Amazon's Alexa voice assistant now has some celebrity competition. Starting last week, the company began letting users purchase the voice of actor Samuel L. Jackson as a fill-in for the company's popular voice assistant, Alexa. This means users who buy the voice for $0.99 are able to receive audio responses from their Echo device in the actor's iconic voice. Actor Samuel L. Jackson (pictured above) is the first-ever celebrity voice option to make its way onto the Echo speaker To use the new feature, users who purchase the Alexa alternate must prompt their Echo device to respond in Jackson's voice by specifically phrasing their queries. For instance, anyone who purchases the feature can activate Jackson's voice by uttering something like'Hey Alexa, ask Sam Jackson if...' The new feature stops short of fully replacing Alexa and currently only allows users to query Jackson for the weather, jokes, and for details about their calendar or the time or the news. While the functionality is currently limited in scope, adult users will still be able to enjoy Jackson's more adult vocal repertoire, including an explicit mode that sprinkles responses with curse words.

The world's first voice activated travel buddy; made smarter by the people, for the people.

When you hear news about artificial intelligence (AI), it might be easy to assume it has nothing to do with you. You might imagine that artificial intelligence is only something the big tech giants are focused on, and that AI doesn't impact your everyday life. In reality, artificial intelligence is encountered by most people from morning until night. Here are 10 of the best examples of how AI is already used in our everyday lives. One of the first things many people do each morning is to reach for their smartphones.

There is certainly no shortage of statistics or speculation on the subject. But perhaps someone should ask Alexa. Smart Speakers and intelligent Virtual Assistants have already had a significant impact on consumer culture, driving a preference for screenless, more natural interactions with brands. The latest research shows that Voice-driven self-service is emerging as a preferred medium of interaction in many parts of the customer journey. At the same time, Google and other API providers have moved Speech and Natural Language Processing into the Cloud, increasing the quality of these technologies while reducing the cost of entry.

Artificial intelligence stocks are rarer than you might think. Many companies tout AI technology initiatives. But there really are few -- if any -- public, pure-play artificial intelligence stocks. And the AI competition landscape isn't an easy picture to paint. Instead, look for companies using AI technology to improve products or gain a strategic edge.

By 2030, consumers will be using a platform that not only intelligently manages their investments, but also incorporates their ongoing cash management into their advice and automation. You won't have to think about how much money you should keep in your checking or savings accounts. You shouldn't have to think about which account to pay your bills out of. We'll automate your entire financial life so you can spend more of your time doing the things that actually make you happy. As a result, we would expect to see things like budgeting tools and programs phased out.

When we think about AI, we have an image of robots in our minds. Some of them are creating chaos, and others are busy buzzing lullabies. Truth be told, AI is not just involved with robotics. It is more than that. As in a human body, the brain is a vital organ that controls and coordinates actions and reactions performed by us.

A few short years ago, personal digital assistants like Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri and Google Assistant sounded futuristic. Now, the future is here and this future is embedded, augmented and ubiquitous. Digital assistants can be found in your office, home, car, hotel, phone and many other places. They have recently undergone massive transformation and run on operating systems that are fuelled by artificial intelligence (AI). They observe and collect data in real-time and have the capability to pull information from different sources such as smart devices and cloud services and put the information into context using AI to make sense of the situation.

AI and machine learning could help to shape the future of P.R. research and marketing influence. We live in a world in which AI is improving our ability to research products, make buying decisions, and influence one another. Both types can be used to enhance the abilities of a marketing agency as they strive to achieve the best results for their clients. One of the most important aspects of a successful digital marketing strategy is customer experience. When the content is relevant to the user, they are more likely to convert and become recurring customers and be loyal to a brand.

Artificial Intelligence as a breakthrough technology is continuing to transform our lives in myriad ways. From intelligent chatbots capable to answer questions and guide users to virtual assistants responding to our commands for fulfilling tasks to smart and intelligent cars adjusting to typical user preferences, there is a multitude of ways artificial intelligence has penetrated our lives. Naturally, ecommerce cannot be left without reaping the benefits of AI for customer-centric product search, customer support, personalized recommendations, and customer support. Magento as the most popular and widely used ecommerce CMS platform has integrated AI with a whole array of plugins and extensions. If you have a Magento ecommerce store you can easily give your customers sophisticated AI-based shopping experience.