial intelligence solutions by 2018. The concept of AI may seem revolutionary, but it is something which is already present in our day-to-day lives. Apple's Siri will soon be upgraded, enabling iPhone users to interact with a number of third party apps such as message bots, photo search, personal payments and more. Other examples of everyday use of AI include the smart home. Smart thermostats now include the ability to learn your behavioural patterns, learning your daily routine, saving you energy and money on your monthly bill.

Apple Inc. acquired artificial intelligence startup Turi Inc. for about 200 million, according to people familiar with the situation, in the latest deal by the iPhone maker to accumulate advanced computing capabilities for its products and services. Turi helps developers create and manage software and services that use a form of AI called machine learning. It also has systems that let companies to build recommendation engines, detect fraud, analyze customer usage patterns and better target potential users, according to the Seattle-based startup's website. Apple could use this to more rapidly integrate the technology with future products. Apple's move Friday is part of a broader battle among Google, Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com

The Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the largest update to the PC software since it launched last year, was hailed as the fir major update. However, many users have discovered their webcams no longer work after the update. As part of a security crackdown, Microsoft limited the type of encoding webcams can use - and it is causing many to crash. As part of a security crackdown, Microsoft limited the type of encoding webcams can use for video streams - and it is causing many to crash. 'If your webcam has stopped functioning since the release of the Anniversary update, you are not alone but the good news is a fix is coming, hopefully in September,' said Brad Sams of Thurrot, which first noticed the issue. Windows no longer allows USB webcams to use MJPEG or H264 encoded streams and is only allowing YUY2 encoding.

In movies artificial intelligence is usually depicted with sci-fi images of robots, cyborgs and other dehumanized creatures. For many, the word is misunderstood and creepy. The truth is AI is helping us live more self-actualized lives in more ways than we can imagine. The intersection of AI technology and human communication is a hotbed of activity as chatbots and virtual assistants become requirements for everyday tasks and productivity. The artificial intelligence that powers so many of the products we know and love can be divided into two categories: conversational and experiential. Customer service chatbots, Siri, airline phone menus and even Google are great examples of the types of conversational AI we encounter in day-to-day life.

When was the last time you asked your computer something? There's Siri, Google, and Cortana of course, but these systems, clever as they may be, are the thin end of a newly emerging wedge of remarkable new approaches to computer learning and marketing. If you need proof that we are entering a new era of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) you need to look no further than Google's DeepMind project. Early this year DeepMind, Google's AI computer, developed initially in London, challenged and beat South Korean Grandmaster Lee Sedol at the ancient game of Go. Why this challenge is so important requires you to think back to the Deep Blue computer, which finally beat Gary Kasparov at chess in the 1990s. Deep Blue had it easy.

From picking our favorite restaurants to predicting weather and correcting global food shortages, artificial intelligence is already augmenting everyday life. Firmly rooted in the realm of science fiction, artificial intelligence (AI) has often felt external – something happening out there. In reality, AI is a huge part of our everyday lives. We just don't recognize it. Bank alerts of suspected fraudulent charges, smartphone notifications to exercise, Siri or Cortana's ability to recognize voices – are all examples of AI. "Artificial intelligence is basically where machines make sense, learn, interface with the external world, without human beings having to specifically program it," said Nidhi Chappell, director of machine learning at Intel. AI improves lives in many other areas too.

Artificial Intelligence Marketing used to be a concept only speculated about in science fiction movies. Who would've thought that in 2016, it would start to play a real role in our daily lives? Because of the wide reaching applications of Artificial Intelligence, marketers must take note and determine ways to use it to their advantage. AI presents marketers with the unique opportunity to run campaigns in a way that have previously never been done or even thought of. This data driven, personal touch will allow marketers to get quite personal with the audience.

Creating original branded content solves many problems for marketers, but also presents challenges -- among them distribution and realizing ROI from what can be a costly investment. Time Inc., CBS and Telepictures are among hundreds of publishers working with IRIS.TV, which recently introduced a product to manage the distribution of branded content. Its video personalization solution uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technology so publishers can automate the programming of their video libraries for the individual based on that person's preferences and behavior. We spoke with Rohan Castelino, director of business development and marketing with IRIS.TV, about how this works. While brands are increasingly looking to partner to create content to engage Millennials, how can publishers deliver guaranteed audiences to watch this content at scale while maintaining their editorial standards and trust with audiences?

V.A.* (Virtual Assistants) are computer programs designed to simulate a conversation with a human via textual or voice interactions. We will focus on text-based interactions only in this paper. Voice-based V.A. consist in the combination of an Automatic Speech Recognition or Speech-To-Text and Text-To-Speech layers on top of a text-based interactions layer. By now you must have heard of Apple SIRI, Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, IBM Watson, Viv.ai, X.ai Amy, Kasisto Kai etc. They are becoming ubiquitous with the rise of Mobiles, IoT (Internet of Things) and Messaging platforms.