AI year in review: Opportunities grow, but ethics loom large

Artificial intelligence garnered a lot of attention from the usual players -- governments, tech giants, and academics -- throughout 2019. But it was also a big year for business AI, with even more growth expected ahead. In a March KPMG survey, more than half of business executives said their company would implement enterprise-scale AI within two years. That is partly what drives PwC estimates that AI will deliver $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Impressive leaps in 2019 have enabled new business applications for virtual assistants, such as Salesforce's updated Einstein Voice Assistant for sales and customer service apps and IBM's intelligent agent Watson Assistant.