The metaverse may be on the horizon, but precursor and metaverse-like experiences are already a reality. Yet most people aren't sold on the concept of the metaverse. An early 2022 poll taken by news site Axios and AI platform maker Momentive found that most respondents were ambivalent about the metaverse, with 60% indicating they were unfamiliar with the idea of the metaverse. Although far more respondents were "scared" than "excited" about the metaverse, 58% said they were neither scared nor excited about the coming immersive digital world. As envisioned by analysts and researchers, the metaverse will be a persistent, immersive shared digital environment where people can interact with each other and transact with businesses.

This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet / TechRepublic special feature, looks at the outlook for business leaders in 2020 and where they are spending their tech dollars. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology are crucial to modern-day data-driven businesses, according to Gartner's recent AI and ML Development Strategies report. Nearly 60% of respondents said they have AI deployed in their businesses today, and expect to double the number of AI projects in place within the next year. Customer experience (40%) and task automation (20%) are the driving forces behind AI adoption, the report found. "AI can improve customer experience by understanding individual behaviors, preferences and/or purchase patterns, to perform predictive analysis," said Jim Hare, research vice president at Gartner.

Companies know that a high IQ can help drive business value. But the analyst outfit Forrester Research believes that if companies are going to successfully work side by side with artificially intelligent systems, they're also going to need a high "RQ." RQ, or robotics quotient, is a measurement of how competent a company will be at automation and AI implementation. The Forrester assessment is based on three main areas: people, leadership and organizational structures. A fourth area, trust, will influence the three main categories and change depending on the type of technology being deployed. J.P. Gownder, a Forrester analyst serving CIOs, described RQ as the "human contribution" companies need when deploying automation and AI technologies.

Forrester Research has come out with a report highlighting the role in which automation, artificial intelligence and robotics can impact the business, and how CIOs can help their organization meet strategic competencies. These strategic competencies entail using technology like automation to solve business problems, according to J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst for Forrester Research. "CIOs and other digital leaders need to think about automation, AI and robotics in terms of the business model of the company and applying those technologies to a business-model problem, which is a little bit different than the optimization problems that they've been [addressing] in the past," he said. Implementing automation will require CIOs to play the role of an evangelist and convince workers on the benefits of using these emerging technologies, Gownder noted. Meanwhile, automation can impact the cost savings in a business, according to the Forrester report.

In 2018, global technology spending will surpass $3 trillion for the first time--but that investment has failed to drive employee productivity and engagement at most enterprises, according to a Tuesday report from Forrester vice president and principal analyst J.P. Gownder. As a result, employers are increasingly looking to augment human workers with technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), wearables, and more. But getting humans to work side-by-side with robots remains a challenge. As many fear, automation will replace many human workers. However, it will also create new jobs, and, most importantly, transform existing jobs, Gownder wrote in the report.

It's increasingly clear that voice is the next major interface in computing, in some cases replacing the touch-based platforms of the smartphone era. Amazon's Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple's Siri, and Samsung's Bixby are leading the voice charge by providing contextual data and performing tasks on behalf of users. As voice-based virtual assistants continue move into a broad swath of form factors -- including smartphones, smart speakers, and automobiles -- their impact on the general public will grow as well. As consumer use cases continue to accumulate, these assistants are also making their way further into the office, creating new opportunities for improving business productivity and efficiency. SEE: IT leader's guide to the future of artificial intelligence (Tech Pro Research) While voice assistants are known for their ability to start a music playlist, for example, they also have great potential in the workplace.

The robot revolution has undoubtedly begun, but the jury is still out on exactly how many jobs will be lost to the machines, and how long it will take to happen. In the meantime, though, artificial intelligence (AI) is already impacting jobs in a variety of industries, changing the way a lot of work is getting done. Whether it's the implementation of chatbots or machine learning-boosted big data tools, professionals are capturing the value of AI to increase their productivity. However, every job won't be impacted equally when it comes to these emerging technologies. SEE: IT leader's guide to the future of artificial intelligence (Tech Pro Research) Here are the five jobs that will see the biggest increase in efficiency from AI and automation.

Flying drones and robots now patrol distribution warehouses - they've become workhorses of the e-commerce era online that retailers can't do without. It is driving down costs but it is also putting people out of work: what price progress? It could be a scene from Blade Runner 2049; the flying drone hovers in the warehouse aisle, its spinning rotors filling the cavernous space with a buzzing whine. It edges close to the packages stacked on the shelf and scans them using onboard optical sensors, before whizzing off to its next assignment. But this is no sci-fi film, it's a warehouse in the US - one of around 250,000 throughout the country, many gargantuan in size: retail giant Walmart's smallest warehouse, for example, is larger than 17 football fields put together.

WASHINGTON – On his first day at work as a security guard, Steve was greeted warmly, drawing attention from passers-by, including some taking selfies with him at the tony retail-residential complex he patrolled. Then he fell into the fountain. Steve was a security robot employed by the Washington Harbour center in the Georgetown district of the U.S. capital. According to some tech watchers, robots like Steve herald a new era for intelligent machines assisting in crime prevention and law enforcement. Steve's mishap in mid-July set of a flurry of reaction on social media, with some joking that the robot had "drowned" or committed suicide.

While merrily chirping, dancing and posing for selfies, a robot named Pepper looks like another expensive toy at a San Francisco mall. But don't dismiss it as mere child's play. Pepper embodies the ambitions of SoftBank Robotics, an Asian joint venture formed by a trio of major technology companies that's aiming to put its personable robots in businesses and homes across the U.S. over the next few years. If the technology advances as Softbank Robotics hopes, Pepper could become a playmate, companion and concierge. It could eventually respond to voice commands to retrieve vital information, make reservations and control home appliances that are connected to the internet.