I can't think of a reference to the intellect that would feel more unauthentic and fake. It's no wonder people turn to The Terminator or The Matrix to fathom what it's all about. Fortunately, after 60 years of AI rumors fueled by academia and movies, we're finally starting to see signs that it means more than just robots taking over. Working in the tech industry, it's ironic that the AI lightbulb clicked not through an understanding of machine learning or engineering -- but through the human challenges we face in the technology world. While at Yahoo! and Apple, it was amazing to be part of technologies that not only helped enable the modern cloud today but continue to support its more than doubling in performance every year.

I can't think of a reference to the intellect that would feel more unauthentic and fake. It's no wonder people turn to The Terminator or The Matrix to fathom what it's all about. Fortunately, after 60 years of AI rumors fueled by academia and movies, we're finally starting to see signs that it means more than just robots taking over. Working in the tech industry, it's ironic that the AI lightbulb clicked not through an understanding of machine learning or engineering -- but through the human challenges we face in the technology world. While at Yahoo! and Apple, it was amazing to be part of technologies that not only helped enable the modern cloud today but continue to support its more than doubling in performance every year.

By Cecile Alper-Leroux Smart technologies powered by machine learning, natural language processing, augmented intelligence and distributed data collection interfaces are poised to transform the workplace and the world of HR leaders. In this blog post, you will learn about the potential virtues of ambient HR and virtual reality experiences for the future of work. Read on to decide if HR is ready. Note that, regardless of the technology, putting people first is a must. Employees today want it all… and so do their employers!

With intelligent automation marching steadily toward broader adoption, media coverage of this historic technology disruption is turning increasingly alarmist. "New study: Artificial intelligence is coming for your jobs, millennials,"1 announced one business news outlet recently. "US workers face higher risk of being replaced by robots,"2 declared another. These dire headlines may deliver impressive click stats, but they don't consider a much more hopeful--and likely--scenario: In the near future, human workers and machines will work together seamlessly, each complementing the other's efforts in a single loop of productivity. And, in turn, HR organizations will begin developing new strategies and tools for recruiting, managing, and training a hybrid human-machine workforce. Notwithstanding sky-is-falling predictions, robotics, cognitive, and artificial intelligence (AI) will probably not displace most human workers. Yes, these tools offer opportunities to automate some repetitive low-level tasks. Perhaps more importantly, intelligent automation solutions may be able to augment human performance by automating certain parts of a task, thus freeing individuals to focus on more "human" aspects that require empathic problem-solving abilities, social skills, and emotional intelligence. For example, if retail banking transactions were automated, bank tellers would be able to spend more time interacting with and advising customers--and selling products.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds the key to a new human-augmented era. A new world is being shaped, where computers work intelligently on our behalf and with us, rather than under our direct input. Immense opportunities are created by the combination of almost limitless cloud computing power and the digitization of our physical world, with the Internet of Everything. The new era has started: cloud and machine learning technologies are making our collaboration with "computers" more intuitive, more conversational, more intelligent, and ultimately much more embedded in all our lives. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already centered around advancements in AI.