Artificial intelligence can improve productivity
There is a challenge, both within and out of the workplace, which we have all faced at some point when tackling a task. We have the skills. We have the ability. We know what we need to do, and yet an activity becomes a chore, and a time-consuming burden.
The productivity puzzle is a broad, complex one, but this is undoubtedly one facet of it. Mundane activities without question are often crucial to our day to day, and need to be done. But as humans we need mental stimulation, and the creative applications of our skills to keep us engaged. When these creative opportunities are limited, when occupations risk becoming a cycle of repetitive or dull activity and productivity suffers.
Many CEOs believe technology will make people 'largely irrelevant'
Although artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and other emerging technologies may reshape the world as we know it, a new global study has revealed that the majority of CEOs now value technology over people when it comes to the future of their businesses.
The study was conducted by the Los Angeles-based management consultant firm Korn Ferry that interviewed 800 business leaders across a variety of multi-million and multi-billion dollar global organizations. The firm says that 44 percent of the CEOs surveyed agreed that robotics, automation and AI would reshape the future of many work places by making people "largely irrelevant".
Amazon unveils artificial intelligence platform
During its re:Invent developer event in Las Vegas, Amazon announced its new Amazon AI platform which will make many the company's machine learning tools available to developers to use in their apps and websites.
Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon Web Services, explains that the company has a great deal of background in machine learning, saying: "We do a lot of AI in our company. We have thousands of people dedicated to AI in our business". Amazon has decided to release three tools that take advantage of its AI to developers with the launch of its new platform.
NHS partnership with DeepMind puts Google AI in charge of sharing patient data
Google is no stranger to working with user data, but its latest partnership with the National Health Service sees the company entering unchartered waters. Having already been granted access to the records of more than 1.6 million patients in London, Google's DeepMind will be used by the NHS to alert medical staff to the condition of people under their care.
Given Google's track record of using data gathered from its users as part of its ad business, there are understandable concerns from privacy groups about the company's involvement. But data shared with DeepMind will not make its way to Google itself, and will also be encrypted as an extra level of security. But is artificial intelligence really the future of medicine?
Intel will complete in the AI space with its Nervana platform
Intel has announced its plans to develop artificial intelligence (AI) and the chipmaker has claimed that within the next three years it will reduce the time needed to train a deep learning model by up to 100 times.
The company's AI development will be centered around its own Intel Nervana platform that is the result of its recent acquisition of Nervana Systems. Intel purchased the deep learning startup earlier this year for over $400 million and its technology will play a key role in its efforts to pursue AI.
OpenAI and Microsoft team up to create 'cloud brains'
The artificial intelligence (AI) non-profit OpenAI has agreed to partner with Microsoft to develop "cloud brains" to test its experiments.
The organization, which is backed by Elon Musk, has signed an agreement that will allow it to run large-scale experiments using the company's Azure cloud services. OpenAI aims to discover more about deep learning and AI, while Microsoft will use the partnership to create new tools and technologies that use AI.
What you need to know about deep learning
The concept of machine learning has been around for some time. Deep learning is an area of research aimed at taking things further still and getting closer to an artificial intelligence system by using neural networks in a way that imitates the human brain.
Sometimes also referred to as hierarchical learning or deep structured learning, it seeks to model data in order to solve problems like object and facial recognition, natural language processing and speech recognition.
Google demos how neural networks can encrypt communications
In an effort to demonstrate how AI could be used to boost encryption, researchers at Google taught two neural networks how to communicate with one another while keeping their conversation secret from a third.
Researchers at the company's deep learning initiative, Google Brain, have successfully taught two neural networks, given the nicknames "Alice" and "Bob", to secretly communicate with one another while keeping the details of their conversations hidden from one called "Eve". Last week, the team behind this endeavor published a paper detailing the process of the experiment and its results.
Donald Trump will be president, according to an AI that's never been wrong
Donald Trump is viewed by many as a figure of fun, a racist, and a misogynist. His polls are way down, and at this point it looks like he has no chance of winning the election. Two weeks ago, Microsoft’s Bing gave Hillary Clinton an 87 percent chance of winning (although this has since dropped to 82 percent).
However, an AI system is predicting a completely different result -- that Trump will prevail, and become the next president of the United States. What makes its forecast even more interesting is it has correctly identified the outcome of the last three US presidential elections and the results of the Democrat and Republican Primaries.
What you need to know about artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become a hot topic in the last couple of years, thanks primarily to the rapid progression of software and the development of new and exciting (or new and scary, depending on your view) technologies.
Movies and TV have long made us aware of the potential of AI, but many of the seemingly farfetched ideas are now closer to becoming a reality. And, as investment continues to grow, so too will the interest and success of such projects.
Open source Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit democratizes AI and deep learning
Like many technology companies, Microsoft is pinning a lot on AI -- including the areas of speech and image recognition. To help speed up development, and to enable others to start working on their own projects, the company has released an updated, open source version of the Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit.
This is a deep learning toolkit, previously known as the Computational Network Toolkit (CNTK), and it's available for anyone to use completely free of charge. The toolkit has applications far beyond speech recognition, and it has already been used in Bing, and the latest version includes support for Python and C++.
Stephen Hawking believes AI could be mankind's last accomplishment
According to Stephen Hawking, artificial Intelligence (AI) and its possible implementations need to be managed with the utmost care in order to prevent its power from falling into the wrong hands or being used in a way that does not benefit mankind as a whole.
The renowned physicist stressed the point that AI could be used to commit deplorable acts in the form of powerful autonomous weapons and other ways in which people in power could use the technology to oppress and control a majority of the population.
What you need to know about cognitive computing
The ability to think is one of the things that marks us out as human, "I think therefore I am", as the philosopher René Descartes put it. But what if machines were able to mimic human thought processes? This is the basic premise behind cognitive computing.
In order to replicate human thought processes, cognitive computing uses techniques like pattern recognition, data mining and natural language processing. The ultimate goal is to be able to make computer systems that are capable of solving complex problems without needing human assistance to prompt them in the right direction. Computing giant IBM, which is one of the leaders in the field, describes this as "systems that learn at scale, reason with purpose and interact with humans naturally".
Updated Google Photos uses AI to animate and auto-rotate your pictures... and more
Google Photos has received a fairly significant update that sees the arrival of four key new features. Three of them are focused on sharing and viewing your photos, but the fourth is an AI-powered auto-rotate function that ensures you'll no longer have to look at photos on their sides.
As Pixel and Pixel XL owners (as well as other Android users who don't mind a drop in quality) have unlimited Google Photo storage at their disposal, Google is introducing a Facebook-style restrospective feature. Google says it will "make it easier to look back at your fondest memories", but there is more to discover.
Huawei partners with UC Berkeley to develop AI
Huawei had decided to enter into a partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, in order to develop and apply artificial intelligence (AI) to our daily lives.
Noah's Ark Laboratory, the company's research unit that specializes in the development of machine learning, AI and data mining, is responsible for setting up the partnership between it and the university.
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