The embodiment of software we can interact with.  An exciting trend, when software begins helping us in our physical reality. Always entertaining and insightful, Joseph Turian, Entrepreneur, discussed a hodgepodge of Big Data, machine learning and AI with theCube host Dave Vellante during Strata last month.

First topic up, deep learning.  Also known machine learning, this technology is ready for prime time, according to Turian.  He had a couple great examples:

“Google had a very public paper where they watched YouTube videos using deep learning, and it just started [picking] up cats with out being trained on anything. Microsoft is using deep learning too,” says Turian. “Microsoft had a demo. Someone was speaking and it took his speech and translated it to Chinese and then spoke it back as if he was speaking.”

Deep Learning and what can be extracted from the Big Data, especially in the financial and medical worlds, is fascinating to think about. Food for thought: when we realize the things we’ve missed or under-optimized, soon to be uncovered by deep learning technology, will the numbers tell us it’s too late?

It is clear that what once was simply a theory for academic play, machine learning is now in the production phase. Visual recognition, speech recognition, translation — these all carry very large implications of advancing and simplifying human interaction with machines and software. Even more exciting is that consumer products with such seamless interfacing are absolutely in the pipeline. Self-driving cars? Google Glass? iWatch? Very exciting times on the product side are in our near future.

The topic of artificial intelligence was next up, and is not without its detractors. “We’ve been burned several times by hype around artificial intelligence,” said Turian.  “And people have been very leery of even the term artificial intelligence. If you were a serious scientist you would not say artificial intelligence,” he says.

As Vellante alluded to though, artificial intelligence is making a resurgence. It will be an interesting topic to follow over the next 14-18 months, so check back regularly to the SiliconAngle Network for more exclusive interviews and contextualization of AI, Big Data and analytics, the tech trends truly changing our world.

Turian’s Take on Cool Tech

• Collaborative consumption (Uber, Lyft, Sidecar) – solving real problems with logistics
• Internet of Things – sensors everywhere
• Google Glass: collaborative consumption and the Internet of Things
• eBay Now, Postmates – this idea of every single thing might be physical, being optimized and made much more efficient using software

Turian speaks up an exciting life, but there’s still several steps in interfacing evolution we have to take.  And turning every object into a connected device also raises countless questions on privacy, social interactions and how our global economy functions.

At its core, what Turian is talking about is a new way to interface with life.  We’ll have to carefully consider the consequences of inserting software into just about everything, though we’re moving into an era where data holds inherent value, democratized by accessibility.  We’ll have to always ask ourselves, “Is this really a better ‘interface’ for life?”  With enthusiasts like Turian around, we hope the answer is yes.

See Turian’s full (and lively) segment below: