The first time I met Alexa, the A.I. robot voice inside the wine-bottle-size speaker known as the Amazon Echo, I was at my friends' house, in rural New England. "Currently, it is seventy-five degrees," she told us, and assured us that it would not rain. This was a year ago, and I'd never encountered a talking speaker before. When I razzed my friend for his love of gadgetry, he showed me some of Alexa's other tricks: telling us the weather, keeping a shopping list, ordering products from Amazon. This summer, Alexa decided again and again who the tickle monster's next victim was, saying their children's adorable nicknames in her strange A.I. accent.

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Virtual and Augmented Reality is quickly changing the way we know the markets of technology to be. There have been a number of changes that have come out in the recent few years, and it now looks like the markets are in for a major change. Artificial Intelligence, in particular has been the apple of the eye of many major tech firms. However, it is not just AI, but a mix of all the aforementioned technologies that will lead towards a major leap in the way we use technology. Samsung, one of the biggest names in the world of technology, has now taken a step forward towards the world of AI, as they have now acquired Viv.

When the engineers had at last finished their work, Eugenia Kuyda opened a console on her laptop and began to type. "This is your digital monument." It had been three months since Roman Mazurenko, Kuyda's closest friend, had died. Kuyda had spent that time gathering up his old text messages, setting aside the ones that felt too personal, and feeding the rest into a neural network built by developers at her artificial intelligence startup. She had struggled with whether she was doing the right thing by bringing him back this way. At times it had even given her nightmares. But ever since Mazurenko's death, Kuyda had wanted one more chance to speak with him. A message blinked onto the screen. "You have one of the most interesting puzzles in the world in your hands," it said. Born in Belarus in 1981, Roman Mazurenko was the only child of Sergei, an engineer, and Victoria, a landscape architect. They remember him as an unusually serious child; when he was 8 he wrote a letter to his descendents declaring his most cherished values: wisdom and justice. In family photos, Mazurenko roller-skates, sails a boat, and climbs trees. Average in height, with a mop of chestnut hair, he is almost always smiling.

Samsung Electronics Co. is acquiring Viv Labs Inc., a U.S.-based artificial-intelligence software company, seeking to bolster its expertise as smartphones become virtual assistants for complex tasks. The deal is a coup for Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung; the developers behind Viv also founded Siri, which was sold to Apple Inc. and became the voice-based digital assistant on iPhones and other gadgets. Viv has been working on an AI platform that understands plain language so that users can interact with computers and software programs. "We envision that our users will be able to freely use their smartphones even without touching their interfaces," said Rhee, who runs the mobile division's software research-and-development business. "A lot of your phone's fun functionalities will be covered by voice and conversation."

If, after seeing all the software goodies on Google's new Pixel phones, you hoped that some of those cool features will trickle down to other Android phones capable of running Android 7.1 Nougat, you'll be disappointed. Google's smart personal assistant Assistant (Google did not do us a favor when naming this one), as well as unlimited, free backup for full-resolution photos and videos will remain Pixel-only for the time being. Somewhat less surprisingly, non-stop customer support service won't be included, either. SEE ALSO: Battle of the phablets: Google Pixel XL vs. iPhone 7 Plus vs. Galaxy Note 7 The news comes via a changelog for Android 7.1 Nougat, posted by Android Police Tuesday, which includes both items which are exclusive to the Pixel and the Pixel XL, as well as features for the rest of us. Additionally, TechCrunch confirmed the authenticity of that changelog with Google, which did say that it aims to make Assistant "widely available to users," adding we'll see some new devices running "Assistant over the course of the next year."

Samsung Electronics has agreed to buy Viv Labs, an artificial intelligence startup created by Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham. You may not have heard of Kittlaus, Cheyer or Brigham, but if you own an iPhone you've probably spoken with one of their creations, Siri. Apple bought their first startup, a spinoff from SRI International, in 2010. A couple of years later, they left to create Viv. Samsung's move into AI could be seen as a reaction to Google's launch of a new AI assistant on its Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones on Tuesday.

Following the Google Assistant reveal at an event in San Francisco on Tuesday, Samsung announced Wednesday its acquisition of Viv Labs, makers of the Viv smart assistant led by the Siri co-creator Dag Kittlaus. Samsung's own voice assistant, S Voice, has been a failure in terms of consumer usage. "Unlike other existing AI-based services, Viv has a sophisticated natural language understanding, machine learning capabilities and strategic partnerships that will enrich a broader service ecosystem," Injong Rhee, chief technology officer for Samsung's mobile communications business, said in a statement. Contrary to popular opinion, Siri was not developed by Apple. It started out as an independent third party program that Apple later bought.

Samsung is all out to join the artificial intelligence (AI) race as the South Korean giant has agreed to acquire Viv Labs, the startup behind Viv an AI assistant system which is "radically simplifying the world by providing an intelligent interface to everything." Interestingly, Viv was co-founded by Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer and Chris Brigham, the creators of Apple's Siri. The trio founded Viv in 2012, which is an intelligent assistant and an open platform wherein any developer can add more knowledge and capabilities to it. Viv was unveiled at Disrupt NY tech conference in New York back in May. The news about Samsung acquiring Viv Labs was confirmed by TechCrunch, and also through a blog post by Kittlaus.

A resident expresses her anger about police-involved shootings in South Los Angeles. A resident expresses her anger about police-involved shootings in South Los Angeles. Prop 64 divides medical marijuana community, the battle to seize Mosul, the vice presidential debate is tonight, and Southern California's earthquake fears. Prop 64 divides medical marijuana community, the battle to seize Mosul, the vice presidential debate is tonight, and Southern California's earthquake fears.

Artificial intelligence has always been a hot topic. The problem of creating a machine that can think, make its own decisions and at the same time lacks human limitations, has always aroused controversies. Because what is the artificial intelligence, what do we know about it? Is it going to be human's best friend or maybe the worst enemy? We all remember what the infamous Skynet has done to our planet in Terminator series, right? We can also recall this nasty feeling of a cold shiver running down our spines when Neo has woken up from the Matrix.