A new Senate bill would require tech companies to label internet-connected devices equipped with either a camera or microphone. Introduced by Cory Gardner, a Republican senator from Colorado, the Protecting Privacy in our Homes Act is intended to enhance consumer privacy as more and more tech devices come equipped with surveillance tools that aren't always obvious. The Federal Trade Commission would be responsible for creating the specific language for the label and for determining and enforcing penalties for non-compliance. Amazon's Alexa (pictured above) comes with a microphone that records users even when they're not using the device. The bill would exclude devices marketed specifically as cameras or microphones.

Artificial intelligence has come a long way in a short time. No longer relegated to only outwitting humans in chess matches, AI now powers virtual assistants like Siri and self-driving cars testing their way through our neighborhoods. But if AI is getting more ingrained in society, why has it not boosted economic growth -- as technological innovations like electricity or computers have done in the past? Erik Brynjolfsson, a leading economist in AI, says it's only a matter of time. Brynjolfsson, Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, spoke Tuesday at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), on "The AI Awakening and the Coming Productivity Boom."

Just the mention of AI and the brain invokes pictures of Terminator machines destroying the world. Thankfully, the present picture is significantly more positive. So, let's explore how AI is helping our planet and at last benefiting humankind. In this blog on Artificial Intelligence applications, I'll be discussing how AI has impacted various fields like healthcare, finance, agriculture, and so on. Marketing is a way to sugar coat your products to attract more customers.

Eddy Travels was accepted into the Intelak startup incubator program led by the Emirates Group, GE, and Dubai Tourism! We will get a chance to work closely with program partners to develop a pilot travel project for Dubai. With Eddy Travels we will promote Dubai to younger audiences in Europe and elsewhere. Intelak provides AED 50,000 in funding and expert mentorship during the two-month incubation program. Eddy Travels was selected as one of the four startups from more than 200 applicants!

One day in 2017, Alexa went rogue. When Martin Josephson, who lives in London, came home from work, he heard his Amazon Echo Dot voice assistant spitting out fragmentary commands, seemingly based on his previous interactions with the device. It appeared to be regurgitating requests to book train tickets for journeys he had already taken and to record TV shows that he had already watched. Josephson had not said the wake word – "Alexa" – to activate it and nothing he said would stop it. It was, he says, "Kafkaesque". This was especially interesting because Josephson (not his real name) was a former Amazon employee.

But only one booth had a line. Attendees stood patiently, every so often oohing and aahing over the featured device. Some turned to strangers, remarking, "Isn't this just the cutest?" or "That's just incredible." Others asked when they could purchase their own. Tombot is one of many startups selling robotic companions for senior citizens, offering emotional support, day-to-day assistance, or remote monitoring through artificial intelligence.

Diligent Robotics, maker of an autonomous robot assistant for hospitals, has raised $3 million in seed funding. The raise was headed by True Ventures and Ubiquity Ventures, as well as Next Coast Ventures, Capital Factory, Pathbreaker Ventures, Boom Capital, Grit Ventures and other unnamed angel investors. This adds to another $2.1 million round announced back in the beginning of 2018, as well as a $725,000 National Science Foundation grant. This week's funding news was complemented with an announcement that the startup's hospital robot, called Moxi, is exiting beta testing and has entered market with its first official rollout in a Texas Hospital. While Diligent Robotics' broad aim is to develop robotic assistants for a range of chores or activities, the company has so far focused on healthcare use cases for its technology with Moxi.

While touching many facets of our daily lives, this advanced technology AI now walks hand in hand with us. With each passing day, we are relying more on it! Our usage of AI-based voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana are splendid examples. As time passes more in the future, these VA's will increase, and we will become more accustomed to them! The same is happening in the eCommerce industry, where AI is reshaping it!

Using voice assistants is part of the company's Made at McDonald's campaign, meant to amplify the opportunities a career at the company can create. Google has a new way for you to move music around the room. Just say "Hey, Google" to start a song on one speaker and finish it on another. The company calls the new tool "Stream Transfer," and it's rolling out today. The idea is that you would say, "Hey, Google, play Happy by Pharrell Williams," and the song would begin playing on your Google Home speaker.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is genderless, yet it tends to have a bias towards males. The reason being that most AI systems were created by male engineers. If we peep at the tech industry, we immediately realise that female engineers only account for around 25% of the tech workforce according to the Women In Tech report. What's more worrying is the fact that in 1991, the number of women in tech had reached 36% and there has been a steady decline ever since. This situation is rather sad, especially when one considers that the first programmer was a woman, Lady Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron (the famous English poet).