For many organizations, AI and machine learning are seen as a route to greater efficiency and competitive advantage.

But according to a new study conducted by Dimensional Research for Alegion  almost eight out of 10 enterprise organizations currently engaged in AI and ML report that projects have stalled, and 96 percent of these companies have run into problems with data quality, data labeling required to train AI, and building model confidence.

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In the past AI has mostly depended on expensive solutions running in the cloud, restricting its use to a relatively small number of companies.

But with the growth of the IoT and ever greater volumes of information that need to be processed fast, there's more demand for AI at the edge. Xnor is launching a new self-service platform called AI2GO, that enables developers, device creators and companies to build smart, edge-based solutions without needing training or background in AI.

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As technology becomes increasingly complex and more devices are connected to the IoT, so the volume and complexity of field service requests increases too.

To help deal with this, automation company Zinier is launching its new Intelligent Service Automation and Control (ISAC) platform, an AI-driven solution enabling field service organizations to operate more efficiently.

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For the first time in a half-decade, I watched a Microsoft Build keynote this morning. Time gives fresh perspective, looking at where the company was compared to where it is today. Listening to CEO Satya Nadella and other Softies, I repeatedly found myself reminded of Isaac Asimov's three laws or Robotics and how they might realistically be applied in the 21st Century. The rules, whether wise or not, set to ensure that humans could safely interact with complex, thinking machines. In Asimov's science fiction stories, the laws were core components of the automaton's brain—baked in, so to speak, and thus inviolable. They were there by design; foundationally.

Behind all product design, there are principles. During the Steve Jobs era, simplicity was among Apple's main design ethics. As today's developer conference keynote reminds, Microsoft embraces something broader—design ethics that harken back to the company's founding objectives and others that share similar purpose as the robotic laws. On the latter point, Nadella repeatedly spoke about "trust" and "collective responsibility". These are fundamental principles of design, particularly as Artificial Intelligence usage expands and more corporate developers depend on cloud computing platforms like Azure.

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One of the biggest challenges for service desk teams is striking the right balance between business-critical projects and keeping up with everyday problems and requests.

To help relieve this problem, ManageEngine, the IT management division of Zoho, is incorporating Zia, Zoho's AI assistant, as a virtual IT support agent in its cloud-based service desk software, ServiceDesk Plus.

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New research from customer engagement company Freshworks reveals that 56 percent of consumers are willing to drop a brand after a single bad experience.

The survey of 3,000 individual consumers across the US, UK, Germany, France, India, and Australia, demonstrates that 69 percent have a clear preference for brands that offer proactive notifications and service.

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When you consider all the machine learning (ML) algorithms, you’ll find there is a subset of very pragmatic ones: neural networks. They usually require no statistical hypothesis and no specific data preparation except for normalization. The power of each network lies in its architecture, its activation functions, its regularization terms, plus a few other features.

When you consider architectures for neural networks, there is a very versatile one that can serve a variety of purposes -- two in particular: detection of unknown unexpected events and dimensionality reduction of the input space. This neural network is called autoencoder.

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According to new research among British businesses, 57 percent of employees either don't understand (20 percent) or misinterpret (37 percent) the meaning of 'digital transformation'.

The research, conducted by YouGov among employees at 500 businesses with 50 or more employees, on behalf of service management Cherwell Software also finds that 64 percent say their employers only adopt new technology once it enters the mainstream.

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Back in 2015, Shell launched an artificial intelligence-powered assistant for their lubricant service customers. Represented by digital avatars Emma and Ethan, the assistant assists customers with lubricant-related questions and concerns. It’s available around the clock, which means people can reach out at any time of the day or night and receive answers in seconds.

Shell claims that the assistant can handle over 100,000 data sheets for 3,000 products, and understands 16,500 physical characteristics of lubricants. The technology can also provide detailed information to customers about more than 18,500 pack sizes.

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Google has announced that it is closing down its artificial intelligence ethics council following controversy about board members. The Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) was formed just a week ago, but there was strong criticism of the decision to appoint Heritage Foundation president Kay Coles James to the board.

Rightwinger James has a history of opposing LGBTQ rights, and dozens of Google employees signed a petition in protest at her board membership. In response, Google has said that it is "going back the drawing board" and is ending the council.

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There's strong interest in and high expectations of AI from B2B marketing and sales professionals, with 84 percent of participants in a new study currently planning, evaluating, implementing or using it.

Account-based marketing company Demandbase has revealed the results of the survey conducted in conjunction with Salesforce Pardot and global research firm, Demand Metric.

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The use of more artificial intelligence to improve security has been touted for a while. New research from Webroot reveals that a majority of business are now actively exploring the technology.

It finds 71 percent of businesses surveyed in the United States plan to use more artificial intelligence and machine learning in their cybersecurity tools this year. However, a worrying 58 percent say that aren't sure what that technology really does.

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It’s been said that artificial intelligence is the future, but I’d argue that AI is very much a thing of the here and now. It’s playing an increasingly significant role in marketing efforts, and is taking marketing automation to the next level. And during an era when customers are demanding fast and hyper-personalized service, AI-based technologies couldn’t be more critical.

AI-based technologies bolster marketing automation efforts through personalized interactions. Your business can benefit on a multitude of fronts by embracing these game-changing advancements. 

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In sci-fi movies, machines work in choreographed grace, hovering gently, waddling cutely, and performing flawlessly. Computer interfaces seem minimalist with their floating touch interfaces and bluish color palettes. Wakanda of Black Panther, Cloud City in Star Wars, and New York City of The Fifth Element function so beautifully.

Here’s my question: Where the hell are all their IT people?!!

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OpenAI -- a company backed by Elon Musk -- has created an artificial intelligence system called GPT2 that's capable of writing fake news. The system is also capable of generating works of fiction, and it has been described as being so dangerous that it may not be publicly released.

The stories written by GPT2 have been called "deepfakes for text" and can be generated by feeding the system just a few words. The style is far more sophisticated than most AI-generated text, and the news stories it can generate are so convincing that there are serious concerns about the potential for misuse.

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