Salome Sigurjonsdottir, 10, tests a voice-controlled television in an electronics store in Reykjavik on April 15, 2017. Sales assistant Einar Dadi said none of his TVs understood Icelandic. The revered Icelandic language, seen by many as a source of identity and pride, is being undermined by the widespread use of English both for mass tourism and in the voice-controlled artificial intelligence devices coming into vogue. Joseph Reger, Fujitsu Fellow, and Chief Technical Officer EMEIA, Fujitsu says that 2018 will be the rise of ubiquitous virtual assistants. He predicts that over the course of the year, we'll see an increase in the number of virtual assistants and chatbots, but that by 2020 consumers won't even know that their interface isn't human.

The concept of artificial intelligence has been around for a long time. In written fiction, AI characters show up in stories from writers like Philip K. Dick, William Gibson and Isaac Asimov. Sometimes it seems like it's touched on by every writer who has written sci-fi. While many predictions and ideas put forward in sci-fi have come to life, artificial intelligence is probably the furthest behind. We are nowhere near true artificial intelligence as exemplified by the characters mentioned above. Sometimes it seems like we've been waiting forever.

We've all heard the expression "rise of the machines" and seen movies like Terminator where technology takes a rather ugly turn in humanity's future right? Technology is so important to our existence that it does indeed seem like we are moving closer and closer to a future where we'll be entirely dependent on machines. After all, how often do you hear of machines taking over jobs that human beings formerly held? Nowadays we don't have to interact with humans to pay our bills, buy tickets to a movie, or even to get directions. Our dependency on machines is to such an extent that it may seem like they'll be taking over any day now, but the reality is far, far different.

The concept of artificial intelligence has been around for a long time. In written fiction, AI characters show up in stories from writers like Philip K. Dick, William Gibson and Isaac Asimov. Sometimes it seems like it's touched on by every writer who has written sci-fi. While many predictions and ideas put forward in sci-fi have come to life, artificial intelligence is probably the furthest behind. We are nowhere near true artificial intelligence as exemplified by the characters mentioned above. Sometimes it seems like we've been waiting forever.