For this tutorial you will need (Ubuntu) Linux, Python and a working microphone. Speech recognition can by done using the Python SpeechRecognition module. We make use of the Google Speech API because of it's great quality. Various APIs and programs are available for text to speech applications. We decided to go with the Google Text To Speech API, gTTS.

This paper considers the problem of matrix completion when some number of the columns are completely and arbitrarily corrupted, potentially by a malicious adversary. It is well-known that standard algorithms for matrix completion can return arbitrarily poor results, if even a single column is corrupted. One direct application comes from robust collaborative filtering. Here, some number of users are so-called manipulators who try to skew the predictions of the algorithm by calibrating their inputs to the system. In this paper, we develop an efficient algorithm for this problem based on a combination of a trimming procedure and a convex program that minimizes the nuclear norm and the $\ell_{1,2}$ norm. Our theoretical results show that given a vanishing fraction of observed entries, it is nevertheless possible to complete the underlying matrix even when the number of corrupted columns grows. Significantly, our results hold without any assumptions on the locations or values of the observed entries of the manipulated columns. Moreover, we show by an information-theoretic argument that our guarantees are nearly optimal in terms of the fraction of sampled entries on the authentic columns, the fraction of corrupted columns, and the rank of the underlying matrix. Our results therefore sharply characterize the tradeoffs between sample, robustness and rank in matrix completion.

One key buzzword these days is "algorithm," which technically means any computational formula but which has come to mean a formula that predicts our behavior. Amazon and Netflix have algorithms that predict what books a user is likely to want to read or what movies and TV shows he or she is likely to want to watch. Facebook has an algorithm that predicts the news a user is likely to want. Dating sites like Match.com and OkCupid use algorithms to predict with whom we would fall in love. Google, with the most famous algorithm of all, predicts what we want when we type a search term.

One week ago, I asked Facebook's Messenger to send me the weather forecast every morning. It has yet to do so. Messenger is supposed to deliver me the weather through a free service called Poncho, one of the first "chat bots" to live inside Facebook's messaging app behemoth. Instead of checking the weather through an app like Dark Sky or even Poncho's own iPhone app, Poncho's playful Messenger bot is designed to chat with me about the weather like a human being. Poncho's bot has not only failed to send me the weather like I asked, but its bot has so far proven to be the most complicated method of getting the weather imaginable.

Bruce Wilcox is the director of natural language strategy for Kore. The discussion around robots has only increased in the past few years -- especially when things like IBM Watson and Siri are well-known topics for everyday conversation. But beyond the physical capabilities of robots, the bigger question is what robots' minds will be capable of in the future. How will we communicate with a robot's mind? Will it only act in the physical world or will it also be able to act in the Internet world?

Whether you're in-store or online, the benefits of a personalized customer experience are undeniable. We want salespeople who can help us find exactly what we're looking for as quickly as possible; we return to lunch spots where all we have to ask for is "the usual." For e-tailers, personalization has traditionally relied upon recommendation engines, algorithms that look to match prior consumer clicks and purchases with like-minded cohorts. And personalization is indeed effective for those e-commerce sites. According to a recent Infosys survey, 74% of sites who have implemented personalization technology reported an increase in sales, 58 percent noted an increase in traffic, and 55% observed an increase in customer loyalty.

The Echo has been able to read back your schedule for a while -- including shared Google calendars -- but the ability to actually add events is a pretty great addition. Whether or not that's easier for you than shouting "hey Siri" or "OK Google" and adding items directly through your smartphone remains to be seen, but if Alexa is your digital assistant of choice, you'll definitely enjoy this new feature. The last few Alexa updates have been more focused on enhancing its smart home credentials. In late March, Amazon added the ability for Echo to control the Nest Learning Thermostat, and Lutron's connected lighting systems started working with the Echo earlier this month.

If you're a member of Microsoft's Windows 10 Insider program, today is like Christmas. Build 14328 of Windows 10 for PCs and Windows phones packs Anniversary Update features like Windows Ink, changes to the Action Center, and better battery life into what's probably the largest Insider update ever. Get ready to freak out. Though Microsoft stuffed tons of updates into this new build, some should feel familiar. Bugs halted the deployment of Windows 10 Mobile build 14322 to PCs, for example, but its updates to the Action Center and other improvements have now been added.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the convenient future. It is one of the most promising and transformative opportunities of our time. We are closer to the near future where virtual assistants, bots, and software agents will act more and more like people. Some the biggest advances in AI are being developed inside tech giants such as Google (Deep Mind) and IBM (Watson). But there are still a lot of great opportunities for young startups to explore.

The last few weeks, it's become nearly impossible to scour the latest in tech news without coming across something related to the idea of "bots." Bots, per their current implementations, are bits of software AI geared toward helping users complete tasks, request information or even shop online. Their usage isn't limited to these things and may also consist of programs used to carry out mundane or time consuming tasks that might have otherwise required a human. The idea around bots and their proposed usage is pretty straight-forward. As internet communications, cloud computing and complex machine learning improves, there are companies well positioned to leverage the power of bots to make all sorts of tasks faster and easier for users of modern technology.