Artificial Intelligence: Science fiction or a business reality?

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have become the technology industry's hottest topics with major companies and start-ups cashing-in on their bright promises. On the crest of the AI wave is the advent of conversational computing, or chatbots, as well as more complex virtual assistants that respond to voice commands on smartphones or tablets, such as Amazon's Alexa or Apple's Siri. However, many companies experimenting in this area have yet to get it right – a stark reminder of the risks of overhyping technologies. What many don't realise is that AI has already been around for some time, albeit in different guises. To understand how, it's important to define this technology.