Investors haven't been happy with IBM (NYSE:IBM) lately. Since Ginni Rometty started as CEO in January of 2012, IBM has had 18 consecutive quarters of year-over-year declining revenue -- essentially every quarter of her tenure. The stock has lost nearly 10% compared with a gain of 78% for the S&P 500 over the last five years. For IBM shareholders, Ginni Rometty's four-year reign as chief executive officer hasn't been anything to go to Disneyland about. But her company has become a leader in one corporate category: board members willing to shovel incentive pay at a CEO turning in a mediocre performance.

Patient Number Two was born to first-time parents, late 20s, white. The pregnancy was normal and the birth uncomplicated. But after a few months, it became clear something was wrong. The child had ear infection after ear infection and trouble breathing at night. He was small for his age, and by his fifth birthday, still hadn't spoken.

Advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) opens new doors for businesses to make data-informed decisions, and if your business does not take advantage of the growing industry of data analytics, your competitors will steamroll ahead. The advancement of machine learning and artificial intelligence is opening new doors for businesses to make more data-driven decisions at higher accuracy rates. Data and analytics are also changing the way that businesses compete. As leading companies take advantage of the power of big data, and laggards stay behind, the disparity between the two groups will continue to widen in the future. Recently, Forbes has predicted that by 2020, we will have 1.7 megabytes of new information created every second for every human everywhere on the planet.

Chatbots have not seen the success in non-spamming application that we had once hoped. Microsoft's Tay experiment was a massive failure thanks to human interference. Microsoft is trying again with Zo, focusing on the future of chatbots being your best friend. That future is fluid interaction with a programmable and learning artificial intelligence without the assistance of humans. Conversely, In the case of Sensay, the future of bots is one that is just as human as a bot could possibly be.

HONG KONG: McDonald's Corp has agreed to sell the bulk of its China and Hong Kong business to state-backed conglomerate CITIC Ltd and Carlyle Group LP for up to $2.1 billion (Dh7.71 billion), seeking to expand rapidly without using much of its own capital. Zurich The Swiss National Bank expects a 2016 full-year profit of 24 billion francs (Dh86.68 billion; $23.6 billion), enabling it to shell out money to the federal government and municipalities. Foreign-currency holdings contributed more than 19 billion francs, and valuation gains on its gold holdings added 3.9 billion francs, the central bank said on Monday, citing an initial estimate. Last year's result is set to be the second-best in the Read More ... Tags: Corporate Enterprises Finance Sectors Banks Profits Financial institutions German automaker Volkswagen saw sales jump 16 percent in December for its namesake brand, propelled by a big increase in China, Volkswagen's biggest market. Global sales reported Monday rose to 567,900 from 487,700 despite the damage to the company's reputation from its scandal over cars rigged to cheat on diesel emissions tests.

A mattress might be the last thing you'd dream of applying machine learning to, but your bed is where you spend a third of your life. And if it can help you sleep better, that could improve the hours of the day when you're not sleeping, as well. Now, there's a bed that promises to do some of the thinking for us to streamline our sleep time. At CES 2017, as I plopped myself down on the Sleep Number 360 smart bed, I wanted to find out: Can AI really us sleep better? Sure, it was conformable, and, yes, I looked ridiculous, but it's all for science.

Indian startup Boltt is claiming to have a fitness tracking system so complete that it'll force you to ditch your Fitbit, Jawbone or Moov system - all through the power of artificial intelligence (AI). The new company is offering a smart show, stride sensor and fitness band that it says will give 24-hour insights into your health and activity - and doing so all for $150 (around £120 / AU$200). Yes, you read that right: a pair of'high performance functional sports shoes', and embedded stride sensor packed with the latest accelerometers and a fitness band that can monitor sleep, automatically detect activity and monitor your heart rate. It's a lofty goal, but the brand has worked with Garmin to improve the stride-tracking accuracy and even offers payment systems through embedded payment technology (essentially, NFC in the band). We've seen all that before, but the really exciting prospect here is'B', Boltt's AI chat-bot system that will interact with you daily as a 24-7 coach to give insights into nutrition, sleep and training.

Perhaps the coolest thing about IBM's 9th "Five Innovations that will Help Change our Lives within Five Years" predictions is that none of them sound like science fiction. "With advances in artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, we aim to invent a new generation of scientific instruments that will make the complex invisible systems in our world today visible over the next five years," said Dario Gil, vice president of science & solutions at IBM Research in a statement. More on Network World: IBM says soon you won't need passwords; mind reading will be routine; the so-called digital divide will cease to exist and junk mail will become important Among the five areas IBM sees as being key in the next five years include artificial intelligence, hyperimaging and small sensors. In five years, what we say and write will be used as indicators of our mental health and physical wellbeing. Patterns in our speech and writing analyzed by new cognitive systems will provide tell-tale signs of early-stage mental and neurological diseases that can help doctors and patients better predict, monitor and track these diseases.

Social robots are making their entrance at the Consumer Electronics Show this year. AvatarMind today unveiled its iPal Companion Robot, which is designed as an educational and entertaining friend for children and elderly people. AvatarMind is showing off the robot in a booth at the Family and Technology Marketplace at the Sands Expo during CES 2017. The robot can sing, dance, navigate a maze, and interact with people. The iPal is intended to serve as a learning and safety companion for children.

Yesterday, Big Blue released its "IBM 5 in 5," an annual list of innovations that the company predicted will have major impacts on the way we live over the next five years. "With advances in artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, we aim to invent a new generation of scientific instruments that will make the complex invisible systems in our world today visible over the next five years," said Dario Gil, vice president of science and solutions at IBM Research, in a statement. One of the developments identified in the list is the use of deep learning machine intelligence to help clinicians predict and monitor brain and mental health disorders such as psychosis, schizophrenia, mania and depression. The company said its scientists are currently using transcripts and audio recordings of psychiatric interviews to find speech patterns that can indicate such disorders. In addition to giving health professionals unprecedented access to the human mind, artificial intelligence will also play a role in providing a larger window into the world around us.