Everywhere you turn today is some unbelievable technological advancement on a variety of fronts. In our everyday lives, we hear or experience things about autonomous vehicles, warehouse robots, chatbots, Alexa, Siri, Uber, automated email responses, robotic surgeries, Netflix recommendation systems, smart factories, smart buildings and search retargeting. Technology giants are becoming the most valuable companies on the planet, and we see our lives shifting from what we thought was kids and their smartphone addictions and gaming to encroaching on our daily lives across the board. They are typically revolving around a variety of enabling technology layers, namely, cloud computing, computational systems, networks and sensors, robotics, material sciences, digital manufacturing and artificial intelligence. However, at the center of it, is AI that permeates many of the other advances in some shape or form in creating intelligent systems on top of advances in core products or technologies.

Amazon's Black Friday Week event has kicked off with a great range of discounts on everything from Amazon devices and Nintendo Switches to smartwatches and speakers, placing the best tech at your fingertips for less. Although Black Friday itself isn't officially until November 27, there are plenty of smart home gadget savings to take advantage of already, with the Echo Dot (3rd generation) now £18.99 and home security from Eufy reduced by 25 per cent. If you've been curious about smart lights, but don't know where to start, it's worth taking note of the deals on Philips Hue Starter Kits this Black Friday week, with up to 40 per cent off on Amazon. However, we recommend signing up to Amazon's Prime subscription service for a free trial to take full advantage of their Black Friday Week as you'll receive free next-day delivery and access to some exclusive offers. The Hue Starter Kits on sale all include three bulbs (screw, cap or spot) and the Philips Hue Bridge, which is an internet-connected central hub.

A year after it started testing the feature, Amazon is finally bringing workout tracking to Echo Buds. The company told CNBC it's rolling out the function over the next couple of days. According to Amazon, Echo Buds can monitor the duration of a workout, estimate the number of calories you burn, act as a step counter and measure how fast or far you walk or run. You can start, pause and end workouts using Alexa commands, and ask for details about your pace. The Echo Buds workout tracker may not be as robust as dedicated fitness devices, including Amazon's own Halo.

Using AI to boost sales is not a new idea. In fact, back in 2017, the Harvard Business Review did an extensive story about one sales office of motorcycle maker Harley Davidson that was able to increase sales from two bikes per week to 15 per weekend using AI-powered marketing support. If predictive analytics increased sales leads by 3,000 percent back in 2017, what's it doing for businesses now? AI and predictive analytics are still making an impact for businesses in terms of identifying customer trends, building customer profiles, and constructing tighter potential target audiences. However, it's also doing a lot more, both in terms of how it's able to gather data and how it's able to use it to offer customers the personalization they want and need.

Google Assistant already works with Hue and other smart lights, but functionality has been limited to turning them on and off, using them with alarms and a few other features. Now, you can schedule lights and other electric devices to turn on and off at specific and even general times, as Android Police and Reddit users have noted. The feature works via Google's "Scheduled Actions" feature. That allows you to say "Hey Google, turn on the lights at 7 AM," for example. You can set times for the current day or any other day over the next week by saying "Hey Google, turn on my coffee maker at 8 AM tomorrow," or "run my sprinkler in a week at 5 PM," for example.

You might have an easier time deciding on a Google Assistant smart display this Black Friday. Lenovo's Smart Clock is on sale now at Best Buy for $35, an all-time low and less than half its original $80 asking price. You can get it for the same price at Walmart. And if you don't need a touchscreen, the Smart Clock Essential is on sale for $25 (half its usual price) at Best Buy and Walmart. Both smart screens are very focused, and that's mostly a good thing.

Google's smart speakers and displays have steadily improved over the years, and luckily for us, a few of them are on sale for Black Friday. The biggest discount by far is the Google Home Max, which is now selling for $149.99, a whopping 50 percent off its regular price of $299.99) Sure, it's a few years old now -- we gave it a review score of 88 in 2017 -- but it's still a very good device, with stellar audio that outclasses most other Google-powered smart speakers, especially in terms of volume and bass. Our main complaint about the Home Max at the time was its high price tag, but since it's half off now, the Home Max is looking like quite a bargain. The Google-powered Nest Hub Max is on sale for $179.99 this week as well, which is $50 less than its usual price of $229.99.

Leading the company's vision to disrupt the knowledge management market. Often described as the emotional connection between a customer and a brand, customer engagement is far more than a transactional relationship. It's no longer limited to sales, services and support and is an ongoing process where a company anticipates a customer's needs and gains their loyalty. As the CEO of a company that offers call center, self-service and virtual assistant technology, I've found that most brands understand customer engagement plays a crucial role in customer experience and business outcomes. For those looking to gain a competitive advantage, AI as a driving force in engagement can be one of the best ways to build gratifying experiences.

The term artificial intelligence was initially revealed in 1956, yet AI has become more mainstream today on account of expanded data volumes, progressed algorithms, and enhancements in computing power and storage. During the 1960s, the US Department of Defense checked out this kind of work and started training computers to emulate fundamental human reasoning. For instance, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) finished road planning projects during the 1970s. What's more, DARPA created intelligent personal assistants in 2003, some time before Siri, Alexa or Cortana were easily recognized names. Artificial intelligence (AI), is the capacity of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform activities usually connected with smart creatures.

The term artificial intelligence was initially revealed in 1956, yet AI has become more mainstream today on account of expanded data volumes, progressed algorithms, and enhancements in computing power and storage. During the 1960s, the US Department of Defense checked out this kind of work and started training computers to emulate fundamental human reasoning. For instance, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) finished road planning projects during the 1970s. What's more, DARPA created intelligent personal assistants in 2003, some time before Siri, Alexa or Cortana were easily recognized names. Artificial intelligence (AI), is the capacity of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform activities usually connected with smart creatures.