On the surface, it may not appear that Dr Dolittle and artificial intelligence (AI) have much in common. One belongs in 1900s children's literature, while the other is firmly rooted in the 21st century. One is a physician turned vet who can talk to animals, and the other a computerized technology that cannot. AI has already given us the ability to bark instructions at robots like Siri and Alexa – could its potential be extended to the animal kingdom? Could it help us decipher some of the mysteries of the natural world and maybe one day allow us to "talk" to animals? There are certainly some who think so.

A couple years ago, Bob Bly asked, "Can a Computer Write Better Copy Than You?" Maybe it can and maybe it can't, but the AI InspiroBot can definitely write a weirder motivational poster than you! InspiroBot is the AI antidote to all those "Keep Calm and Carry On" spoofs. The origins of InspiroBot are a bit of a mystery, but it's clearly not trying very hard to pass a Turing test. In fact, the bot's viral brilliance is in precisely the awkward juxtapositions its algorithm accidentally creates. I got this nugget from InspiroBot five minutes before writing this post.