Many observers were disappointed with the recent demo of the AI-enabled "Optimus" robot at Tesla's AI Day. One reviewer cleverly titled his article "Sub-Optimus." However, these views actually miss the point. Whatever else may be said of Elon Musk, he is a genius at sensing timing and opportunity, applying technology and providing the necessary resources. The quality and enthusiasm of the engineering team suggest Optimus could succeed, even if it takes longer than the estimate of 3 to 5 years for full production.

Generative models capable of automatically producing paragraphs of text or digital art are becoming increasingly accessible. People are using them to write fantasy novels, marketing copy, and to create memes and magazine covers. Content automatically created by software is poised to flood the internet for better or worse as AI technology is commercialized. Take Cosmopolitan's recent and "world's first artificially intelligent magazine cover," for instance: the image of a giant astronaut walking on the surface of a planet against a dark sky splattered with what looks like stars and gas as produced by OpenAI's DALL-E 2 model. Karen Cheng, a creative director, described trying various text prompts to guide DALL-E 2 in producing the perfect picture.

Technology is revolutionizing almost every facet of the hospitality industry. Chatbots and Voice-enabled devices, the innovative breakthroughs of Artificial Intelligence, are gaining traction among young travellers. It is estimated that by the year 2020, customers can manage 85% of their relationship with a brand effectively without even interacting with a human (Source: Gartner). This new norm is bringing a paradigm shift in how guests are communicating with the hotel. It also enables hoteliers to provide exemplary services that last forever in the minds of the guests.

Artificial intelligence hype was pervasive last year and the reality of A.I. is white-hot right now. In fact, 61 percent of enterprises say they implemented A.I. in their organization in 2017 -- up 31 percent from 2016. And, 791 public companies mentioned A.I. in their earnings calls in Q3 2017. It means that A.I. is nearing "big data" or "blockchain" levels of notoriety. Soon, even the most unlikely companies will claim to use the technology (imagine Long Island Iced Tea becoming a blockchain company) to ride the zeitgeist and get some good press.

Matt Marcus, senior VP and executive creative director at R/GA, is pitching Cars.com on the benefits of having an AI strategy. "If you're not thinking about AI, you're going to get disrupted by someone else," he says to a room of the brand's marketing executives, who gathered at R/GA's Chicago's office late last month. "But you clearly are thinking about it and we'd love to help you out." Cars.com is already developing a Facebook Messenger chatbot and voice apps for Google Home and Amazon Alexa. But its efforts, which haven't been released to the public yet, have a check-the-box quality.

Forbes said so back in February. Google and Microsoft have both declared pivots from mobile-first to "AI-first." An amazing-but-creepy robot has made the talk show circuit. And of course, AI has increasingly become a priority for marketers. In fact, 55% of them believe AI will have a bigger impact on marketing than social media ever had, according to Weber Shandwick.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural networks are words that are often seen in today's business technology headlines. Are robots taking over the world? Or are they just here to help you find the best hotel for your next holiday? Artificial intelligence may seem like the bane of some futuristic, dystopian society but you've probably already come into contact with it in something as simple as booking a hotel or flight. If you have ever binged watched a series or two on Netflix, you've seen the'what to watch next' recommendations pop up on the screen.