There's a hilarious illustration from Paris in late 1839, mere months after an early type of photograph called a daguerreotype was announced to the world, that warned what this tiny picture portended. In Théodore Maurisset's imagination, the daguerreotype would bring about a collective hysteria, La Daguerréotypomanie, in which crazed masses arrive from the ends of the earth and overrun a small photo studio. Some in the crowd want pictures of themselves, but, mon Dieu, others demand cameras to take their own pictures--Maurisset shows them loading the machines like contraband onto steamships bound for foreign ports--and still others throng simply to ogle at this newfangled thing and all the lunatic proceedings surrounding it. The clamor is so feverish that it brings about a mass hallucination, in which nearly everything else in the landscape around the studio, including railroad cars, a clock tower, a basket for a hot air balloon, indeed anything remotely boxy in shape, morphs into cameras. As they march to the studio, the crowds pass by half a dozen gallows, where in response to the daguerreotype's appearance artists have hung themselves.

When discussing artificial intelligence (AI), many accountants have asked the fundamental question: Will AI replace me and threaten my practice or the firm I work for? A variant of this question has existed since the beginning of the personal computer. For example, before AI, questions arose about whether computers would eliminate accountants. Here's the simple answer: AI will not eliminate you, but your role will change. Think about the impact of Intuit and Microsoft Excel on accounting.

Washington – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday condemned China's effort to take over national security legislation in Hong Kong, calling it "a death knell for the high degree of autonomy" that Beijing had promised the territory. Pompeo called for Beiing to reconsider the move and warned of an unspecified U.S. response if it proceeds. Meanwhile, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said China risked a major flight of capital from Hong Kong that would end the territory's status as the financial hub of Asia. Shortly afterward, the Commerce Department announced new restrictions on sensitive exports to China. The contentious measure, submitted Friday on the opening day of China's national legislative session, is strongly opposed by pro-democracy lawmakers in semi-autonomous Hong Kong.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming a phenomenon in daily life -- whether it's staying organized with virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, relying on Waze and Google Maps for the fastest commute time to work or tagging photos with Facebook's facial recognition technology. However, AI is driving equally powerful innovation in other ways that may not seem as familiar to average consumers and yet are dramatically improving the experience they have with their mobile devices. That's because one of the earliest and most ardent adopters of AI is the enterprise information technology (IT) operations that manage the networks you and I need to access. For them, AI is rapidly becoming a critical component to provide better visibility into the network environment, reduce costs, simplify operations and fix problems faster. Gartner predicts that by 2020, AI will be one of the five most important investment priorities for more than 30% of chief information officers (CIOs).

We're all only about ten years away from sauntering into stores, grabbing whatever it is we want, then quick-stepping out like we stole it. It'll be possible because many shops will be ringed with machine vision-enabling cameras and sensors, that keep tabs on what you take while inside and then charge it to the corresponding app as you leave. Analysts say the big shift is being ushered in by retailers trying to stave off the online shopping explosion. People tend to cite crowds and lines as reasons they avoid stores, so the hope is that tech will be the savior of the remaining brick and mortar mainstays. But while that checkout change might thrill some customers, it'll also dramatically change employment for low-skilled retail jobs and comes with a host of privacy concerns.