For $399, you will get a Tangle Teezer-like wearable packed with artificial intelligence that allows you to play video games and control small home …

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will more than likely bring about the next technological renaissance. Although it's capable of some extraordinary things already, it's not quite at the revolutionary stage yet – but that doesn't stop people in the know making some intriguing predictions. Enter John McNamara, a senior inventor and the Innovation Centre Technologist Lead at IBM. He was recently giving evidence to the UK Parliament's House of Lords AI Committee, and he said that by around 2040, AI nanomachines being injected into our blood streams – effectively creating machine-augmented humans – will be a reality. "These will provide huge medical benefits, such as being able to repair damage to cells, muscles, and bones," he told those in session, adding that they could actually end up improving the original biological frameworks.

In my last column, I looked at how Amazon's Echo device and the Alexa voice service allows you to control things with your voice. You speak, it understands and obeys. Alexa is just part of a new wave of services that allow you to control things with your voice, from cell phones to intercoms and thermostats. You can even do things now like ask her to start your car. So, how do these listening devices transform your mellifluous voice into computer commands?