One of the highlights of MIT’s Emtech Next Conference in June was a debate on whether we should tax robots. We heavily tax human workers, so why not the machines that replace them? Then, goes the theory, that tax money could help provide training or benefits for workers who’ve lost their jobs to automation.

Ryan Abbott, a law professor at Surrey University, presented a convincing case for such a tax– or, more precisely, for removing the tax incentives that favor automation over human labor. Many business decisions to automate processes, argued Abbott, are driven by these tax advantages, not because the robots are more productive. If automation is more efficient, suggested Abbott, let that be the reason businesses decide to use it – not some tax break.

The counter-arguments from Ryan Avent, economics columnist at the Economist, were that taxes (or ending tax breaks) would slow innovation, and, in any case, there is little economic evidence that robots are taking over jobs. While these points appear to be less convincing, a robot tax alone won’t solve the lack of good jobs. But removing the financial incentives that favor automation over humans will at least create a level playing field.

Even more erroneous is the argument that a robot tax is a slippery slope: are they going to tax my Roomba or smart toaster next? Somehow, we manage to tax labor, and yet you can still mow your lawn and clean your house without paying the government.

Alas, the Emtech Next attendees disagreed, with 70% voting against the robot tax after hearing the debate.
One of the recurring themes at the conference was that businesses could better exploit automation and AI not just for their own efficiency, but to improve productivity and grow the economy as a whole. How? A pair of engineers, Meera Sampath at the State University of New York and Pramod P. Khargonekar at the University of California, Irvine, presented their plan for “socially responsible automation,” which starts with getting technologists to think harder about how their creations will actually be used and how those uses can benefit workers and society.

A shout-out to workers: Too often in these discussions of how automation and AI are affecting jobs, the voices of workers themselves are absent. MIT’s Thomas Kochan, speaking at the conference, at least provided a reminder to listen to such views, even in the early stages of product designs, and to involve them more in automation decisions. And, he argued, companies need to take the time to give their existing workforce the skills and training necessary to integrate them with changes in automation better.

Let’s admit it, every time we hear the word “co-bot” we cringe. Yes, there have been remarkable advances in robotics over the last decade that allow these machines to more safely and comfortably work alongside people and do more human-like tasks. And, yes, we know the promise is that, by taking over mundane tasks, these robots will free people up to do more interesting and, hopefully, productive ones.

But that’s a business decision that too often companies are not taking; instead, many are simply replacing their workers. If robots do 20% of the tasks that a worker was doing, then you need 20% fewer people to get the job done.

It’s become increasingly clear to economists that this one reason we’re facing a crisis: wages are flat, and job opportunities are limited for many workers.

MIT economist Daron Acemoglu blames this on what he calls “so-so” automation and technologies. Advances like automation should be a boon to productivity, but productivity growth has been sluggish for more than a decade. That, says Acemoglu, is because too often companies are automating jobs even when the machines are not more productive, because of the tax mentioned above distortions and a general enthusiasm for robots. So, you have a double whammy; not only are robots replacing workers, they’re not particularly adept at growing the economy.

The way out is to create new, productive tasks for the workers replaced by the automation. (That’s what happened in the past). And that’s where AI could be useful. Examples are not that hard to imagine. For instance, if you free up healthcare workers, such as radiologists and nurses, from routine tasks, they could use AI systems to collect and analyze far more patient data, expanding their capabilities and giving them new ways to advise and treat patients. Acemoglu cites similar examples existing in education and manufacturing.
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But, and this is key, Acemoglu warns that this won’t necessarily happen on its own. You can’t leave this up to the markets or the technologists. We need to pursue this goal deliberately.

Put your augmented reality goggles on and dial up 2040. Here’s one possible view of where the world will move in the next 22 years.

You've just got an autonomous electric taxi from the gym to work, picked up a coffee and—in the lift to your office—watched a short advertisement on the heads-up display projected by your wearable digital assistant, clipped to your collar.

In a matter of minutes, four transactions have taken place. And you haven’t put your hand in your pocket to get out a wallet once. Notes and coins have long since disappeared, and nobody even uses their phone to pay for things anymore. In fact, no-one thinks about money in 2040—it just happens. (Well, technically you were recognized by an iris scan for each transaction, but pointing that out destroys the magic of it.)

Back up a minute. You might have noticed there were four transactions in those few minutes, but only two purchases: the taxi and coffee. That’s because you also received two micropayments this morning—small amounts of money you were given in exchange for a service. The first was while you were at the gym. When you joined the club, you agreed to share your cardiovascular data with a medical-research company in return for micropayments every time you work out. You also received a micropayment when you watched the advertisement about that trip to Venice suggested by your digital assistant.

In 2040, the value of your data no longer flows to search providers or social networks. Instead, it all goes to you, allowing you to sell it to offset small costs throughout the day. The monetization of every aspect of our daily lives also creates a role for charity and altruism: You have the option to donate part of your regular micropayment income stream to your favorite charity in return for tax credits.

At lunchtime, you meet up with an old friend who now works overseas. After your meal, you both ask your digital assistants to split the bill and add a tip. You get up, pass your thanks on to the chef (yes, chefs are still human in 2040) and walk straight out; there’s no need to ask for the check. Fortunately, your visiting friend doesn’t have to worry about currency exchange costs, even though they’re not in their home country. Like you, they use a handful of digital currencies that are acceptable the world over and have minimal conversion costs.

The cryptocurrencies that emerged in the 2010s were not destined to last. But the blockchain tech that underpinned them evolved to create a new generation of super safe and completely transparent forms of money. Indeed, technology arrived just in time to fill the vacuum created by the collapse of trust in traditional institutions, which had historically acted as guarantors of currency stability.

After a hard day at work, your digital assistant knows you might not be in the mood to review your finances on the way home. But your assistant knows how to make the experience personal—and quick. “If you switch your regular savings to another provider, you’ll be able to reach your holiday saving target quicker and improve your credit rating; do want me to action that? And, by the way, your utility provider contract expires next month; would you like me to switch you to the lowest-cost renewable provider in line with your preferences?” Five minutes later, the autonomous cab reaches your apartment—and your finances are under control.
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Will all this be possible? Of course, no one knows. But micropayments, iris scans, and digital assistants are already a reality. Furthermore, the furor over the use of personal data by social networks could lead to people being rewarded for the use of their information. Our expectations as consumers are soaring as our lifestyles change and the pace of innovation accelerates. Increasingly, we want to live in a cashless mobile-only society—and technology will, therefore, find a way to make that happen.

Since Microsoft and Amazon announced plans to integrate their respective personal digital assistantslast summer, there's been almost no official update on the status of the partnership.

It seems, however, like there's finally movement happening.

An April 27 update to the Cortana support page actually mentions Alexa. "Cortana and Alexa are still getting to know each other. Soon you'll be able to ask Alexa to buy things, add items to your shopping list, access your Alexa skills, and more," says the brief update on the page. Yes, "soon" is vague. But it's something.

Typing "Alexa" into the search box in Windows 10 (on the Fall Creators Update version, at least) yields a message saying "I'll be able to connect you to Alexa soon. Stay tuned!"

Last summer, Amazon and Microsoft announced that their respective personal assistants would be able to talk to one another, so customers could opt to use the assistant most suited to a particular task. Amazon and Microsoft officials said last year that they'd make Cortana-Alexa integration available before the end of calendar 2017. Since then, there's been no update on when this might arrive.

In early March 2018, Cortana team members told Windows Insiders that the Cortana-Alexa integration was in "internal self-hosting" at Microsoftat the moment. Microsoft is working to "make sure it's (the integration) a great experience," the team said, noting that bringing together the two different speech stacks is "non-trivial."

Recently, Cortana's new boss, Javier Soltero, admitted that "skills for the sake of skills won't fly." He told PC World that skills usage isn't "quite as deep as most people think it is." He also acknowledged Microsoft's in total catch-up mode on this front. (That's for sure, with Alexa at 40,000-plus third-party skillsat last count.)
Given Cortana is set to access Alexa skills via this integration partnership, maybe Cortana's skills shortage is less horrible than meets the eye.
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Soltero also declined to say whether there are any other Cortana-powered speakers in the works. Currently, there's one from Harman-Kardon. I think speakers might not be where Microsoft is focusing; perhaps it's more about conferencing systems, microphones or other more business-centric peripherals.

After an extended testing period and one delay, Amazon’s cashier-free grocery store finally opened to the public last month. But it seems that the experiment has already been deemed a success, as the company is reportedly planning six more Amazon Go locations by the end of this year.

According to Recode, which cites people familiar with the plans, at least three of the new stores will open in Seattle – the same city where the current Amazon Go is found – while others will appear in Los Angeles. It’s unclear if Amazon will open more outlets in different locations this year.

Recode adds that Jeff Bezos’ company has held “serious talks” with billionaire developer Rick Caruso about placing one of its stores within The Grove, L.A’s famous 600,000-square foot outdoor shopping center.

Amazon Go’s “Just Walk Out Technology” uses a combination of machine learning, computer vision, deep learning algorithms and sensor fusion to determine when you pick up an item and place it in your basket. It even knows if something is returned to the shelf, should you change your mind. Once shoppers leave the premises, the total cost is automatically charged to their associated Amazon account.

While the system removes the need for cashiers, the stores are still staffed by humans who stock shelves, check IDs for alcohol purchases, and other duties, along with security guards.

After it opened in late 2016, only Amazon employees could use the company’s Seattle Go store during the lengthy beta phase. It was supposed to open in March last year, but the system reportedly struggled when more than 20 people were in the store. As such, the opening was delayed until January, though Amazon claims the delay was due to excessive demand from its employees.
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While they are due sometime in 2018, there’s no word on exactly when we’ll see the new Amazon Go stores. Given that the original has only just opened to the public, they’re more likely to arrive in the second half of the year. Eventually, it's thought that Amazon may start implementing the technology in Whole Foods outlets – the company acquired the organic-food chain in 2017. How such a move would affect Whole Foods staff is unclear.

Serial entrepreneur and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk said it best: “I don't think anybody who's a major internet company can live without having a major voice strategy.” 

Voice will account for nearly 50% of search on mobile in the next three years and will be the primary way consumers search for and make purchases on their phones and voice-enabled devices. Everything we do will involve voice in some way, from shopping to ordering groceries to asking what the weather is outside. And thanks to the nearly 20 million voice-enabled smart speakers sold thus far by Amazon and Google, we’re already seeing the fight for the real estate in consumers’ homes.

The smart-speaker movement is taking the world by storm. We see some of the most significant companies in the world, like Amazon and Google, set the tone for how and where voice can impact consumers. And, why wouldn’t they? Nearly 30 million households are projected to have a voice-first device by the end of 2017. While they are essential in kick-starting the revolution, these smart devices won’t be the last stop on the voice train.

While the adoption of smart speakers has risen rapidly, the usage of third-party applications, or “skills,” has been less than impressive. Less than 3% of skills built on top of Alexa are actually getting used, which is in most cases a result of the limited functionality of these applications. For example, Domino’s users want more than just their “easy order” or something they order over and over again. Reviews of the Starbucks integration with Alexa note that many orders never make it to the barista, only to bring more users back to the mobile app instead. And those that want flowers for that special someone are limited to seasonality or occasion with the 1-800 Flowers integration, without a way to actually see the flowers or gifts they’re ordering. Voice is capable of so much more.

The large platform companies have focused their energies on developing voice assistants that offer broad yet shallow integrations with third parties. As a result, “skills” just scratch the surface of what’s possible with voice. As the examples above demonstrate, while it’s relatively simple to build and launch an application for these platforms, you’re limited by what’s possible from a functional point of view.

To realize voice's full potential, companies need a more deeply integrated voice experience that is brand specific and is all knowing about their business. In retail, for example, the art of the consumer experience lies in discovery and personalization. Very rarely do you know the exact product you’re looking for when you go to a website or browse the “most popular” products section. That’s why companies invest millions in their mobile apps and websites, helping guide you through an experience to find exactly what you want. Voice is going through an evolution of its own, assisting companies to understand how to build much more meaningful customer experiences. It could be as simple as knowing that when you want a new sweatshirt, ordering your last order just won’t do. You want to see it in front of you, most likely on a mobile device and will ask a series of questions around color, price, size, material, and reviews. 

Imagine a voice experience where you can search for flowers for your mother, or someone special, watching the results on the screen in front of you change based on your budget, your color preference or type of flower. Imagine a fall selection of coffee flavors coming out in your favorite chain coffee shop, empowering you to add pumpkin spice, a shot of vanilla, and change from cold to hot once you’ve stepped outside. 
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There’s no question that Google and Amazon have birthed a genuinely revolutionary time in technology, conditioning us to be comfortable using a voice-powered device or experience, but we’re just at the precipice of the potential of voice. Voice, just like the introduction of the mobile device before it, will fundamentally change how we interact with the world around us. Only when you understand that, will you see how powerful voice will be.

Confirming rumors, Samsung last week revealed the existence of "Bixby," a new AI assistant that debuted with the Galaxy S8 and will challenge Apple's Siri with some new technologies.

Bixby, for instance, can handle many tasks that otherwise use touch or button input, Samsung said. Siri —and other AIs, like Google Assistant – typically only support a small selection of voice commands. Through contextual awareness, Bixby users should even be able to mix touch and voice input.

Bixby will also offer what Samsung describes as "cognitive tolerance," allowing it to recognize commands with incomplete information. As needed, it will prompt for more details.

In iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, Siri still requires that people use specific, fully-formed voice commands, which also don't adapt to what's onscreen. Google Assistant is more flexible, but doesn't support a mix of touch and voice.

The S8 has a dedicated Bixby button letting people trigger the assistant at any time, Samsung noted. Just a handful of pre-installed apps will support the platform at first however, and the company will only "eventually" release an SDK for third-party developers.
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First-party support should gradually extend to other Samsung hardware, including not just phones but devices like TVs and air conditioners. 

Remember when consumers first embraced the smartphone and then as demand increased, consumers pushed that technology into the enterprise? Well, the same thing is happening with a home digital product, Echo, as it begins to see software written for it that solves enterprise problems.

Last week, $6 billion software company Atlassian announced that it's bringing its popular HipChat app to the Amazon Echo family of smart speakers — making HipChat the first chat program available on Echo, and possibly marking a milestone in moving virtual assistants from the living room to the boardroom.

Most Amazon Echo services (Amazon calls them "skills") are passive, meaning you need to call on Alexa, the device’s personal digital assistant, before it will do anything. But HipChat on Echo is designed to be active, calling out when certain pre-set conditions are met.

HipChat General Manager, Steve Goldsmith, says that Atlassian teams have been testing Echo internally as an alert system when things go wrong: If an Atlassian site or service goes down, the system automatically sends a message into HipChat, which then triggers the Echo to activate and shout an alert at the team.

Instead of sending alerts to personal smartphones or tablets, Goldsmith says, the Echo is a "neutral piece of hardware." Put one in the corner of the room, and it's a team's communal voice box. In the same way that a family might share an Echo, so too does a software team, Goldsmith says.

Amazon says the Echo will become a key pillar of its business in the future, with thousands of developers tasked to building and improving it. The existence of the forthcoming Google Home device, a direct Echo competitor, is certainly a sign that Amazon is on the right track.
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While, right now, so much of the Echo's use is fun and games, the device's continued popularity, and the overall industry shift towards voice, means that HipChat on Echo could be a sign of things to come.

According to Amazon, the cop of the future won’t just be a robot; it will be one that fits in the palm of your hand.

Recently, the retail giant was granted a patent for a miniature, voice-controlled “unmanned aerial vehicle assistant” to be used by everyone from officers making traffic stops to shoppers just trying to figure out where they parked their cars.

According to the patent, off-board processing could be used to significantly reduce the size of the assistants compared to today’s drones while substantially increasing their capabilities. In one scenario described by Amazon, a UAV assistant would launch from a dock on a police officer’s microphone to act as a mobile dash cam and miniature partner.

 “As shown in [the illustration above], during a routine traffic stop, for example, the officer can command the [drone] to ‘hover’ or ‘follow me,’” reads the patent. “In some examples, if a foot chase develops during a traffic stop, the officer can command the [drone] to follow the suspect so that he can attempt to cut the suspect off in the cruiser. Similarly, if there are two or more suspects, the officer can command the [drone] to follow one the suspects, while he gives chase to the other.”

While the patent’s diagrams focus on law enforcement applications, Amazon believes the assistant could be used “for many other purposes,” including clearing buildings for military forces and even helping people decide if it’s worth waiting in line.

“If a user is waiting in a long line to buy concert tickets, for example, the user may not be able to see over the crowd to see how many total people are in line,” reads the patent. “In this case, the user can just say ‘hover’ to the UAV and the UAV can take up a position at a predetermined distance above the user (e.g., 15 feet).”
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When Amazon began investing in drones, it aimed to make a world where flying robots delivered customers their books and USB cables. Now, it seems, the internet’s biggest retailer has set its sights even higher.

Over a year ago, Google announced plans to build a modular smartphone. Since then, they have been quiet about what they were doing until this year’s I/O Developer’s Conference. Google said that Project Ara would deliver a developer’s edition of the phone by fourth quarter 2016 and a consumer version should be available sometime in 2017. You may want to watch Google’s YouTube video of the project.

Project Ara is based on the idea that you should be able to assemble a smartphone around different modules, swapping components at will. That may sound a lot like LG's G5, which lets you replace the bottom of the smartphone with parts like a camera module with dedicated shutter controls, but Ara's approach is a lot more complex. The design Google showed off has slots for six modules.

Swapping in those different parts will let you easily tailor the functionality of your phone to your liking. More important, Google argues, it means you can replace outdated components of your phone with newer parts while keeping the phone itself, thus extending the life cycle of your mobile devices.
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In a demo done at this year’s I/O conference, a Google engineer inserted a camera module onto a phone that could take a photo without rebooting. That's a vast improvement over last year’s demo where the Ara phone had to reboot before the camera module would work. Removing the module is simply a matter of using a voice command or selecting an eject option from settings. The prototype looks fairly compact if the modules themselves sport a blocky appearance — like a Tetris board if you could use it to make phone calls.
Google has already lined up some partners to develop Ara modules, including Panasonic and TDK among a host of others. And it hopes the release of a developer kit will bring along even more modules, which could include everything from health monitoring to navigation.

When we look into the crystal ball, we are finding some prominent technology trends in the consumer space that are also stimulating innovation and transformation in the enterprise space.

There are many technologies impacting manufacturing and other sectors ranging from healthcare, transportation, retail and education. But here we are going to focus on a single potential game-changer, artificial intelligence (AI).

AI could reboot businesses and empower them to achieve a sustainable, quantum improvement in performance that alters the trajectory of the future. It’s about identifying new ways for companies to do things differently, and to innovate around the technology.

AI is coming of age as business leaders grasp the immense potential of ‘smart’ machines as catalysts for greater efficiencies and competitiveness. By 2019, the global market for content analytics, discovery and cognitive systems software is projected to reach $9.2 billion, according to IDC’s recent Worldwide Content Analytics, Discovery, and Cognitive Systems Software Forecast.

Late last year, AI advanced with image recognition software being used to challenge the typical text search. Pinterest and online footwear retailer Shoes.com are testing new ways to search or browse using just images rather than text, according to a recent report in MIT’s Technology Review.

Each year, Edge.org, a think tank organization publishes essays from thought leaders and researchers related to a hot topic in public and academic discourse. This year’s question was, “What do you think about machines that think?” In grappling with this question, a major comment thread was that AI is no longer a future abstraction but rather is becoming a tangible reality.

In the Edge.org probe, several other themes emerged. AI is expected to augment human workers—making humans more effective, sharpening their expertise and facilitating innovation by reducing the barriers between humans and machines. For now, augmentation is more common in the area of cognitive computing, in which machines can sense, comprehend and even act alone. Cognitive computing is more about “person and machine” rather than “person versus machine.”

Other scenarios see AI in the form of digital assistants that humans can use to more effectively perform tasks like enterprise customer service, workflow management or collaboration. 
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This trend is disrupting the “old order.” Smart, connected products are transforming companies, corporate strategies, entire value chains or ecosystems, as well as quality of life and competition. AI holds the promise of unleashing a new wave of creativity, opportunities and profitability. It will drive another chapter in the ongoing industrial technological revolution and offer companies, countries and economies opportunities to reinvent themselves for a more vibrant and optimistic future.