In addition to some crazy warm weather on the East Coast, the Friends of Dave newsletter also found itself blessed with a bunch of new subscribers this week -- so welcome!As I indicated in last week's abbreviated preamble, largely based on the sheer volume of stuff I am seeing on the topic, I decided to return to a common theme for the content in this week's edition:  artificial intelligence (or AI).  And buckle your seat belts folks, because there is a ton of great stories here that I have selected for your reading pleasure.I've been struck by the similarities in the current hype cycle around all things "AI" to what we experienced back in 2012 around that year's buzzword du jour, "Big Data" (and to a lesser extent, what we have seen in the years since with the Millennial friendly, but admittedly wacky term "Internet of Things").  Back then, everyone seemed to be onto the next breakthrough in "Big Data" technology....If you follow me on Twitter, you will know that I both despise the incessant over-playing of these terms and also unabashedly use them in hashtag form in tweets to attract more followers....marketing guy at heart I guess.While I'll briefly describe my own take here on why I think "AI" is still just a lot of hype at this point, I also strongly suggest you read Matt Turck's post below as well --  it pretty much illustrates my deeper thoughts and observations on the matter.  For starters, AI is still too broadly defined as a super category.  Just about any firm today can claim it is developing "ground breaking" AI solutions -- as any emerging technology focused on areas like automation, machine learning, autonomous vehicles, or advanced decision making platforms can qualify. Next reason it is more hype than reality at this point:  technology is simply not far enough advanced, meaning a people driven component is still required to achieve usable results.  Maybe my own past experiences are making me cynical, but any company publicly touting it's world changing "AI" technology today on it's website, in press releases, or in an investor deck most likely has offshore operations with hundreds of people "assisting" said technology...somewhat negating the spirit of what "artificial intelligence" is supposed to be, right? Finally, in today's social media driven, short attention span having, blink-and-you-will-miss-it viral meme driven society, the massive amounts of content being created around the topic daily enable it to be used as clickbait more often than not.  Let's face it, if AI has truly arrived, it wouldn't be interesting. We wouldn't fear it, or be in awe of it, or want to understand it -- we'd just be using it.  Like microwave ovens and smartphones.That all said, there is no doubt that the potential for artificial intelligence IS REAL. There is still tons to discover about the many facets of AI and how it will impact our personal and professional lives over the next 20+ years (for example, I had not even thought about the impact the global risks of adopting AI could have on philanthropic endeavors). Hopefully the stuff I am passing along in this issue will enlighten you as it did me. Enjoy!XOXODave