The metaverse is a shared virtual 3D world or worlds, which are interactive and collaborative. It encompasses a range of technologies in the field of collaborative spatial computing. The technologies include interactive 3D graphics, augmented reality ("AR"), virtual reality ("VR"), online economies, multi-user gaming and more. Once viewed as science fiction, the metaverse is now viewed as the future of gaming, entertainment, brands, e-commerce and enterprises. Any device capable of rendering an immersive 3-dimensional experience (including a PC or even an iPhone) is considered to be metaverse capable.

Machine learning ("ML") has been gaining precedence over the past few years as organizations are rapidly implementing ML solutions to increase efficiency by delivering more accurate results as well as providing a better customer experience. Notably, when it comes to automation, ML has become a driving force as it involves training the Artificial Intelligence ("AI") to learn a task and carry it out efficiently, minimizing the need for human intervention. In any case, ML was already witnessing rapid adoption and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year helped in accelerating that demand, as organizations began to rely heavily on automation to carry out their operations. Markedly, ML is gradually becoming an integral part across various sectors as the trend of digitization is picking up. Notably, ML is finding application in the finance sector as among other usages, it helps in better fraud detection and enabling automated trading for investors.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given employers ample reasons to look for ways to substitute man with machine. The shift in trend toward automation has accelerated in the past year. Businesses were suffering huge losses due to the lockdowns, leading to decline in productivity. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools that were perceived to give a competitive edge or a'nice-to-have' technology prior to 2020 became essential for several companies across the globe to stay afloat. All the more, AI has been deployed by several organizations during the pandemic to provide information to the public, when physical interactions were a complete no-no.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given employers ample reasons to look for ways to substitute man with machine. The shift in trend toward automation has accelerated in the past year. Businesses were suffering huge losses due to the lockdowns, leading to decline in productivity. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools that were perceived to give a competitive edge or a'nice-to-have' technology prior to 2020 became essential for several companies across the globe to stay afloat. All the more, AI has been deployed by several organizations during the pandemic to provide information to the public, when physical interactions were a complete no-no.

The implementation of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the healthcare sector has been rather diverse and extensive over the past few months, owing to the coronavirus pandemic. The reliance on these technologies is growing, primarily because of their ability to simplify the assessment of complicated data and cases. Therefore, now would be the ideal time for one to look at a couple of AI stocks from an investment perspective. Looking closely at the growth prospects of AI in the healthcare sector, one finds can find many. According to a report by Markets and Markets, artificial intelligence in the global healthcare market is expected to grow from $4.9 billion in 2020 to $45.2 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 44.9%. While the major reasons for using artificial intelligence in healthcare are the rising volume of healthcare data and increasing complexities of datasets, the need to bring healthcare costs down, and improving computing power and lessening hardware costs.