It's difficult to visualise the true scale of AI, as it's almost certainly more than you imagine – it's going to contribute more to the global economy than the current GDP of India and China combined. PwC research suggests that AI could contribute as much as $15.7 trillion by 2030, and by singularly responsible for a 26 per cent boost in the GDP of local economies. That would place it as one of the most fundamentally transformational changes in human history and, PwC notes, there is the opportunity for emerging economies to leapfrog developed ones by being faster on the AI uptake. However, for all the promise of AI, there remain challenges. Gartner research suggest that only 54 per cent of AI projects make it from pilot to production. The challenge, Garter says, has to do with scale.

Alexa is making its move. While Amazon's virtual assistant has been tied to its own devices since its introduction more than two years ago, it is now beginning its an all-out assault on Siri and Google Assistant as it looks to establish a foothold on iOS and Android. But entering enemy territory isn't going to be easy. Apple and Google have both built their AI aides deeply into their mobile operating systems, so Alexa has to live inside apps for now. On the iPhone it's inside the Amazon shopping app, and on the Mate 9 (the only Android phone that supports it), it's accessible via a dedicated Huawei Alexa app. So to use it, you'll need to open the respective app before you can start asking questions.

If you wanted AI that could replicate the brain in its full glory, you'd need "hundreds of billions" of synapses (if not more). The far-simpler memristor array in this test was limited to looking for patterns. However, the Southampton group is quick to note that you wouldn't need to go that far for narrower purposes. You could have sensors that know how to classify objects and identify patterns without human help, which would be particularly helpful in dangerous or hard-to-reach places. You might just see IoT gadgets that are not only connected to the outside world, but can make sense of it.