As the oracles of Silicon Valley debate whether the latest tech boom is sliding toward bust, there is already talk about what will drive the industry's next growth spurt. The way we use computing is changing, toward a boom (and, if history is any guide, a bubble) in collecting oceans of data in so-called cloud computing centers, then analyzing the information to build new businesses. The terms most often associated with this are "machine learning" and "artificial intelligence," or "A.I." And the creations spawned by this market could affect things ranging from globe-spanning computer systems to how you pay at the cafeteria. "There is going to be a boom for design companies, because there's going to be so much information people have to work through quickly," said Diane B. Greene, the head of Google Compute Engine, one of the companies hoping to steer an A.I. boom.

AlphaGo's recent defeat of champion Go player Lee Se-dol has spurred another flurry of articles about AI. Among these was an announcement that Luc Besson will be directing a pilot for a new TV series titled Artificial Intelligence. Bet you can't guess the plot? Well, actually, you probably can: AI escapes the lab, goes AWOL, mayhem ensues. Its creators form a team of special agents to combat the now rogue AI.

The first bot I ever befriended went by the name of GooglyMinotaur. The Minotaur appeared in 2001 to promote Amnesiac, the latest album from Radiohead, which was and still is my favorite band. I happily chatted with the Minotaur about Radiohead history, information about the band's tour, and the MP3s it offered for download. The Minotaur was popular among fans like me: 1 million people added it as a friend, and in its lifetime it sent more than 60 million messages. But the Minotaur died a few months after it appeared, along with the rest of the era's bots.

It's not crazy to think investors and drivers will witness more innovation and change in the automotive industry over the next two decades than what took place over the last century. Technology and smartphones are enabling businesses like Uber to thrive seemingly overnight. Young people moving back into an urban lifestyle are creating opportunities for companies to think differently about how people travel on a daily basis. But perhaps the most intriguing storyline of all is the future of driverless cars. Here are three analysts with the reasons they believe driverless cars are here to stay.

Google has made one its largest European acquisitions to date with a deal to buy DeepMind technologies, a London-based artificial intelligence firm which specialises in machine learning, advanced algorithms and systems neuroscience. The Guardian understands that Google paid 400m ( 650m) for DeepMind, which develops technologies for e-commerce and games, and has demonstrated computer systems capable of playing computer games. It aims, it says, to develop computers that think like humans. The two-year-old artificial intelligence startup was founded by former child chess prodigy and neuroscientist Demis Hassabis alongside Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman. DeepMind has reportedly competed with Google and other major artificial intelligence companies for talent and Google's chief executive Larry Page is said to have led the deal himself.

If there's one thing software company Ebsta understands, it's customer relationship management. The San Diego- and London-based company sells a 10 per month per user Chrome browser extension that syncs customers' email accounts to the Salesforce database to streamline the onerous task of updating a CRM system. But finding new prospects for Ebsta is difficult and, as vice president of sales Bernhard Peters points out, expensive -- especially for a company with roughly 1 million in annual revenue. "We're still a tiny company," Peters says. "We have to be careful who we chase; we don't have a lot of money or manpower to spare.

It's not crazy to think investors and drivers will witness more innovation and change in the automotive industry over the next two decades than what took place over the last century. Technology and smartphones are enabling businesses like Uber to thrive seemingly overnight. Young people moving back into an urban lifestyle are creating opportunities for companies to think differently about how people travel on a daily basis. But perhaps the most intriguing storyline of all is the future of driverless cars. Here are three analysts with the reasons they believe driverless cars are here to stay.

Machine learning algorithms are worked into a variety of popular products on the market today and used by the biggest technology companies, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Oracle, and IBM, to name a few. But while machine learning algorithms are fairly routine and practical, there is the primary subject from which it branches: artificial intelligence (AI). After decades of popular films and books, what has been achieved from AI? First, the benefits of AI research have yielded various applications, from Apple's Siri to IBM's prototype diagnostic app, Watson. "AI has attracted more than 17 billion in investments since 2009. Last year alone more than 2 billion was invested in 322 companies with AI-like technology" (Kelly).

It used to be the case that you had to program a computer so that it knew how to do things. Now computers can learn from experience. The breakthrough is called "machine learning." It's unimaginably important for understanding where technology is going, and where society is going with it. Netflix's movie recommendations, Amazon's product recommendations, Facebook's ability to spot your friends faces, dating app's matching you with potential dates - these are all early examples of machine learning.