In 2009 we presented the idea of using collaborative filtering within a complex software application to help users learn new and relevant commands (Matejka et al. 2009). This project continued to evolve and we explored the design space of a contextual software command recommender system and completed a six-week user study (Li et al. 2011). We then expanded the scope of our project by implementing CommunityCommands, a fully functional and deployable recommender system. During a one-year period, the recommender system was used by more than 1100 users. In this article, we discuss how our practical system architecture was designed to leverage Autodesk's existing Customer Involvement Program (CIP) data to deliver in-product contextual recommendations to end-users.

To advance the state of the art in conversational AI, Amazon launched the Alexa Prize, a 2.5 million dollar competition that challenges university teams to build conversational agents, or "socialbots", that can converse coherently and engagingly with humans on popular topics for 20 minutes. The Alexa Prize offers the academic community a unique opportunity to perform research at scale with real conversational data obtained by interacting with millions of Alexa users, along with user-provided ratings and feedback, over several months. This enables teams to effectively iterate, improve and evaluate their socialbots throughout the competition. Sixteen teams were selected for the inaugural competition last year. To build their socialbots, the students combined state-of-the-art techniques with their own novel strategies in the areas of Natural Language Understanding and Conversational AI.

From Shakey the Robot to self-driving cars, from the personal computer to personal assistants on our phones, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has led the development of integrated artificial intelligence (AI) systems for more than half a century. From the earliest days of AI, it was apparent that a robust, generally intelligent system should include a complete set of capabilities: perception, memory, reasoning, learning, planning, and action; and when DARPA initiated AI research in the 1960s, ambitious projects such as Shakey the Robot went after the complete package. As DARPA realized the challenges, they backed away from the ultimate goal of integrated AI and tried to make progress on the individual problems of image understanding, speech and language understanding, knowledge representation and reasoning, planning and decision aids, machine learning, and robotic manipulation. Yet, even as researchers struggled to make progress in these subdisciplines, DARPA periodically resurrected the challenge of integrated intelligent systems and pushed the community to try again. In the 1980s, DARPA's Strategic Computing Initiative took on challenges of integrated AI projects such as the Autonomous Land Vehicle and the Pilot's Associate.

Amazon's most compact smart display is now the cheapest it's ever been. The Echo Show 5 dropped to $45 today, which is 50 percent off its normal price. The last time it was even close to that price ($50 to be precise) was back in May. This is an early Prime Day deal, so you must be a Prime member to get the savings (and yes, you're still able to get a 30-day free trial of Prime if you're a new subscriber). The Echo Show 5 was one of the many Alexa-enabled devices made by Amazon that did not receive an update two weeks ago.

As one of the leading trends in technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to gain in popularity for marketers and sales professionals, and has grown to be an essential tool for brands that wish to provide a hyper-personalized, exceptional customer experience. The availability of AI-enhanced customer relationship management (CRM) and customer data platform (CDP) software has brought AI to the enterprise without the high costs that were previously associated with the technology. A report on the Future of Work from RobertHalf indicated that 39% of IT leaders are currently using AI or machine learning, 33% said that they expect to use AI within the next three years, and 19% expect to use it within five years. AI has many applications for enterprise businesses, and in this article, we will discuss 4 ways that it can be used to improve the customer experience. The combination of AI and machine learning for gathering and analyzing social, historical and behavioral data enables brands to gain a much more accurate understanding of its customers.

The Apple Watch Series 6 is as beautiful as it is useful. With a wide range of features, an understated design, and no major weaknesses the Apple Watch Series 6 is the best smartwatch you can buy. It can track your fitness, provide insights into your health, handle phone calls and messaging, help you navigate or listen to music, and ensure you stay on top of your schedule, all controlled by elegant and intuitive software. The Apple Watch comes in two case sizes (40mm and 44mm) and in a wide array of finishes and bands. Whether you want an aluminum case with a sports band primarily to help you stay healthy, or a stainless steel case with a Milanese loop band to keep you connected during a busy workday, there's an Apple Watch for you. Setup is a breeze, and the Apple Watch Series 6 is the perfect partner for your iPhone. It can help you find your iPhone by triggering an alert sound, and even be used as a remote control for the iPhone camera. If you opt for an LTE model, you can leave the iPhone at home, though the watch will require its own data plan. The OLED touchscreen is bright, sharp, and surprisingly easy to swipe and tap your way around. The Digital Crown on the side can be rotated for fine control in menus and pressed to call Siri into service.

Nest Audio costs $99.99 and comes in five colors. There hasn't been a new Google Home speaker since way back in 2016 and now Google is giving its OG smart speaker a major upgrade with the Nest Audio. We're still getting to know the Nest Audio, but here are some important specs to note: The speaker keeps the same fabric-wrapped look of previous Google speakers like the Nest Mini, but it takes on a more unique oval-shape and it's taller than many other smart speakers on the market. It doesn't come with any USB-C or auxiliary input ports, but unlike the Sonos One, it supports both WiFi and Bluetooth connection. As you'd expect in a modern smart speaker, the Nest can be paired with other Nest speakers for multi-room audio.

It's been three years since Google released a smart speaker with music quality in mind. The Google Home Max was the polar opposite of the Home Mini, a large and powerful speaker that could fill a room with great-sounding audio. But unsurprisingly, cheap and tiny smart speakers like the Home Mini and Amazon's Echo Dot have had an easier time gaining traction than more expensive options like Apple's HomePod and the Home Max. Google is trying to split the difference with the Nest Audio, a compact smart speaker that the company says will offer a robust music experience without breaking the bank. I've been testing the Nest Audio for a few days, and while it doesn't sound as good as bigger and more advanced music-focused speakers, I can say it's a major upgrade over something like the Nest Mini or Echo Dot.

The old Google Home that looked like an air freshener has been reinvented, renamed and redesigned to rock out. Now known as Nest Audio, the new editions look more like a tiny, traditional speaker, this time in a multitude of colors (pink, blue, green, white and black), sell for less than the original Home ($99.99 versus $129.99) and the big news is a major sound upgrade. Nest Audio, available today, is still being sold as a personal assistant to run your smart home, answer trivia questions, set reminders, get news updates, translate languages and, of course, play music and podcasts. But the speaker, which runs on the Google Assistant, still lags Amazon's Echo speakers and the Alexa system in doing many obvious tasks that various Google help pages claims it can do, but either can't or require so much setup that consumers will be stymied. But let's start with what does work well: playing music. For $99, you get a speaker with vastly improved sound than the original, in a slightly larger body.

The replacement for Google's original, now discontinued smart speaker is here, and after listening to it for a few days, I'm not missing the old Google Home one bit. The rectangular Nest Audio delivers truly impressive sound considering its $100 price tag, and its sturdy, fabric-covered design looks handsome in person. With Google Assistant on board, the Nest Audio can also respond to voice commands and take charge of smart home devices. Waiting in the wings, however, is Amazon's refreshed Echo speaker, which also costs $100 and packs in stereo (rather than mono) sound, plus a Zigbee smart home hub. From the moment pre-announcement photos of the speaker appeared online, the Nest Audio's industrial design provoked furrowed brows and even some derision; indeed, I wrote that it looks like a "potato sack" or "a pillow standing on end."