Just a few short years ago, artificial intelligence was something on the horizon; an emerging technology that would – at some point in the future – be a driver of change. Now, however, it has firmly arrived, forming a key part of a wide range of products and services that most of us use on a daily basis, and being embraced by businesses across the whole spectrum of industry and enterprise.

However, that does not mean that this is an established technology. While we have so far been in the Wild West era of AI’s development, now we are onto the next phase, where rules, regulations and frameworks are hashed out, companies and nations fight to position themselves to become the long-term leaders in the field, and the average worker begins to see the technology infiltrate their workspace.

In this, the fourth issue of Verdict AI magazine, we look at how this next stage is developing.

The last few months have been particularly significant for nations, first with France’s announcement of major AI investment, and second with the UK’s House of Lords publishing a major report on the technology. 

We consider how both countries are looking to AI to buoy their post-manufacturing economies, with other nations following suit.

On the technology side, voice is emerging as a key interaction style. We look at how Amazon’s Alexa has brought the technology into our lives and its plans from here onwards, as well as hear from an expert at AWS about how the technology will truly influence the enterprise space.

Artificial intelligence has not impacted all industries equally, and for some it has proved essential to staying afloat in the changing world. We hear from travel technology giant Travelport about how artificial intelligence has enabled the company to respond to the surging levels of search requests while reducing costs.

Plus, we also hear how the upcoming GDPR is set to impact businesses using AI, and look at the changing attitude to AI’s use in business.

Read on for all this, and more, in issue four of Verdict AI.

Lucy Ingham 

Editor