In today's technologically-enhanced world, just knowing how to play a guitar isn't quite enough (though it is cool). To really get the most out of an electric axe, you gotta know a thing or two about sound theory, and that includes the proper use of an effects pedal to get all those cool wah-wahs squeedly-dees. To properly use an effects pedal, it needs to be carefully programmed ahead of time, then manually activated with one's foot at the proper part of a song. If you're not much of a multitasker, perhaps you need a little assistant to handle the modulation while you focus on playing the actual guitar. Programmer and guitarist Keith Bloemer developed his latest pet project with that precise goal in mind: a Raspberry Pi-powered AI guitar effects pedal.

This is the web version of Eye on A.I., a weekly newsletter on the intersection of artificial intelligence and industry. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox. Amazon, like other tech giants, is desperately hunting for workers who have an expertise in artificial intelligence. The online retailer has many businesses--its core e-commerce division, the Alexa voice-activated digital service, and the AWS cloud computing unit--that depend on machine learning. But there are relatively few computer scientists who know the technology, and those who do are in high demand.