The financial services sector has long been criticized as being insulated, elitist, and discriminatory. Will artificial intelligence finally open up and "democratize" this industry? It's likely, and will happen a number of ways – by empowering customers, by opening up services to underserved communities, and by increasing the breadth of capabilities companies can offer. While still in the minority, a growing number of financial services executives are bringing in AI as a part of their customer experiences and operations. About half of 500 executives (48%) responding to a survey conducted by Economist Impact and SAS in March 2022 identified advanced data analytics as among the most important technologies to harness, and 34% specifically cited AI and machine learning as their paths to the future.

The financial services sector has long been criticized as being insulated, elitist, and discriminatory. Will artificial intelligence finally open up and "democratize" this industry? It's likely, and will happen a number of ways – by empowering customers, by opening up services to underserved communities, and by increasing the breadth of capabilities companies can offer. While still in the minority, a growing number of financial services executives are bringing in AI as a part of their customer experiences and operations. About half of 500 executives (48%) responding to a survey conducted by Economist Impact and SAS in March 2022 identified advanced data analytics as among the most important technologies to harness, and 34% specifically cited AI and machine learning as their paths to the future.

This editorial follows a series on AI political/other implications. Where are China's Recent AI Ethics Guidelines Coming From? Among the more interesting buzzwords of late is the term "metaverse," which Wikipedia defines as a "network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection." However, we can identify core attributes. These attributes include persistence (the world continues to "exist" even when players log off), interoperability (allowing for seamless travel between different virtual spaces with the same virtual assets), and the presence of a fully functioning economy.

"Figuring out when I needed more space or capacity--it was a mess before. We needed to get information from so many different points when we were planning. We never got the number correct," says Cardoso. "Now, I have an entire view of the infrastructure and visualization from the virtual machines to the final disk in the rack." AIOps brings visibility over the whole environment. Before deploying the technology, Cardoso was where countless other organizations find themselves: snarled in an intricate web of IT systems, with interdependencies between layers of hardware, virtualization, middleware, and finally, applications.

Kirke Everson is a principal in KPMG's Federal Advisory practice, focusing on technology enablement, intelligent automation, program management, process improvement, cyber security, risk management, and financial management. He currently serves as the government lead for Intelligent automation for KPMG in the U.S. Federal and state government leaders are witnessing the expansion of artificial intelligence all around them. From back-office automation, that can help reduce backlogged work, to cognitive platforms, that can identify and respond to natural language requests to better serve the public, AI and automation has become a driving force in addressing mission and business objectives. Based on the use cases they described, it's clear that agencies are making significant headway in putting AI to work. At the same time, there a variety of issues where government CIOs also need broader support. The issues they and their executive teams face, in many ways, are not that different from previous technology breakthroughs that tended to upend familiar work processes.

Writing and, later, the printing press made it possible to carefully record history and easily disseminate knowledge, but it eliminated centuries-old traditions of oral storytelling. Ubiquitous digital and phone cameras have changed how people experience and perceive events. Widely available GPS systems have meant that drivers rarely get lost, but a reliance on them has also atrophied their native capacity to orient themselves. While the term AI conjures up anxieties about killer robots, unemployment, or a massive surveillance state, there are other, deeper implications. As AI increasingly shapes the human experience, how does this change what it means to be human?

Having transformed the performance of a broad spectrum of consumer and industrial products, artificial intelligence (AI) is now set to revolutionize the quality of a product that the U.S. National Institutes of Health says half of consumers aged 75 and over desperately need: hearing aids. Bringing opportunity to fruition, Widex is the first hearing aid manufacturer to utilize real-time AI to create a better, more natural and personalized sound experience for hearing aid users. "By applying artificial intelligence, a hearing solution learns how users prefer various listening environments and gives them greater control over their hearing experience," Widex Head of Audiology Lise Henningsen said. "By being the first to embrace AI, Widex benefits from years of continuous machine learning and hearing aid optimization that other hearing aid manufacturers have not yet developed. It is a key reason Widex is able to deliver its revolutionary natural sound."

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses of all shapes and sizes have had to quickly adapt to remote work. Many experts predict that this year's rapid transition to remote work constitutes a point of no return. In many ways, the growth of remote work parallels the growth of artificial intelligence (AI). It wasn't so long ago that AI was confined to the realm of science fiction. Now, like remote work, AI promises to transform nearly every industry and every company.

At a China Summit in the fall of 2019, Jack Ma and Elon Musk discussed their contradicting views on the future of artificial intelligence (AI). It was interesting discussion and I recommend watching it. In the talk, Musk lays out his fears that AI will quickly accelerate to push humans out of the way, a real-life Terminator. While Ma believes that AI will improve the human way of life and cause a quantum leap in human productivity to the point where we can all cut the number of hours we work while maintaining our lifestyles. Putting aside Musk's concerns of a computer takeover, I'd like to cast some doubt on Ma's hopeful outlook on the benefits of AI and why simply maintaining our lifestyles won't be enough.

Within the next decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the power to transform the wine industry forever. Right now, applications of AI for the wine industry are limited – but AI promises to be one of those immersive technologies that are embedded in everything we do, one way or another. According to a growing number of wine experts, AI could impact everything from how we buy wine, to how we grow vines in the vineyard, to how we judge wine. Think of how the Internet has revolutionized the wine industry in just the past two decades. It impacts how we learn about wine, how we order and buy wine online, and how we market wine to end consumers via social media platforms.