How often do you reflect on the ways technology changes your life as a marketer? I mean the sly, step-by-way manner in which new tech slides neatly into your existing stack and subtly reframes the game on you. These changes don't always alter your job in dramatic ways, but they eliminate the hassles and headaches. They may speed up your time to results, automate painful routines, and enable you to focus on what matters most. Very rarely, these technologies also let you do things you'd never considered possible. No incoming martech makes a better case for this sort of incremental innovation than artificial intelligence. While new AI products are surely on the horizon--self-driving cars are coming any day now, possibly, maybe--AI's most dramatic effect on your job today lies in adding new features across the tools that you're already using.

For decades, computer programmers have been trying to beat multiplayer games by finding reliable patterns in data. Researchers at Facebook and Carnegie Mellon University published a whitepaper in Science Journal in July that flips this switch. Their software embraces randomness, and it is reliably beating humans at games. Smart bearded person in a classic gray suit is playing poker at casino in smoke sitting at the table... [ ] with chips and cards on it . He is holding a glass of whiskey in his hand and looking away.

Smart TVs and home devices are harvesting consumers' personal data and funnelling it to big technology companies, researchers have warned. Sensitive information such as one's exact location is reportedly being wired to corporations such as Facebook, Amazon and Netflix - even if the person is not their customer. The findings from a team at the Northeastern University in Boston and Imperial College London came as fears of creeping privacy intrusion is grabbing headlines across the globe. Smart TVs and home devices are harvesting consumers' personal data and funnelling it to big technology companies, researchers have warned Sensitive information such as one's exact location is reportedly being wired to corporations such as Facebook, Amazon and Netflix - even if the person is not their customer David Choffnes, computer scientist at Northeastern University, said: 'Amazon is contacted by almost half the devices in our tests, which stands out because [this means] Amazon can infer a lot of information about what you're doing with different devices in your home, including those they don't manufacture.' A total 81 devices - including products by LG and Samsung - were monitored in the US and the UK to determine how much personal data was logged and where it was exported to, according to the Financial Times.

Today's business environment is becoming increasingly competitive. As a result, sales organizations need deeper insights and access to data to stay ahead of the competition. One way sales teams are getting a competitive advantage is through artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). However, while many companies are looking into and adopting AI/ML technologies, success relies on more than just the algorithms within the tools. Organizations need the right data in order for AI/ML to "learn" to be truly effective.

Walmart may be doubling down on its efforts to compete against Amazon. The retail giant is considering taking a page from Netflix and launching its own video streaming service, in a bid to take on its formidable competitor, Amazon, the Information reports, citing sources close to the situation. In an effort to undercut the competition, Walmart would price its service at a discount to rivals, charging consumers less than $8 a month. That might give consumers a reason to switch or sign up for the service, in addition to the myriad of other platforms out there, like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu and HBO Go, among others. Amazon Prime Video costs users $8.99 per month, while Netflix charges $8 on a monthly basis.

Health Catalyst introduced Touchstone at HIMSS18 and, in so doing, described it as a performance discovery, prioritization, benchmarking and recommendation tool. "Touchstone is built from the ground up on the latest AI and software from Silicon Valley," said Dale Sanders, President of Technology, Health Catalyst. "Touchstone's recommendation engine, which borrows from Amazon and Netflix, gives you not just comparative benchmarks but recommendations to improve your performance against benchmarks." The technology includes risk models based on artificial intelligence and anomaly detection algorithms that hospitals can use to pinpoint underperforming areas. Touchstone performs risk-adjusted benchmarking by culling data in claims, cost-accounting systems, EHRs, external benchmarks and operations to risk-adjust benchmarking, to "guide users to the data and analyses of greatest relevance to their work and to the organization's goals," the company said.

Customer experience personalization is all about data first. Get the data right and you can shape the overall customer experience by applying data science and machine learning. Recommendation engines are very powerful personalization tools because it's a great way to do "discovery" – showing people items they will like, but are unlikely to discover by themselves. They improve a visitor's experience by offering relevant items at the right time and on the right page. In the immortal words of Steve Jobs - "a lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them."