This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet / TechRepublic special feature, looks at the outlook for business leaders in 2020 and where they are spending their tech dollars. Gartner's outlook for the next five years revolves around the idea that artificial intelligence will augment human decisions, emotions and relationships. The big question is whether Gartner's prognostications will play out in the next five years. At the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, analyst Daryl Plummer outlined the trends to expect in the years ahead. By 2025, half of the people with a smartphone without a bank account will use a cryptocurrency account.

It seems the enterprise is taking a serious interest in how the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) can provide a return on investment (ROI), as the number of companies implementing these technologies has grown by 270 percent in the past four years. On Monday, Gartner said that AI adoption has tripled in the last year alone, with an estimated 37 percent of firms now implementing AI in some form. According to the research agency's 2019 CIO Survey, AI is being used in a variety of applications. See also: GE is piloting'humble AI' to introduce business risk to algorithms AI in this context does not relate to the development of'true,' self-aware artificial intelligence. Rather, it can be considered an umbrella term for a range of applications including image recognition, natural language processing, cognitive computing, automatic Big Data analysis, and machine learning (ML), among other technologies.

HANGZHOU, CHINA--Alibaba Group has formally established a semiconductor business to produce its own artificial intelligence (AI) chip as well as unveiled plans to develop quantum processors. Driven by the Chinese vendor's research and development (R&D) arm Damo Academy, these efforts would see the launch of Alibaba's first in-house developed AI chip in the second half of next year. Called AliNPU, the new AI chip had the potential to support technologies used in autonomous driving, smart cities, and smart logistics, said Alibaba at its annual flagship computing conference held here Wednesday. Its machine learning specialist also urges need for governments looking to build smart cities, such as Singapore, to ensure its citizens benefit from such initiatives. It also set up a new semiconductor subsidiary, called Pingtouge, which it said would focus on customised AI chips and embedded processors.

This is a decidedly more somber entry. In March, a self-driving car being tested by Uber struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. Uber is pausing tests across the U.S. while an investigation into the cause of the death is underway. As companies race to be the first to market with self-driving vehicles on public roads and highways, it's a sobering reminder that the technology is still very much in development. Whether the incident slows down the pace of testing nationwide remains to be seen.

The business challenge was, therefore, to optimize the utilization of MTR's limited resources--people, tools, workspace and time (four non-traffic hours every day)--and yet be able to comply with the statutory and safety regulations. In 2005, MTR embarked on a project called the Engineering Works & Traffic Information Management System (ETMS) which uses artificial intelligence (AI) for planning, scheduling and managing engineering works. The business challenge was, therefore, to optimize the utilization of MTR's limited resources--people, tools, workspace and time (four non-traffic hours every day)--and yet be able to comply with the statutory and safety regulations. In 2005, MTR embarked on a project called the Engineering Works & Traffic Information Management System (ETMS) which uses artificial intelligence (AI) for planning, scheduling and managing engineering works. The ETMS helps MTR to efficiently plan and execute preventive and corrective engineering works during the limited time available in the non-traffic hours.