Looking Back at 2016: Artificial intelligence, big data, and cybersecurity

Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2016 was "surreal." According to the online dictionary, surreal is "… used to express a reaction to something shocking or surprising." Surreal is also a good word to describe some of the key events in the technology world that took place this past year. Artificial Intelligence (AI): The extremely rapid advancements that have been made in AI during 2016 were stunning. Research into AI is 50 years old, but only recently have new algorithms and new computing power come together to enable truly innovative applications. From a technical point of view, AI implementations have mostly switched from a structured and rule-oriented world to one that is data-driven and relies on machine learning.