Artificial intelligence, machine learning (a subset of AI), and predictive analytics top the list of hot, planned technology investments for banks in 2022, due to their ability to aid strategic business decision-making, help build applications that can serve customers in a personalized manner, and drive revenue growth, according to market research firm Forrester. Hot technologies for banks also include 5G, natural language processing (NLP), microservices architecture, and computer vision, according to Forrester's recent Top Emerging Technologies in Banking In 2022 report. The report, based on survey responses from tech decision makers in banks and their technology vendors, categorizes 30 different technologies into three main categories: "hot," "on-the-radar," and "hype." Technologies are considered hot if banks have lined up a planned investment in them in the next 12 months, Forrester said, adding that these new investments are expected to shape the future of the banking industry and customer experience. Among the hot technologies, artificial intelligence and machine learning -- a subset of AI that that makes more accurate forecasts and analysis as it ingests data -- continue to be of high interest as banks keep a strong focus on costs while trying to boost customer experience and revenue.

The result: eBay's copywriters are now able to devote more time to more creative work, such as crafting prose, according to Molly Prosser, associate creative director at eBay and a big believer in AI writing tools. "All the time I've spent lingering over the length of a subject line, wondering'Is this word more engaging, or is this word more engaging', or'How do I convey urgency without seeming too cliché'," says Prosser. "The hours I've spent editing and having team members pour over these things -- it's just meaningless work when we have a piece of AI that can do that for us. The new capability enables Naylor to offer a personalized newsletter for each association member it services -- based on his or her interests and reading habits. The AI tool incorporates personalized content that Naylor generates in-house, as well as content it finds on the Web –including job ads that match the specific job skills of the reader. Essentially, AI enables newsletters to become ever-more personalized over time by monitoring how each reader interacts with his or her personalized newsletter, and making adjustments accordingly, says Amith Nagaranjan, executive chairman, Rasa.io.

China's ambitions in artificial intelligence are insatiable. Wary that the Middle Kingdom is trailing the United States (the current leader in the field), government officials outlined a blueprint last summer to make the country the world's uncontested AI power in the next decade. By a host of metrics, China is already tilting the scale. AI-related patent submissions in China almost tripled between 2010 and 2014 compared with the previous five years, while Chinese investments account for 48 percent of global AI startup funding. According to CB Insights, based on keyword searches of abstracts and titles in 2017, China has far outpaced America in AI-related patent publications: for "deep learning," 652 compared with 101; for "artificial intelligence," 641 to 130; for "machine learning," 882 to about 770.

Companies worldwide will spend $3.5 trillion on IT in 2017, market research firm Gartner predicts. Above all else, companies are expected to increase their spending on software and services (as opposed to hardware), as they all rush to buy their tech via the cloud computing model, where tech is hosted in the vendor's data center and delivered as a service over the internet. Software spending is projected to be up 6 percent in 2016, and to grow another 7.2 percent in 2017 to a total of $357 billion. Meanwhile, companies will spend $943 billion on IT services, up nearly 5% over 2016 spending levels. All this means that there are billions of dollars at stake for the rising tech trends, things that emerged within that last few years are ready to take off and become mainstream next year.