The 6 Artificial Intelligence Conferences You Need to Know About

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2016 has been an impressive year in the work of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is coming of age, and it is showing in all the conferences being held. Many of the top tech conferences are having a strong AI/chatbot presence, and others are holding conferences entirely about AI. Here is a quick look at some of these conferences in no particular order:

1) At the beginning of the year, Diego Ventura, CEO of noHold, attended the RE-WORK Virtual Assistant Summit in San Francisco. He participated in a discussion panel talking about how Virtual Assistants will improve our daily lives. To read more about this conference, click here.

2) IBM is putting on a conference all about Watson and AI called World of Watson 2016. Thought leaders in this space will gather to discuss all the great applications being made with AI. For more information on this conference, click here. 

3) Conversational Interactions Conference (formerly known as Mobile Voice) being hosted locally to us, San Jose, CA, is another event to look out for. At the beginning of 2017, executives to engineers will come together and talk about how the interaction with digital devices will be impacted with the use of AI

4) AI World Conference in San Francisco is coming up next month. This is the industry's largest conference focused on how businesses can harness the power of AI and machine learning in today's world.

5) Analyst firm, Opus Research, is hosting the Intelligent Assistant Conference 2016 will focus on companies embracing the movement to digital interaction through mobile-friendly bots.

6) O'Reilly AI Conference in New York, New York has speakers that work for tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and more coming to help others discover the real-world opportunities of applied Artificial Intelligence.

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Throwback Thursday: Spacecrafts to Space Factories

In light of Throwback Thursday, I was doing some searching on what happened on this day in tech history. According to the blog, June 2, 1966 was when "NASA's lunar lander Surveyor lands in Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms") on the Moon, becoming the first US spacecraft to soft-land on an extraterrestrial body." 

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Fast forward to 2016, and people are imagining a future with more than just spacecrafts existing in space. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, recently talked about his thoughts on space and AI at this weeks Code Conference. He believes that to sustain the Earth, we should take high-energy production and move it into space. "Earth will be zoned residential and light industrial," he explained. "You shouldn't be doing heavy energy on earth. We can build gigantic chip factories in space." (theblaze.com) 

Another hot topic at the Code Conference was Artificial Intelligence. Amazon's CEO, as well as CEO's of Google and IBM all went on to emphasize the huge impact they foresee happening with AI in the near future. Even greater than what is happening right now. "Whether we call it AI, cognitive computer, or smart assistants, one thing's for sure. It's real. Tech giants are betting big on it. And we're just beginning to scratch the surface of what AI can do to enhance our lives and our work..." (Fox Business) 

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Tech Giants Continue to Acquire A.I. Companies at Rapid Rates

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We have never seen technology progress as fast as it does in today's world. 

Within the last three years, it's no secret that corporate giants are extremely interested in Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Major players such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, IBM, Intel, Salesforce, and Yahoo have all started acquiring A.I. companies looking to advance their technology. 

Just in 2016 alone, 4 major acquisitions have already been made. This rapid growth in AI acquisitions is further validation that society is embracing AI, and top tech companies are constantly trying to improve this technology for their consumers.

With almost 2 decades of experience under our belt, we have always seen the A.I. market on a steady incline. It is great to see this spike in the market with everyone jumping on board this A.I. train. 

For more information about noHold, please visit www.nohold.com

Throwback Thursday: Happy Independence Day!

With the Fourth of July right around the corner, people are getting in the holiday spirit: Grills are heating up, swimming pools are crystal clear, and fireworks are in place (with safety precautions taken, of course!). 

But before we start leaving the office for this three day weekend, I wanted to share a quick blog about how technology/computers are being used this Fourth of July to keep the public a little bit more safe. For example, an audio monitoring network will be used to regulate celebratory gunfire. What shooters think to be an innocent act of honor/celebration can turn to be very dangerous and law enforcement is preparing for the high volume of shots this year for Fourth of July. "To help deter this gunfire, several police departments across the U.S. will be using a high-tech gunshot detection system to pinpoint the location and moment a firearm is discharged" (US Police Go High Tech to Tackle Fourth of July Celebratory Gunfire). By utilizing this technology, police are able to differentiate between gunfire and fireworks more accurately, and respond to the scene quicker than if a bystander called it in. 

Some other notable moments in tech history this month

1. MIT's Whirlwind allows keyboard input to the machine. "MIT's Whirlwind which has been completed five years earlier, becomes the first computer in the world to allow its users to enter commands through a keyboard. Previously, all input was accomplished through dials, switches, and/or punch cards" (Keyboards and Computers, Together at Last).
2. IBM introduces their first desktop computer to the world, Datamaster. Intended for small business use, and for end-users to be able to set it up without the need for a computer specialist. Soon after, they released the IBM PC recycling much of the knowledge they used to create the Datamaster (IBM's First Desktop Computer).

All-in-all, there have been some major milestones in tech history this month, but more importantly, major moments in US history. We hope you all have a fun and safe holiday weekend. Happy Fourth of July!

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Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and More are Validating the Artificial Intelligence Market

Here is a short clip from "What's the Big Deal?" talking about Google's plan to move toward Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Google is not the only one interested in A.I., though. Big name companies including IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Nuance, and Facebook are also making an investment into A.I. business units. With this sudden spike of interest in A.I., the future is looking bright for intelligent super computers! 

What do you think about these major companies investing in A.I.? 

Throwback Thursday: Self-Service Kiosks: Past, Present, and Future

Photo Credit: IBM

Above is a picture of the world’s first self-service kiosk created by IBM who partnered with American Airlines, and American Express. It was used as an airline ticket vendor and received high praise from its test trial, with 99% of users saying they would use it again. IBM continued to create and make advancements to many self-service kiosks throughout the years and still to this day.

Today, many companies are coming up with ways to enhance what can be accomplished through self-service and they have come a long way since the first kiosk was introduced. Now self-service kiosks are popping up everywhere in the community – from grocery stores to DVD rentals, airports to train stations – people are demanding self-service to be an option. Just recently, a national pilot program for Peapod was implemented. Peapod is a mobile application for online grocery shopping. This program is setup in train stations across the US (where people typically have to wait long periods of time for the next train) and individuals step up to a specific panel on the train platform and downloads the Peapod app. They can then virtually grocery shop through aisles, pay online, and be done; quick and easy. That is essentially what the customer’s want; a quicker and easier way of doing everyday tasks. And with the sort of technology resources we have, why not make life a little more efficient.

“I really think the future holds many great possibilities. I think the ATM was the first instance where a person had the opportunity to interface with a piece of machinery, and that allowed that person then to be comfortable with interfacing to other pieces that came out since then—like PCs, as an example, and we all know the success of the PC. I think we’ re going to see much, much more of that happening in the future. I think people nowadays and in the future are going to have the opportunity to not only come up with a lot of new products but also to be able to use those products in ways they never dreamed of.”

-Don Wetzel, Co-patentee of the Automatic Teller Machine.

I agree with Wetzel, the future allows for infinite possibilities that can only be imagined right now. Eventually, a shift from self-service kiosks will move to be completely in the cloud. For example, already people rarely go into the bank. ATM’s are what people prefer to use, but slowly the need for ATM's will be unnecessary because of the cloud. People can deposit checks, transfer money, etc via digital devices. Pretty soon everything will be automated; you will be able to talk to a Virtual Agent and tell it what you want, and it can do it for you.

Do you envision a world were kiosks will live in the cloud? Or are there certain situations where the presence of a kiosk is needed?

Throwback Thursday: This Day in Technology History

Happy Throwback Thursday! I hope everyone is having a great week so far.

As I was roaming the web this week, trying to find an interesting Throwback story, I came across a website called thisdayintechhistory.com. It's a fascinating website because, for everyday of the year it shares significant moments, from years ago, that impacted the technology industry. 

The day that caught my attention and inspired me to write a blog was August 8, 1980. Almost exactly 33 years ago, the Project Chess team at IBM presented a prototype microcomputer to their corporate management , in hopes to get the green light for their project. To their surprise, the management team gave approval for this project and with the personal computer market rapidly emerging at the time, the Project Chess team was only given a year to complete this project. And that is what they did. One year and four days after pitching their prototype, IBM introduced their first personal computer, the IBM PC Model 5150. Corporate management gave such a short time frame to get this computer on the market because they did not want to fall behind. It allowed them to remain relevant in the industry and they thought once the Model 5150 was out, it would buy them some time to develop a "real" PC.

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Compromising quality for rapidity yielded unintended consequences that changed the computer industry for years. This computer that they developed in a year ended up being one of the top selling computers on the market and became the standard for computers to follow. Isn't it funny how what was suppose to be a strategy to buy them some time to make a quality computer, ended up putting them at the top of the market for about 20 years! Of course, this model was not the best computer and had many technical issues because of the time constraint. But in that time, everyone thought it was, even software programmers developed software that compromised the reliability and compatibility of their software. 

Throwback Thursday: IBM's Watson App: Virtual Agent in Your Pocket?

       I wanted to share some fascinating (old and new) information about IBM's Watson, the supercomputer designed to challenge all-time Jeopardy champions back in 2011. When Watson first emerged on Jeopardy, every one was going crazy that there was a machine that could beat human beings on a QUIZ show. Even though Watson was not the first artificial intelligence created, he sure opened people's eyes to the progress and the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI). To read more about the press release, check out "Virtual Agent Technology to make Mainstream Media Debut in the Form of an IBM Supercomputer."

       I brought up the debut of Watson because he seems to be making a reappearance and is heading straight for your smartphone. The same technology that was "trained on Jeopardy, is headed for your pocket." IBM is finally releasing a product using the technology of Watson, as a customer service agent, working similarly to a virtual agent. In this version of Watson, he searches the web for solutions instead of pulling information from a knowledge platform.

      An "Ask Watson" button will appear on websites and mobile phone applications. This will enable users to ask questions and receive answers instantly with his matured intelligence. This "Ask Watson" button is also capable of using a voice recognition software, making it a more knowledgeable version of Apple's Siri. noHold thinks that this is great news for the Virtual Agent industry. What is your opinion? Is Watson going to be a competitor in the web based Virtual Agent/Virtual Assistant space or do you see Watson as a strategic partner for Virtual Agent/Virtual Assistant providers? We would love you hear your thoughts on Watson and how he might effect today's Virtual Agent industry.

   
     Cheers!



Source: Trained on Jeopardy, Watson is Headed For Your Pocket via MIT Technology Review

Throwback Thursday: The Evolution of Knowledge Management

     This week for Throwback Thursday, I found a fascinating infographic about how Knowledge Management (KM) has altered over the years. Believe it or not, Knowledge Management has been around since 3500 BC when the cuneiform language was developed. The invention of this language paved the way for information to be shared, stored, and preserved. 

     Now if we fast forward to the 1990’s, when computer technology and the World Wide Web became hot topics “software vendors scrambled to develop Knowledge Management solutions as its presence in the corporate world blossom into something big. Microsoft and IBM both reposition their software to emphasize Knowledge Management qualities.” According to this infographic, having a Knowledge Management solution is a high priority for companies now a day. Big names such as those mentioned above, knew to be successful they would need an effective KM solution. Implementing KM solutions is a great way to allow people to contribute to information securely, help companies manage/organize information and
make it easier for people to search and find the correct information they are looking for.

      The future of Knowledge Management is ever expanding. There will always be further information to be added and new ways of sharing it.  Peter Drucker, a former management consultant and the man who coined the term Knowledge Management, said in an article in the Harvard Business Review, that its sole purpose is not only for managers to share  knowledge, but also to track innovation that occurs as a result. 

    You can find all this information and more by clicking on this link that will send you straight to the infographic which was produced by Socialcast.  

Cheers!