Futurologists – those allegedly able to predict the future – are in high demand from newspapers and major companies keen to see into the coming years. Yet the vast majority of predictions are wrong. What's the appeal of future-gazing? And what might mobilise our visions into the present?

The number of people using messaging apps is set to hit two billion by 2018, so it’s no wonder brands want to get in on the action. Major tech players are touting chatbots as the next big thing, but can they really revolutionise online interactions, or are they just part of an industry-driven pipe dream?

Despite the hype around creating bots that can effectively chat with humans, nothing pleases people more than bots that don’t speak at all. In the complex puzzle of fitting AI into our lives, consumers seem to value tech that can make life easier while blending into the background.

While for some artificial intelligence may be a thing of science fiction, it could soon have a real world impact. In partnership with Clear Channel and Posterscope, M&C Saatchi has revealed what it dubs as "the first ever artificially intelligent poster campaign in the world."