Robot Revolution – What future does AI have in marketing? - Mobile Marketing

You didn't have to be following the coverage from this year's CES too closely to notice one name repeatedly cropping up, across what felt like every announcement at the show: Alexa. Alexa is an artificial intelligence, a virtual personal assistant developed by Amazon. And right now, it looks likely to be remembered as AI's first major foray into the mainstream. Developed by Amazon's Lab126 R&D division, and building on the eCommerce giant's acquisition of Cambridge AI startup Evi in 2012, Alexa made its debut – there's a temptation to say'her debut', given the gendered name and voice, but let's stay neutral for the moment – back in November 2014. It was first sold as part of the Amazon Echo, a smart speaker that enabled users to ask questions, select and listen to music and, of course, order shopping using just their voice. It wasn't until last year, however, that Alexa made a real splash.