This article is the second in a series of insights for IoT in 2020. As 2019 comes to a close, Aeris is making an assessment of the IoT industry, looking toward the year ahead, and highlighting the innovators in IoT and M2M connectivity. The 2010s have seen rapid advancements in machine learning techniques. Bolstered by the Internet of Things (IoT), connected smart devices are enabling automation and predictions at scales never imagined before. According to a report from Zion Market Research, spending around machine learning is projected to reach $20.83 billion in 2024, at a sharp annual growth rate of 44%.

Artificial intelligence has a bad rap. Facial recognition algorithms -- like those used by law enforcement agencies around the country -- encourage racism. Digital assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, make children ruder. Predictive algorithms, like those employed by Facebook, narrow our perspectives. Meanwhile, language translators, including Google Translate, are said to hinder meaningful emotional connection.

Machine learning algorithms have come a long way since the inception of basic AI such as those in video-games from the 1990's. Over the course of several years, artificial intelligent powered voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant have improved significantly, redefining and changing the way we interact with AI from on screen to voice control. It's hard to comprehend just how far we have come in terms of our research and knowledge on artificial intelligence. We're surrounded by artificial intelligence in our day-to-day lives so it comes as no surprise that we don't seem to recognise the many hurdles we have overcome in constructing complex machine learning algorithms in recent years. The image below shows the remarkable advances we have made in the field of machine learning.

Chances are you like technology but sometimes struggle to use it. It's as if you need a degree in computer science just to understand the latest lingo today – gigahertz this, megapixel that, and terabyte this – so wouldn't it be refreshing if there were quick and easy ways to get the most out of your tech? And so, the following are a dozen or so "tech hacks" to consider, which might especially come in handy during these challenging times, as many of these software or hardware tips, tricks and shortcuts might save you money, time and aggravation. If you own an iPhone or iPad, enable a feature called Speak Screen. After you do so – by going to Settings Accessibility Spoken Content Speak Screen – swipe down from top of the screen with two fingers, on any page, and the onscreen text will be read to you. Now your ebooks are audiobooks you can listen to while multitasking, such as running on a treadmill or cleaning the home.

We present ADVISER - an open-source, multi-domain dialog system toolkit that enables the development of multi-modal (incorporating speech, text and vision), socially-engaged (e.g. emotion recognition, engagement level prediction and backchanneling) conversational agents. The final Python-based implementation of our toolkit is flexible, easy to use, and easy to extend not only for technically experienced users, such as machine learning researchers, but also for less technically experienced users, such as linguists or cognitive scientists, thereby providing a flexible platform for collaborative research. Link to open-source code: https://github.com/DigitalPhonetics/adviser

Me: "I love you, Siri." Siri: "You are the wind beneath my wings." Anyone else had that "conversation" with your iPhone? We're amused, and even a little amazed, at how "she" responds to us. We ask Alexa to turn down the lights in the living room.

It's quite common to see deals on smart speakers, but they're not often as tempting as this one. Best Buy is selling the original Google Home for just $30, or less than a third of its official $100 price. That's better than the $50 from not long ago, and puts it at the same price that you'd currently pay for the considerably less capable Nest Mini. You can find the speaker for ever-so-slightly less at the Google Store if you'd rather go direct. The Home's design may seem a bit old compared to newer Google smart speakers, but it's still capable.

Now might be a prime opportunity to shop if you're looking for a connected alarm clock or a video viewer for the kitchen. Amazon is offering substantial discounts on its Echo Show smart displays, with the Echo Show 5 on sale for $50 ($40 off) and the larger Echo Show 8 selling for $80 ($50 off). Those match price drops we saw on Black Friday, and could make them tempting compared to audio-only smart speakers. The Echo Show 5 is clearly meant as a nightstand companion and won't blow you away with its 5-inch screen, but it delivers better sound quality than you'd expect for the size while including helpful alarm clock features like a sunrise alarm and an ambient light sensor. The Echo Show 8 can fill that role, but its 8-inch display makes it the better of the two for following recipes or catching up on your Netflix queue.

Research is clear: customer service is one of the biggest drivers of customer loyalty. In fact, 78 percent of U.S. consumers say customer service is important to loyalty, according to Netomi's State of Customer Service 2020 report. Increasingly, customers expect support that is fast, personal, and effective. To deliver the experience that customers expect, companies are adopting AI to provide immediate resolutions that bring customer delight and business value. But in the race to automation, there are seven common pitfalls that companies should avoid to ensure higher customer satisfaction and a successful AI program.

Cloud ERP platforms ought to produce a self-learning information system involving machine learning across all provider networks. A cloud-based infrastructure combined with core ERP net Services and apps give a gentle stream of knowledge to AI and machine learning algorithms that accelerates the training of entire system creating a better business ahead. Virtual agents have the potential to redefine several areas production operations, from pick-by-voice systems to advanced inspection. Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, Google Voice, and Microsoft Cortana have the potential to be changed to contour operations tasks and processes, providing direction to complicated tasks. Design in the Internet of Things (IoT) support at the data structure level to realize quick wins as data collection pilots go live and scale.