But the real promise will come through the learning aspect of artificial intelligence, what's known as machine learning.

In both the consumer and business worlds, technology is constantly and rapidly evolving. Unique and innovative new business, health and consumer technologies are emerging every day, but sometimes it takes a little time for the "next big thing" to get recognized and catch on. Google, for instance, launched the original iteration of G-Suite back in 2006--long before the cloud computing and real-time collaboration became the standard. As leaders in the tech field, the members of Forbes Technology Council are always on the lookout for emerging devices, programs and systems that could revolutionize their industry--even if the tech is still in its early phases. We asked a group of them to share the most impressive piece of tech from the last three years that most people aren't aware of yet.

An effective artificial intelligence strategy uses the right tools to solve the right problems, an analyst says. Dean Lacheca, Senior Director Analyst for Gartner, told delegates at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo in the Gold Coast on Monday that they need to stop seeing AI as a futuristic piece of technology. "AI, in reality, is more than just a tool. It's a whole range of tools with different variations in complexities, costs of ownerships, consequences and opportunities," he said. A good strategy allows organisations to manage risks, address and mitigate concerns and accelerate the role of AI within an organisation, Mr Lacheca says.

AI expert and Sinovation Ventures CEO Dr. Kai-Fu Lee took the stage at the TIME 100 Summit in New York on Tuesday to discuss the current state of artificial intelligence, arguing that it will do as much for society's well-being as electricity. In his talk, Lee also touched on how governments and businesses can take advantage of artificial intelligence to improve nearly everything from infrastructure to the relationship between individuals and the companies handling their data. Lee showcased examples of AI applications, like warehouse machines that use computer vision to move and sort boxes, and an AI-powered rapper capable of generating rhymes based on any topic. Lee also highlighted an AI technique known as deep learning, and how it could be and has been used to generate false information, demonstrating with a fabricated audio clip of President Donald Trump. New machine learning techniques, like generative adversarial networks, have created real images of nonexistent people, as well as legit-looking news stories full of false information.

CES 2019 will be my 16th consecutive jaunt to Las Vegas to see the latest and greatest that the consumer electronics industry has to offer. So I'm extremely confident in predicting that we'll see plenty of the following: Those, of course, are the table stakes -- the same trends that have been on display for the past three, five or even 10 years of the world's biggest electronics show. To that end, these are the biggest questions we have going into the show -- the answers to which will set the tone for the rest of 2019. Qualcomm showed off a 5G phone prototype in Hawaii last month. There is little doubt that 5G -- the next-generation wireless standard that promises hyperfast speeds with almost no latency -- is the key game-changing technology for 2019.

What happens when robots take our jobs, or take on military roles, or drive our vehicles? When we ask these questions about the rapidly-expanding role of AI, there are others we're often overlooking--like the subject of a WEF paper released this week: how do we prevent discrimination and marginalization of humans in artificial intelligence? Machines are increasingly automating decisions. In New York City, for instance, machine learning systems have been used to decide where garbage gets collected, how many police officers to send to which neighborhoods, and whether a teacher should keep their job. These decision-making technologies bring up equally important questions.

You own a small insurance company that sells accident protection and marine policies. Your business is growing quickly but faces one key challenge: There's no electric light. Your productivity rises and sets with the sun. Then you get word of a new set of interlocking technologies that promises to transform daily life. It all begins with Thomas Edison's light bulb and the electric current that turns it on, courtesy of a power utility's centrally located generator in New York City.