Election day is here and so too is the anxiety that has parked itself in the middle of the room. Some people are trying their best to meet the moment -- with mixed results -- while others have simply chosen not to let the race for president and control of Congress dominate their lives. For most all of the voters we spoke to, it's easier said than done. They planned to go for a hike and visit art galleries around downtown L.A. but admitted they were stressed about the election. "We're just sort of out walking around and trying to have a pleasant day and not think about it too much," Mark "I think we'll be glued to our TVs tonight to find out how the rest of our lives are gonna go."

Machines are starting to take the place of the people who flip burgers, drive across town and, lately, manage stock portfolios. Artificial intelligence is taking on a bigger role in making investment decisions. A.I., including an ability to analyze data and actually learn from it, is considered useful in executing certain investing models, such as high-frequency trading, and in helping fund managers with tasks that rely on gathering and interpreting reams of information. Going a step further, an exchange-traded fund introduced in October uses A.I. algorithms to choose long-term stock holdings. It is to early to say whether the E.T.F., A.I. Powered Equity, will be a trendsetter or merely a curiosity.

We recently attended Firebrand Talent's Put It To The Panel session in Melbourne that explored how AI is disrupting and enhancing marketing. While most of the experts on the panel concluded that marketers should embrace AI at every opportunity, there were some other interesting points made worth sharing. AI is not all about the grand self-driving cars and robots that replace humans. James Greaney, Data Planning Director at CHE Proximity, said we are already seeing a shift towards'little AI' – the bits and pieces of intelligence that could be done or are already integrated into our lives, such as predictive text in messaging. Another example is Amazon's one-click shopping experience, which gives customers the ability to make purchases on the internet with just one click of the mouse.