The rise of the IoT and artificial intelligence in industry [Q&A]
While the consumer IoT has captured the imagination with smart appliances and devices, the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is a rapidly growing market. According to Accenture, the IIoT market could add $14.2 trillion to the global economy by 2030.
IIoT is also breathing new life into industries that are in great need of digital transformation, such as manufacturing, oil and gas, and more. As a result, artificial intelligence and machine learning are quickly becoming one of the biggest priorities for companies that want to make the most of their operational data to increase outputs using less energy and costs.
The future role of AI in fact checking
As an analyst, I’d like to have a universal fact checker. Something like the carbon monoxide detectors on each level of my home. Something that would sound an alarm when there’s danger of intellectual asphyxiation from choking on the baloney put forward by certain sales people, news organizations, governments, and educators, for example.
For most of my life, we would simply have turned to academic literature for credible truth. There is now enough legitimate doubt to make us seek out a new model or at a minimum, augment that academic model.
Microsoft adds AI smarts to Windows 10 to avoid inconvenient update reboots -- but it's a dictatorial waste of technology
Microsoft has just released Microsoft released Windows 10 Redstone 5 Build 17723 and Redstone 6 (19H1) Build 18204 and one of the new features is a new system that avoids restarts at awkward times following the installation of an update.
This sounds great, and Microsoft says that people have complained about this very scenario. But is an artificial intelligence or machine learning powered system really what's needed? How about just leaving users in charge to choose when their computer restarts. There you go, Microsoft; I fixed that for you.
Microsoft calls for government regulation of facial recognition because of 'potential for abuse'
Microsoft president Brad Smith has called on government to regulate facial recognition technology, citing concerns that it is open to abuse. While he acknowledges that technology company have a role to play, he that it is down to elected representatives to put rules in place.
Using a terrible analogy ("All tools can be used for good or ill. Even a broom can be used to sweep the floor or hit someone over the head.") Smith points out that while facial recognition technology is undeniably useful, there is also potential for it to be "misused and abused by private companies and public authorities alike". He wants government to do something about it.
Microsoft brings AI-powered visual search to Bing for mobile
The invention of the search engine really made the web usable for the masses. Think about it -- if there was no way to search the web, how would you find anything? Say what you want about Google the company, but if its search engine disappeared tomorrow, the world would be a worse place. Of course, Google did not invent the search engine, nor is it the only game in town -- there is also DuckDuckGo, StartPage, and Bing to name a few excellent alternatives.
Speaking of Bing, did you know it's actually really good? It's true! For whatever reason, Microsoft's search engine is considered by some to be a joke, but that is a falsehood. Bing works very well, offering accurate search results. Unlike Google, Bing's interface is very fun and colorful too -- it's a pleasure to use. Today, Microsoft announces it is improving Bing for mobile in a very clever way -- artificial intelligence-powered visual search. What is that, you ask? Well, you can use your smartphone camera to take a picture of an object, and AI will (hopefully) identify it and then launch a search for it. This feature is quite brilliant, as it can be hard to search for something using text when you have no idea what the heck it is!
Microsoft acquires machine learning and AI startup Bonsai
Seeking to strengthen its artificial intelligence arsenal, Microsoft has announced an agreement to acquire San Francisco-based AI startup Bonsai.
Bonsai already had Microsoft links, having been set up back in 2014 by two former Microsoft engineers, Mark Hammond and Keen Browne. The company specializes in "deep reinforcement learning" which can be used to teach autonomous systems within simulations, and the company sees this tying in with Azure.
Microsoft using AI and Machine Learning to manage the Windows 10 April 2018 Update rollout
As recently noted by AdDuplex, the Windows 10 1803 rollout is progressing much more smoothly than all previous feature updates. AdDuplex’s figures suggest over 50 percent of Windows 10 users have already been offered the update, while Microsoft’s own numbers say 250 million machines have it. With close to 700 million Windows 10 systems, that’s just over 35 percent.
It’s certainly been a huge improvement over the famously slow and problematic Creators Update last year, and part of the reason this rollout has been so successful is down to Microsoft’s use of AI and Machine Learning.
UK tech sector gets £2.3 billion investment boost
As part of London Tech Week, 1,600 new jobs and billions of pounds of investment into the UK economy have been announced at an event hosted by Prime Minister Theresa May in Downing Street.
Private sector funding comes from companies including Salesforce, which is investing £1.9bn in the UK over the next five years, this will include the opening of its second UK data center in 2019.
Offline Google Translate to be boosted by AI
Google is improving the offline translation skills of Google Translate with an injection of AI in the form of neural machine translation (NMT).
The use of on-device AI helps to dramatically improve the quality of offline translations, and works in much the same as online translations do. The use of neural machine translation helps to improve accuracy by looking at complete sentences, rather than translating word by word.
Google says it will continue to work with the military on AI, but won't get involved in weapons or spying
Google has published new guidelines describing its principles for the development of artificial intelligence.
The document -- entitled "Artificial Intelligence at Google: Our Principles" -- the company sets out its objectives for the future of AI. As well as saying it will incorporate its privacy principles into AI, Google says that it will continue to work with the military, but commits to avoid helping with the development of weapons or other technologies that could injury or kill.
When artificial intelligence goes bad: Reddit made 'Norman' a psychopathic AI
AI is, of course, one of the latest big buzzwords in the tech industry, but here’s something new: Norman, the world’s first "psychopathic" artificial intelligence, as concocted by researchers at MIT.
So, you might wonder, how do you make a psychopath in the world of machine learning? Simple -- you pack the AI in question off for a vacation on Reddit. Or the "darkest corners" of Reddit, as the MIT researchers put it.
New analytics platform helps deliver AI for business
The biggest challenges that businesses face when implementing AI projects relate to the handling of data as it often sits in a separate silo.
Analytics specialist Databricks is addressing this problem with a Unified Analytics Platform with new capabilities to unify data and AI teams and technologies.
Microsoft acquires AI startup Semantic Machines to help boost Cortana
Microsoft has announced plans to acquire Semantic Machines, a startup based in Berkley, California, that specializes in conversational artificial intelligence.
The acquisition makes a great deal of sense because of Microsoft's desire to push Cortana forward, and the general increased interest in voice-powered digital assistants and chatbots -- and products such as Google Duplex. The Semantic Machines team includes members who have worked on Siri and with speech-recognition firm Nuance.
F-Secure combines AI and human expertise in new security offering
It's no longer enough to just protect the perimeter in order to keep systems secure. It's now necessary to catch file-less attacks, privilege escalation and a whole range of other tactics.
The problem for smaller businesses is they often don't have the expertise in house to handle the range of threats.
Google News gets a major revamp and an AI injection
Today at its I/O developer conference, Google revealed major changes for Google News. The company says that the revamp combines the best of artificial intelligence with the best of human intelligence, and it sees Google try to rebuild the trust people have in online news.
As well as a revamp of the underlying technology, there are also changes in presentation. A "For You" section in the app provides easy access to the most relevant stories that will be of personal interest, and there are also new opportunities for readers to delve deeper into stories via various news outlets, social media, videos and more via a new timeline tool.
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