The smart home market is expected to grow by billions of dollars in the next few years, as more of us depend on artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to deliver comfort and convenience in the home. For people in many parts of the world, air-conditioning is the most fundamental aspect of creating a comfortable home – and A.I. can tailor it to our needs with far greater reliability than ever before. Savanda spoke to Julian Lee, Founder and CEO of the IoT startup Ambi Labs in Hong Kong, to find out more. Sanvada: What can AI bring to air-conditioning and its users that wasn't possible before? Julian Lee: The current air conditioner control paradigm is relatively simple, focusing on temperature alone – the user simply chooses a set point temperature, and the AC control system endeavours to maintain this set point.

Toyota is going to start debuting their autonomous vehicles in 2020, which seems to be a bit late in the game considering other brands have gained verifiable traction in the self-driving department. For example, Nissan is slated to provide semi-autonomous driving assistance with the Nissan Rogue offering for 2018. Others such as Tesla are even farther in the game. However, it could be that Toyota just wants to get their offerings right which is why the models may have the ability to actually talk to the drivers in order to enhance their driving experience. Apparently, the models will be fully autonomous and be able to track user preference and even mood. That would mean the cars will have an advanced artificial intelligence setup which will be able to hold conversations with the driver.