Explosion in data ushers in new high-tech era

Delegates at an event hosted by Accenture last month in the Conrad Hotel in lower Manhattan were welcomed and registered by a smiling Amelia. But Amelia does not work only in events. She is a hologram -- a cognitive agent who can take on a wide variety of service desk roles, emulating human intelligence and capable of natural interaction with people. The age of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) has been predicted for decades -- and it may finally be arriving, thanks to the explosion in data, the fuel that powers the AI machines. Consulting firms are not only implementing automation and AI for clients but also using it to transform their own back-office functions and operations.