It's easy to say that it's a boring time for mobile phones: every company has converged on one very similar design, a sheet of glass, metal and curved edges built around a black rectangle in the middle that shows you an increasingly stagnating operating system. And that's true, but also not, because Samsung's phones are blowing up on planes and literally threatening lives. It's into this strange market of stagnation and explosions that Google has released the first phone it had made itself. The stakes have never been higher – as well as Samsung's worries, Apple is also seeing growth in sales of the iPhone slow – but the opportunity has never been bigger. Google has had phones before, of course.

Like doesn't have a version number new?" The line, from Google's ad introducing its new Pixel smartphone, is a clear dig at Apple's iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which some critics derided as just a modest update. By contrast, Google's new flagship smartphone has been redesigned and rebranded. The Pixel represents a strategy shift for the search giant, which is known more for its advancements in software, algorithms, and online advertising rather than hardware. With the Pixel, Google is looking to change that perception.

Imagine a Personal Assistant Bot, a machine or application that you could ask to organise a meeting or arrange bookings just as you would a live, human assistant. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent and approaches advance, such a scenario may be more realistic than you think. This is according to DataProphet MD Frans Cronje, who highlights that there will be a number of exciting developments and new approaches to AI in the short- and long-term future as the application matures and continues being explored. "A subset of AI, Machine Learning has driven the majority of advances in recent years, many of which are improvements on or augmentations to existing processes." Cronje explains that there are multiple cases where improved machine learning models have extended the capability of AI.

Egged on by Samsung's recent acquisition of the team behind Siri, the company has chosen Ruslan Salakhutdinov, a formidable computer science professor from the esteemed Carnegie Mellon University, to be the director of artificial intelligence research at Apple. Excited about joining Apple as a director of AI research in addition to my work at CMU. Apply to work with my teamhttps://t.co/U2hQl2GdhA He may continue to work on Carnegie for research and tinker with Macs and iPhones simultaneously. It remains unspecified what the job description exactly is for someone helming Apple's AI research front, but as per Recode's observations, it'll most likely study the context behind questions that users ask Apple's voice-activated virtual assistant Siri. The professor's latest research that dabbles with contextual derivatives behind a user's' voice input supports this.

Tieto established its new data-driven businesses unit in July 2016 to help Nordic organisations to create innovative data-driven services and new business models. In support of this goal, Tieto is also investigating the opportunities AI can present to the new unit's leadership team. Alicia T. will become a full-fledged member of the management team and also possess the capacity to cast votes. "I am proud that we are the first Nordic company to invite AI to become a member of the leadership team of the new data-driven businesses unit. Our team is on a mission to make the future more intelligent. Our developers at the new data-driven unit want to test how AI – a technology which is increasingly popular in home electronics – could assist organisations in data-driven decision-making. I am confident that Alicia T. will help us in finding information and making data-based decisions that humans don't necessarily think of – and thus perhaps create something yet unforeseen," says Ari Järvelä, Head of Data-Driven Businesses.

Mention artificial intelligence and a discussion about the robot wipeout of humankind is sure to follow. It's a technology as strongly associated with creation as it is with destruction. It's also a technology that businesses will increasingly trust in decision-making, Gartner analysts said Monday at the research firm's annual Symposium/ITxpo here. In the next three to five years, Gartner predicts that 50 percent of all analytical interactions will be delivered via artificial intelligence, and many of the insights will be gleaned through verbal interactions. People already know and interact with A.I. systems through IBM's Watson, IPSoft's Amelia, Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Assistant.

HELSINKI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tieto (HEX:TIE1V) (STO:TIEN) has appointed Artificial Intelligence as a member of the leadership team of its new data-driven businesses unit. The AI, called Alicia T, is the first AI to be nominated to a leadership team in an OMX-listed company. AI will help the management team to become truly data-driven and will assist the team in seeking innovative ways to pursue the significant opportunities of the data-driven world. Tieto established its new data-driven businesses unit in July 2016 to help Nordic organisations to create innovative data-driven services and new business models. In support of this goal, Tieto is also investigating the opportunities AI can present to the new unit's leadership team.

Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse Five and J.K.Rowling's series of Harry Potter novels describe the time travel paradox. Traveling through time changes the future from the point in time where the traveler arrived. The personal assistant that will arrive at some time in the future will change humans from that point in time forward, but in a more impactful way than GPS. Google and Facebook have recruited the best artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning talent in the world to build personal assistants in small increments. The personal assistant's intimate knowledge of users' likes and dislikes and awareness of situational context could be like Samantha depicted in the movie Her, but without an emotional relationship so users will not fall in love with their assistants.

Anyone whose internal clock doesn't run like a Swiss timepiece needs an alarm to wake them up. Digital home assistants like Google Home and Alexa are also becoming important for every other part of the day, so it was only a matter of time before the two came together in one device. Bonjour is just such a device and is set to launch next week. The Bonjour smart alarm clock features everything a good alarm clock should: the ability to coax you out of a deep sleep, a nice design, and a clock face that you can read even in the darkest time of night. But it takes that age-old functionality and adds some smart features, like substantial speakers capable of cranking your favorite Spotify playlist, the ability to integrate with your calendar for automatic alarm setting, and an integrated artificial intelligence assistant that can make some smart choices in your favor.

Mention artificial intelligence and a discussion about the robot wipeout of humankind is sure to follow. It's a technology as strongly associated with creation as it is with destruction. It's also a technology that businesses will increasingly trust in decision-making, Gartner analysts said Monday at the research firm's annual Symposium/ITxpo here. In the next three to five years, Gartner predicts that 50 percent of all analytical interactions will be delivered via artificial intelligence, and many of the insights will be gleaned through verbal interactions. People already know and interact with A.I. systems through IBM's Watson, IPSoft's Amelia, Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Google Assistant.