Many of the biggest technology headlines in 2022 were about artificial intelligence (AI). Commercial and enterprise applications of generative AI such as ChatGPT are already making a big splash in 2023, but what about the retail industry? Here, the impact of AI is likely to widen and deepen this year. AI in particular may have an outsized impact on physical stores. It can be easy to forget that, amidst all the talk about e-commerce, most people still do the vast majority of their shopping in bricks and mortar stores.

Imagine this scenario in the not-too-distant future. You're awakened at 6:11 a.m. by the gentle sounds of tinkling bells and birdsong, even though you live in a 12th-floor apartment. Your alarm clock uses radar to track your breathing, and wakes you gently, with sound and light, when it detects you're in a lighter phase of sleep. Your transition to wakefulness triggers a cascade of changes in your apartment. In the kitchen, coffee starts brewing.

The latest developments in technology make it clear that we are on the precipice of a monumental shift in how artificial intelligence (AI) is employed in our lives and businesses. First, let me address the misconception that AI is synonymous with algorithms and automation. This misconception exists because of marketing. Think about it: When was the last time you previewed a new SaaS or tech product that wasn't "fueled by" AI? This term is becoming something like "all-natural" on food packaging: ever-present and practically meaningless.

Ambient computing is all about A.I. and making decisions without human involvement. Ambient computing is a broad term describing an environment of data, smart devices, A.I. decisions, and human activity that allows computer actions alongside daily life, without direct human interventions or commands. This essentially means that computers quietly handle stuff in the background. Although the phrase was coined in the 1990s, it first became prominent in the mid-2010s. Thought leaders assumed that 2021 would be finally the big year for ambient computing. Ambient computing is currently experiencing its moment as both a growth factor in lots of business decisions and an accelerating force towards smart home branding.

… of hardware and software, with machines talking to each other using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and cognitive processing.

One in four home interactions with Amazon's Alexa are already initiated by Alexa—not humans.

Google wants to make the Assistant more powerful, and is announcing today a slew of developer-centric updates that will make it easier to build tools for the digital helper. Three new features in particular are most intriguing: Home Storage, Continuous Match mode and AMP support on smart displays. Google is also releasing a new web-based console and SDK that will make it easier for developers to create for Assistant. These announcements are the largest since the company acquired conversational user experience platform Dialogflow in 2016, according to director of product management Payam Shodjai. With Home Storage, programmers can tap into a pool of information shared by devices in the same household (or, in developer speak, connected on the home graph).

Google is everywhere at CES 2020. With the world's largest consumer electronics showcase under way here in Las Vegas, the search giant has dispatched an army of people clad in white uniforms to spread the gospel about the Google Assistant, the company's digital concierge software. The company built a massive fun house with slides and a ball pit. The words "Hey Google," the wake phrase for the software, are plastered all over buildings and the monorail in Las Vegas, the tech show's host city. It's a classic corporate marketing blitz, but it's also an apt metaphor for Google's grand ambition: to get its software all around you -- to fill up every inch of your life, from your commute to work to your Saturday morning vacuuming the house.

Tis the end of the year when pundits typically dust off the crystal ball and take a stab at what tech, and its impact on consumers, will look like over the next 12 months. But we're also on the doorstep of a brand-new decade, which this time around promises further advances in 5G networks, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, self-driving vehicles and more, all of which will dramatically alter the way we live, work and play. So what tech advances can we look forward to in the new year? Here's what we can expect to see in 2020 – and in some cases beyond. The next generation of wireless has showed up on lists like this for years now. But in 2020, 5G really will finally begin to make its mark in the U.S., with all four major national carriers – three if the T-Mobile-Sprint merger finally goes through – continue to build out their 5G networks across the country.

Something very interesting is happening within the tech world: the biggest tech giants in Silicon Valley are racing to make your home a vast new playground for all of their new tech devices and platforms. But whatever you do – don't call it the "smart home." According to Google executives, the term "smart home" has fallen out of favor at the company, presumably because it conjures up all kinds of images of surveillance cameras and smart home devices that are constantly monitoring, tracking and listening to you. A better term, according to top Google executives, is the "helpful home." A "helpful home" respects consumer privacy and comes with all sorts of features and benefits to make your life easier.