What is it with wave metaphors? Technological determinists – people who believe that technology drives history – love them. Think of Alvin Toffler, who saw the history of civilisation as a succession of three such waves (agricultural, industrial and post-industrial). The idea is of immense power, unstoppable, moving inexorably towards us as we cower before its immensity, much as the dinosaurs must have done when they saw the mile-high tsunami heading in their direction. Mustafa Suleyman says he is not a determinist, but at times he sounds awfully like one.

THERE are two grand ambitions now for computer science: truly intelligent machines and useful quantum computers. Recent developments suggest not only that these goals should be achievable, but that they could be closer than we think. Take the quest to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI) – AIs that go well beyond being good at one specific task, but can instead do anything a human can. Some people still think this is impossible. And yet analysis of AIs designed to master human language has prompted other experts to suggest that AGI might only be a matter of scaling up current technology.

Lord Drayson seems a man on the move. As an amateur racing driver, it is perhaps an innate charateristic, and in the current debate around health data his foot is very much on the gas. I meet the former Labour government science and defence minister shortly after he lays out a bold new vision for the NHS at FutureScot's recent Digital Health & Care conference in Glasgow. Urbane and well-connected, Drayson is also a keen student of policy and how the arguments around big tech and health data are shaping up. For background, there is an intensifying argument that the NHS needs to make much more use of a still largely untapped goldmine of data, which could herald a new dawn in the way we diagnose, treat and manage disease – not to mention save billions of pounds annually.

It's one of those weeks where everyone drops trailers at once. Layers of Fear 2, Heaven's Vault, Far Cry: New Dawn, Yakuza Kiwami's PC port, and more--plus Pillars of Eternity II gets a turn-based mode, and Farming Simulator goes all-in on...esports? This is gaming news for January 21 to 25. What, you're not playing the Resident Evil 2 remake or the Anthem demo this weekend? Well then Amplitude has your back, as it's made two 4X games free-to-try for the weekend, Endless Space 2 and Endless Legend. All three are available through Sunday.

AI is set to play a huge role in the IT industry across the board, providing a number of advances for all kinds of businesses, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd has claimed. Hurd took to the stage, albeit via video-link, at the company's Oracle Open World event in London today to share some of his predictions for the coming years ahead. Top of the agenda was the role of artificial intelligence technology in the IT industry, particularly regarding cloud, with Hurd stating his view that all cloud apps would include AI by 2025. Doing so will allow cloud AI apps to differentiate themselves from legacy applications, he said, with tools such as chatbots and voice-intuitive interfaces allowing businesses to build much closer and personalised relationships with their customers. "All industries are going to find way to connect to their customers in innovative new ways," he stated, noting how automation could power new use cases such as retailers creating personalized experiences for individual shoppers, or hotels running 24/7 without needing people manning the front desk.

The crux of the Synthetics AI platform is their TradePal AI Concierge application. Smartly designed and infinitely personable, the TradePal app provides real time market information that is directly relevant to the user. In addition to back end learning about the ebbs and flows of the cryptocurrency market, the app's inherent chatbot will also learn the unique wants and needs of each user and respond accordingly. Through this, the user gains a personalized view of the cryptocurrency market that is still effective at analyzing market trends. Information from the cryptocurrency exchanges is parsed, analyzed and then provided to the user in the most relevant fashion.

The exciting buzz of "artificial intelligence" has almost every industry clamoring to take advantage of its ability to crunch data and accelerate business productivity in many creative ways. The field of enterprise identity governance is now the next in line to experience enlightening advances utilizing this technology as SailPoint releases IdentityAI. IdentityAI extends SailPoint's open identity platform by bringing data analysis and machine learning to identity governance programs. Learning from both data and human interactions, IdentityAI solves some of the most common challenges that identity programs face when it comes to effective and efficient governance. IdentityAI can focus a reviewer's time by surfacing users who have had significant or risky changes to their access since the last review.

Artificial intelligence, for all the scary science fiction dystopian futures imagined, is an integral piece of future technology. As technologists, we tend to write both of a frightening takeover by the robots and conversely how it will further our interactions in this world. The next steps in smart technology are just one small part of how we will connect, create, shop, work and live in a technologically advanced society. Since the future is both mired in technology and consumerism, we tend to wonder how the consumer of the future will adapt. Thankfully companies like Lippincott conduct that research for us, leaving us to the interpretation of the data and how it affects not only how we consume, but how we communicate with our own consumers.

Digital transformation has become a popular term in IT circles, fast becoming a priority for organisations across the private and public sectors. The government's shift to digital services and departments has been a longstanding goal over the last three years and continues to be a long-term objective, as success across online services has created more efficiency for both workers and UK citizens. It's surprising therefore that this year's Budget, as delivered by George Osborne, was a little light on the technology front and neglected the next chapter in the government's digital story. IT and technology sectors are considered to be the foundation points for economic growth and needs to continue to be a priority for organisations to get more done. Productivity plays a crucial role in sustaining this growth, but continues to be an area where the UK falls short.