They are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and are automating a lot of things in our lives. They help us buy books, find love through online dating, and can even be our virtual assistants. Will there be a point where digital devices takes over most of our tasks? Can our humanity be automated? Consider that the "human vs. machine" relationship is a symbiotic process: The computer and the human need each other to make each other better.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh today published research showing how they'd solved a frustrating problem for people who use a brain-computer interface (BCI) to control prosthetic devices with their thoughts. While the research itself is interesting – they created an algorithm that keeps the devices from constantly needing to be re-calibrated to handle the human brain's fluctuating neuronal activity – the real takeaway here is how close we are to a universal BCI. BCIs have been around for decades in one form or another, but they're costly to maintain and difficult to keep working properly. Currently they only make sense for narrow use – specifically, in the case of those who've lost limbs. Because they're already used to using their brain to control an appendage, it's easier for scientists and researchers to harness those brainwaves to control prosthetic devices.

From developing drug treatments to predicting the next hotspot, artificial intelligence may help researchers, healthcare workers, and everyday people offset the impact of the coronavirus. As the worldwide fight against coronavirus COVID-19 continues, companies and governments around the world are pulling out all the stops in an effort to stave off the pandemic's worst impacts. One tool in that toolbox that might prove particularly useful is artificial intelligence (AI). Even though AI has been around since the 1960s, it's only been in the past few years that its adoption outside of science labs and research institutions has really taken off. Perhaps the most common application of AI people have come into contact with today are virtual assistants like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa, which rely on natural language processing (NLP) algorithms to understand human speech.

Have you ever wondered how your personal assistant (e.g: Siri) is built? Do you want to build your own? Let's talk about Natural Language Processing. NLP is an interdisciplinary field concerned with the interactions between computers and human natural languages (e.g: English) -- speech or text. Okay, now we get it, NLP plays a major role in our daily computer interactions, let's see more business-related NLP use-cases: NLP is divided into two fields: Linguistics and Computer Science.

Take an isolated tribe in the Amazon rainforest. These people have had no contact with civilization, and have never seen anyone who looked different from them. Imagine -- completely cut-off from the 21st century. This is a photograph of the low-flying helicopter that due to a diversion because of a storm, took the National Geographic photographer Ricardo Stuckert out there, above the tribe. What did the helicopter look like to them? In fact, they shot arrows at the helicopter!

With Love Island as the highlight of (most) of our lives, especially now the football is over; it got me thinking about how data and dating can go hand in hand, and how when it comes to finding love technology is making some serious progress and advancements in such a short space of time. As a massive Love Island fan, I wanted to have a look at how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) is being used to find love, and how apps like Plenty of Fish and Tinder rely on AI to predict who we will match with and whether we will find the love of our lives with the help of an algorithm. For any of you that are using dating apps to find love, AI and machine learning is playing its part. If you use Amazon, you'll be used to seeing the suggested products based on your previous purchases, these apps are using similar algorithms but instead of suggesting shopping they're suggesting love interests. As you continue to use the dating sites the AI and machine learning is continuously learning more about you and your preferences.

What do I mean by "recommender systems", and why are they useful? Let's look at the top 3 websites on the Internet, according to Alexa: Google, YouTube, and Facebook. Recommender systems form the very foundation of these technologies. They are why Google is the most successful technology company today. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's accidentally spent hours on YouTube when I had more important things to do! Just how do they convince you to do that?

A quick search of recent headlines and blog posts suggests there is anxiety surrounding artificial intelligence (AI). One article shouts, "Robots will soon do your Taxes!" Another reads, "Lawyers could be the next profession to be replaced by computers." Those of us involved in technology marketing strategy and communications are struggling to understand what the true impact of AI will be on our respective companies and clients, and on the technology-based products and services they provide. New AI applications in legal research, contracts management, or e-discovery may fundamentally change the value proposition. For those AI solutions, marketers and communications teams must strive to effectively educate prospects and customers on the nature of artificial intelligence, separating the rumors from facts.

In keeping with our mission to provide comprehensive advertising analysis, MediaRadar puts together a report of the most important mergers and acquisitions news each week. Stay in the loop, whether you sell advertising space or focus on business development. This week, Gilead takes out FortySeven, Apple acquires start-up Voysis and Infor is purchased by Koch Industries. The American biotechnology company, Gilead has completed an acquisition of Forty Seven, Inc. at a rate of $97.50 per share that equates to a lump sum of $4.9 billion in cash. The deal bolsters Gilead's portfolio of oncology drugs through Forty Seven Inc.'s blood cancer medicine, which is expected to be on the market within 2 years.

Ilker is Co-founder of Botanalytics, conversational analytics company based in San Francisco.