This sounds like science-fiction, I know, but so did talking to a digital assistant in a powerful pocket-sized touch screen computer fifteen years ago. As the data has shown the current, "warehouse of apps" app model does not work efficiently with human behavior. The 2014 Comscore Mobile App Report shows that 7% of the smartphone using population downloads 50% of the apps. When incorporated into the rest of the population that averages to just one download per user per month. This data is supported by app discovery activity data that reveals a mere 27% of the smartphone using population (millennials) uses the app store to discover apps as shown in the 2015 Comscore Mobile App Report.

In the race to build the ultimate personal voice assistant, Apple had a running start. But instead of running hard for the past five years, Apple slowed into a steady trot, seemingly unconcerned about the competitors hot on its heels. Now Apple and Siri are at risk of being lapped, and the only hope for future dominance in the fast-growing voice and artificial-intelligence space rests firmly on whatever Apple CEO Tim Cook says during Monday's upcoming Worldwide Developers conference keynote. SEE ALSO: Siri will get a big makeover at Apple's WWDC show "If they don't turn the crank this year and wait another year, I'm really concerned," Forrester Research VP & Principal Analyst Frank Gillett said. In other words, 2016 needs to be a big, turning-point kind of year for Siri.

She was a 22-year old aspiring model from Brooklyn. Searching for a way to crack into the industry, she turned to ModelMayhem.com, a website that connects freelance models to casting agents, photographers and others in the business. She flew down to Miami to meet the agent she had met online and, upon her arrival, he drugged and raped her. Her brutal assault was filmed and posted on the porn website Miami's Nastiest Nymphos. She awoke bruised and disoriented in a motel room with no knowledge of how she got there.

Artificial Intelligence and machine learning were the big themes at last week's Code Conference, just like most of the similar conferences I've attended this year. It's a topic on everyone's mind, driven by huge advances in hardware, such as GPUs, FPGAs and custom-built ASICs; software, such as deep learning neural nets; and applications such as natural language processing, image recognition, and conversational assistants. These themes were echoed by just about all of the speakers at the show, with a number commenting on the rapid advances in the field. Asked about AI in part of a broader conversation, Bill Gates said it is the big dream for anybody who has ever been involved in computer science. "It's the most exciting thing going on right now," he said.

That's something to talk about. The key players in tech are all racing to develop the most accurate, conversational, and useful Artificial Intelligence products. Advancements, breakthroughs, and acquisitions in the AI space are happening at a rapid rate, but what does that mean for us? Life could get a whole lot easier, but there will certainly be costs that come with the conveniences. Keep reading to learn more about where the development of Artificial Intelligence is at, where it's going, and what this means for consumers, companies, and culture.

It might bear a passing resemblance to ET, but Mycroft's smart home system is more than a pretty face: it's an attempt to define what it means to be human through technology. The first seeds of the open source home hardware AI platform that was to become Mycroft came to Joshua Montgomery during a refit of a Kansas maker-and-enterpreneurship space he was setting up. Montgomery wanted the building to have the same abilities as the systems seen on classic sci-fi films and series. "It was inspired by the Star Trek computers, by Jarvis in Iron Man," Montgomery told ZDNet. He wanted to create the type of artificial intelligence platform that "if you spoke to it when you walked in the room, it could control the music, control the lights, the doors" and more. Startup Vicarious is aiming to build the first general artificial intelligence system -- just don't expect it any time soon.

USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham asks a few iPhone users how a Siri update could change their experience when using an iPhone. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham asks a few iPhone users how a Siri update could change their experience when using an iPhone.

Apple is gearing up to give fans and investors a peek at what's next for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company. Starting on June 13, Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC, will give the firm a chance to share updates on the iPhone, Mac, Siri and more. As usual, WWDC comes on the heels of Google's own developers conference, during which the search giant emphasized its advancements in artificial intelligence. Apple is expected to make similar announcements, including improvements to Siri that would make the virtual assistant more useful. Here's a look at what Apple might reveal during its opening keynote, set for June 13 at 10 a.m.

Since hosting the first Intelligent Assistants Awards in the fall of 2014, the market for smart self-service solutions has rapidly expanded. Today's customers don't just accept interacting with virtual intelligent assistants (IAs); many prefer taking their questions to IAs rather than calling or chatting with a human agent. Companies reap the dual benefits of providing customers with popular self-service options while optimizing their overall customer support infrastructure and expense management. IA Awards Puts Focus on Intelligent Assistance Landscape Opus Research will host the third IA awards at the upcoming Intelligent Assistants and Intelligent Authentication Conferences (IASquared) in San Francisco on September 12-13, 2016. Awards Focus on Real-World IA Implementations and Proven Business Value From their inception, the IAAs focused on real-world implementations that fit into what Opus Research has defined as the "Virtual Agents and Customer Assistants" category of the Intelligent Assistants Landscape.

It's here – a world in which helper robots live with us, get us through the day, and yes, become our trusted friend. Science fiction is becoming science fact. As sci-fi writer William Gibson has apparently noted: "The future is already here – it's just not very evenly distributed." The demand for helper robots is booming, and academia, industry and the military are working overtime to meet the need as a whole new industry gains momentum. The demand is fuelled by the existence of those boring, dirty and dangerous jobs that nonetheless need doing.