IBM's Watson assistant could power homes, cars and hotels

IBM has been showing off its new voice and text based Watson assistant, based on its famous AI platform - aimed at cars, smart homes, hotels and businesses. Companies will be able to take the voice tech and customise and brand it up themselves - so we won't be saying "OK Watson" to every bit of connected tech we encounter. And IBM is also talking up its privacy policy when it comes to personal data compared to rival assistant makers. The demos IBM showed at its Think conference included a couple of interesting ideas. In a connected hotel room, and with an electronic key sent to your smartphone, Watson would be able to adjust the lighting, temperature and music to your preferences as well as display emails and calendar info on a dashboard for when you arrive. Harman is also showing off a Watson powered car dashboard for a concept Mitsubishi, and IBM says that the AI assistant in the car will be able to talk to the smart home and hotels.