The organizers of the Russian govt back mega Artificial intelligence event have said that they see increase collaboration between Indian and Russian companies under the BRICS umbrella.

First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank and Alexander Vedyakhin told WION that, "R&amp;D in AI is gaining momentum in Russia and India as both countries aspire to gain leading positions in the global market. Close interaction within BRICS could give an additional impetus to future joint AI projects between Russia and India as the two countries share a time-tested strategic partnership. "

Sberbank, the largest bank of Russia is the main organizer of the "artificial intelligence journey" event that will take place in December and will see considerable Indian participation.

Alexander Vedyakhin said,"India tops the list of foreign participants at the international artificial intelligence conference AIJ-2020, to be held online December 3-5. This is yet another manifestation of the untapped potential of cooperation between Russia and India in this high-tech field. I am quite confident that by joining effort we can achieve tremendously great results”

3 Indian origin speakers will also speak at the event this year. The event was inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year and saw the participation of 9,000 participants from around the world.

The organizers of the Russian govt back mega Artificial intelligence event have said that they see increase collaboration between Indian and Russian companies under the BRICS umbrella.

The organizers of the Russian govt back mega Artificial intelligence event have said that they see increase collaboration between Indian and Russian companies under the BRICS umbrella. First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank and Alexander Vedyakhin told WION that, "R&D in AI is gaining momentum in Russia and India as both countries aspire to gain leading positions in the global market. Close interaction within BRICS could give an additional impetus to future joint AI projects between Russia and India as the two countries share a time-tested strategic partnership. " Sberbank, the largest bank of Russia is the main organizer of the "artificial intelligence journey" event that will take place in December and will see considerable Indian participation. Alexander Vedyakhin said,"India tops the list of foreign participants at the international artificial intelligence conference AIJ-2020, to be held online December 3-5. This is yet another manifestation of the untapped potential of cooperation between Russia and India in this high-tech field. I am quite confident that by joining effort we can achieve tremendously great results” 3 Indian origin speakers will also speak at the event this year. The event was inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin last year and saw the participation of 9,000 participants from around the world.

BRICS umbrella to increase India, Russia collaboration on artificial intelligence

Researchers have a new warning. Tread carefully, this one will blow your mind. Banking too much on artificial intelligence as the future of all sentient life?&nbsp;Researchers believe AI could fool us into believing alien life exists.

According to the study conducted at University of Cadiz and published in the journal Acta Astronautica, specifically took into account a particular formation on the planet Ceres, and found that AI could mistake shapes as proof extraterrestrial life. If that wasn’t enough, AI could also deceive humans into falling for its mistake.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/fireball-meteorite-in-michigan-found-to-have-extraterrestrial-compounds-338587" hreflang="en">'Fireball' meteorite in Michigan found to have extraterrestrial compounds</a>

Currently, AI is being employed across all industries to generate more accurate results without scope of error. But in the hunt for ET, AI is generally used to spot “technosignatures”, that are indicative of alien life.

Accidental formations could be mistaken as evidence of alien life. Ceres currently sits at the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and had been under the watchful eye of scientists after they spotted bright lights on its surface.

They were disappointed to discover what was causing the bright lights. According to NASA’s Dawn mission, the lights turned out to be a product of volcanic ice and salt emissions.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/nasa-discovers-water-on-sunlit-surface-of-the-moon-338137" hreflang="en">NASA discovers water on sunlit surface of the Moon</a>

A crater on the surface of Ceres named Occator, resembled a triangular structure, which led many scientists to speculate that was built by aliens. But it was a misunderstanding.&nbsp;

In the study, respondents were shown the crater. They were then asked what they made of it, and many of them pointed out its unusual formation.

When they ran the same set of images through an AI system, it also spotted unusual formations, same as the participants. However, while both AI and the respondents found a square image, the AI also registered a triangular image.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/aliens-on-1000-nearby-stars-could-see-us-new-study-suggests-337578" hreflang="en">Aliens on 1000 nearby stars could see us, new study suggests</a>

When human respondents were told about the triangle, they started believing that it was there too, effectively manipulating the information.

While the researchers behind the study warned humans of trusting AI too much when it comes to discovering alien life, they added that AI could also detect structures that humans never could.

Researchers have a new warning. Tread carefully, this one will blow your mind. Banking too much on artificial intelligence as the future of all sentient life? Researchers believe AI could fool us into believing alien life exists.

Researchers have a new warning. Tread carefully, this one will blow your mind. Banking too much on artificial intelligence as the future of all sentient life? Researchers believe AI could fool us into believing alien life exists. According to the study conducted at University of Cadiz and published in the journal Acta Astronautica, specifically took into account a particular formation on the planet Ceres, and found that AI could mistake shapes as proof extraterrestrial life. If that wasn’t enough, AI could also deceive humans into falling for its mistake. Also read: 'Fireball' meteorite in Michigan found to have extraterrestrial compounds Currently, AI is being employed across all industries to generate more accurate results without scope of error. But in the hunt for ET, AI is generally used to spot “technosignatures”, that are indicative of alien life. Accidental formations could be mistaken as evidence of alien life. Ceres currently sits at the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, and had been under the watchful eye of scientists after they spotted bright lights on its surface. They were disappointed to discover what was causing the bright lights. According to NASA’s Dawn mission, the lights turned out to be a product of volcanic ice and salt emissions. Also read: NASA discovers water on sunlit surface of the Moon A crater on the surface of Ceres named Occator, resembled a triangular structure, which led many scientists to speculate that was built by aliens. But it was a misunderstanding. In the study, respondents were shown the crater. They were then asked what they made of it, and many of them pointed out its unusual formation. When they ran the same set of images through an AI system, it also spotted unusual formations, same as the participants. However, while both AI and the respondents found a square image, the AI also registered a triangular image. Also read: Aliens on 1000 nearby stars could see us, new study suggests When human respondents were told about the triangle, they started believing that it was there too, effectively manipulating the information. While the researchers behind the study warned humans of trusting AI too much when it comes to discovering alien life, they added that AI could also detect structures that humans never could.

Could artificial intelligence trick us into believing aliens exist? Scientists think so

There are some words that might be switching on your AI systems that you might not be aware of. A group of researchers&nbsp;have compiled a list of nearly 1,000 words that can "accidentally" activate Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri.

The researchers are from&nbsp;Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Max Planck Institute for Cyber Security and Privacy in Germany.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/ceos-of-apple-amazon-facebook-and-google-to-testify-in-congress-over-antitrust-issues-310090">Also read|&nbsp;CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google to testify in Congress over antitrust issues</a>

The study was conducted on&nbsp;Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana, as well as three virtual assistants exclusive to the Chinese market, from Xiaomi, Baidu, and Tencent, according to a report from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum news blog.

The researchers conducted the study by switching on the virtual assistants and leaving them alone in a room with a television playing episodes from several series and sitcoms such as&nbsp;Game of Thrones, Modern Family, and House of Cards, with English, German, and Chinese audio tracks for each.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/tik-tok-removed-from-apples-app-store-and-google-play-after-govts-ban-309558">Also read|&nbsp;Tik Tok removed from Apple's App store and Google Play after govt's ban</a>

On playing these episodes, some words activated the system, which the researchers observed by the&nbsp;switching on of&nbsp;an LED light display. The team cross referenced the dialogue being spoken every time they observed the LED display turning on.

Once the assistants get&nbsp;activated by these words, the devices&nbsp;use local speech analysis software to determine if the sound was used with the purpose of activation or not. If the device concludes that the sound was a trigger, it sends&nbsp;an audio recording of several seconds to cloud servers for additional analysis.

Privacy concerns

While the researchers said that the developers might have used an array of words for activation to make things easier for the users, it does raise serious privacy concerns about this.

"The devices are intentionally programmed in a somewhat forgiving manner, because they are supposed to be able to understand their humans. Therefore, they are more likely to start up once too often rather than not at all," researcher Dorothea Kolossa said.

"From a privacy point of view, this is of course alarming, because sometimes very private conversations can end up with strangers.&nbsp;From an engineering point of view, however, this approach is quite understandable, because the systems can only be improved using such data. The manufacturers have to strike a balance between data protection and technical optimization," said&nbsp;Thorsten Holz, Professor at&nbsp;Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

There are some words that might be switching on your AI systems that you might not be aware of. A group of researchers have compiled a list of nearly 1,000 words that can "accidentally" activate Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri.

There are some words that might be switching on your AI systems that you might not be aware of. A group of researchers have compiled a list of nearly 1,000 words that can "accidentally" activate Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri. The researchers are from Ruhr-Universität Bochum and the Max Planck Institute for Cyber Security and Privacy in Germany. Also read| CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google to testify in Congress over antitrust issues The study was conducted on Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, Google Assistant, Microsoft Cortana, as well as three virtual assistants exclusive to the Chinese market, from Xiaomi, Baidu, and Tencent, according to a report from the Ruhr-Universität Bochum news blog. The researchers conducted the study by switching on the virtual assistants and leaving them alone in a room with a television playing episodes from several series and sitcoms such as Game of Thrones, Modern Family, and House of Cards, with English, German, and Chinese audio tracks for each. Also read| Tik Tok removed from Apple's App store and Google Play after govt's ban On playing these episodes, some words activated the system, which the researchers observed by the switching on of an LED light display. The team cross referenced the dialogue being spoken every time they observed the LED display turning on. Once the assistants get activated by these words, the devices use local speech analysis software to determine if the sound was used with the purpose of activation or not. If the device concludes that the sound was a trigger, it sends an audio recording of several seconds to cloud servers for additional analysis. Privacy concerns While the researchers said that the developers might have used an array of words for activation to make things easier for the users, it does raise serious privacy concerns about this. "The devices are intentionally programmed in a somewhat forgiving manner, because they are supposed to be able to understand their humans. Therefore, they are more likely to start up once too often rather than not at all," researcher Dorothea Kolossa said. "From a privacy point of view, this is of course alarming, because sometimes very private conversations can end up with strangers. From an engineering point of view, however, this approach is quite understandable, because the systems can only be improved using such data. The manufacturers have to strike a balance between data protection and technical optimization," said Thorsten Holz, Professor at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

Researchers find 1,000 words that 'accidentally' activate Alexa, Siri and Google

Fastfood chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) showcased on Sunday (June 21) its automated restaurant in Moscow.

KFC showcases contactless outlet in Russia

In a bid to scan passengers for COVID-19 symptoms and to ensure contactless entry, body screening facility, 'FebriEye thermal cameras' have been set up at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai.

According to an official release, FebriEye is an Artificial Intelligence-based thermal screening system for real-time and automated, non-intrusive monitoring to ensure that a person entering does not have a high fever.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/covid-19-tamil-nadu-records-1989-new-cases-indias-recovery-rate-4995-305626">Also read|&nbsp;COVID 19: Tamil Nadu records 1,989 new cases; India's recovery rate 49.95%</a>

"FebriEye use heat sensors that can record heat generated by the body of a person or an object to create a 2D image with different temperature levels. When passengers pass before the cameras, anyone with a temperature above the set range will be shown in a different colour pattern than the rest on the computer screen connected to the cameras," Central Railway said in a release.

Shivaji Sutar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway said that FebriEye thermal cameras can cover large areas which means it can detect the temperature of multiple people entering at once at a premise and record temperature automatically while passengers keep on moving.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/covid-19-india-to-start-domestic-production-of-remdesivir-305609">Also read|&nbsp;COVID 19: India to start domestic production of Remdesivir</a>

"The FebriEye human body screening facility by Central Railway is a step forward to modern security measures introduced by Railways," the official release added.

Shalabh Goel, Divisional Railway Manager, Mumbai Division said that Indian Railways is committed to using the latest available technology for helping our passengers travel in a seamless fashion while ensuring desired safety checks.

In a bid to scan passengers for COVID-19 symptoms and to ensure contactless entry, body screening facility, 'FebriEye thermal cameras' have been set up at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai.

In a bid to scan passengers for COVID-19 symptoms and to ensure contactless entry, body screening facility, 'FebriEye thermal cameras' have been set up at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Mumbai. According to an official release, FebriEye is an Artificial Intelligence-based thermal screening system for real-time and automated, non-intrusive monitoring to ensure that a person entering does not have a high fever. Also read| COVID 19: Tamil Nadu records 1,989 new cases; India's recovery rate 49.95% "FebriEye use heat sensors that can record heat generated by the body of a person or an object to create a 2D image with different temperature levels. When passengers pass before the cameras, anyone with a temperature above the set range will be shown in a different colour pattern than the rest on the computer screen connected to the cameras," Central Railway said in a release. Shivaji Sutar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway said that FebriEye thermal cameras can cover large areas which means it can detect the temperature of multiple people entering at once at a premise and record temperature automatically while passengers keep on moving. Also read| COVID 19: India to start domestic production of Remdesivir "The FebriEye human body screening facility by Central Railway is a step forward to modern security measures introduced by Railways," the official release added. Shalabh Goel, Divisional Railway Manager, Mumbai Division said that Indian Railways is committed to using the latest available technology for helping our passengers travel in a seamless fashion while ensuring desired safety checks.

Central Railways places AI-based body screening facility in Mumbai's CSMT and LTT stations

The American engineering and robotics design company - Boston Dynamics - has recently announced that its quadruped Spot robot is already being used to help with COVID-19 treatment.

The basic purpose behind the initiative is to reduce the infection rates seen among medical personnel by shifting to the practice of telemedicine.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/spain-confirms-288-new-coronavirus-deaths-lowest-in-a-month-294846">Also read:&nbsp;Spain confirms 288 new coronavirus deaths, lowest in a month</a>

The hospital, Brigham And Women's Hospital of Harvard University, has been using a Spot unit since last week for remote triage of patients suspected of having COVID-19.

"Today marks the second week of Spot's presence at a local Boston hospital, Brigham and Women's, where the robot is being deployed as a mobile telemedicine platform, enabling healthcare providers to remotely triage patients," The Verge quoted the company's statement.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/coronavirus-in-italy-pm-giuseppe-conte-vows-to-reopen-schools-in-september-294855">Also read:&nbsp;Coronavirus in Italy: PM Giuseppe Conte vows to reopen schools in September</a>

"We're listening to their feedback on how Spot can do more but are encouraged by their reports that using the robot has helped their nursing staff minimize time exposed to potentially contagious patients," the statement further read.

At present, Spot is currently used to video conference with suspected patients for the initial assessment. (ANI)

The American engineering and robotics design company - Boston Dynamics - has recently announced that its quadruped Spot robot is already being used to help with COVID-19 treatment.

The American engineering and robotics design company - Boston Dynamics - has recently announced that its quadruped Spot robot is already being used to help with COVID-19 treatment. The basic purpose behind the initiative is to reduce the infection rates seen among medical personnel by shifting to the practice of telemedicine. Also read: Spain confirms 288 new coronavirus deaths, lowest in a month The hospital, Brigham And Women's Hospital of Harvard University, has been using a Spot unit since last week for remote triage of patients suspected of having COVID-19. "Today marks the second week of Spot's presence at a local Boston hospital, Brigham and Women's, where the robot is being deployed as a mobile telemedicine platform, enabling healthcare providers to remotely triage patients," The Verge quoted the company's statement. Also read: Coronavirus in Italy: PM Giuseppe Conte vows to reopen schools in September "We're listening to their feedback on how Spot can do more but are encouraged by their reports that using the robot has helped their nursing staff minimize time exposed to potentially contagious patients," the statement further read. At present, Spot is currently used to video conference with suspected patients for the initial assessment. (ANI)

Boston Dynamics' Spot robot helping doctors 'remotely' combat COVID-19

Like any upheaval, the fourth industrial revolution, which the world is on the cusp of, is upending paradigms, ideas and conventions. Profoundly disruptive like its predecessors, this momentous change of great import is reconfiguring the nature of businesses, firms, industries, markets and even the conventional notion of work. If to paraphrase, Thomas Friedman, of the New York Times, the previous industrial revolutions were first about weight and mass, then miniaturisation, the current one is about digits or digitisation. Anything that is not discrete, as in does not have a physical feel, or in the jargon of economists is a ‘non-tradable’ , can be digitised and then, at the click of a mouse, transferred to any part of the world. &nbsp;

Overlaid by other trends and developments of equal if not even more significant import like Artificial Intelligence(AI) and Robotics, the configuration and settings, to employ computing-related metaphors, of the fourth industrial revolution, are ushering in changes at a dramatic scale and speed that perhaps the world is not yet equipped to deal with. But, deal with these gales of creative destruction the world must if countries and societies that are not to be left as roadkill. While there is an element of technological determinism to these top-down changes, the question is: how can societies cope up?

The short answer is adaptation and integration. That is, the technological tsunami or juggernaut that is in its infancy yet must not be resisted. Instead, it must be incorporated and integrated into the very fabric of societies and their concomitants like businesses, firms, industries and markets. Admittedly, the nature of this adaptation will neither be easy nor seamless and is likely to cause frisson and friction within societies altering radically not only the nature and patterns of employment, work, processes, products and services but also the bases of social and economic organisation. This disruption, if it is to contribute to social welfare and progress needs to be managed. The question is how?

For both developing and developed societies, the changes induced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution present challenges and opportunities. In fact, it may be that the traditional North-South divide may have evaporated now. We are then in it together. While this is the major silver lining of the ongoing great disruption, other salubrious themes that stand out are that, for developing countries, 21st-century technologies render it eminently possible to ‘leap frog’ the process of catch up. For the developed world, these technologies make it possible to ‘re-industrialise’ albeit in a different permutation and combination. &nbsp;

Key here, to repeat, is adaptation and integration(or adaptation). An example might suffice to illustrate the point here. It is now generally held (and in some contexts is already happening), the relatively lesser component of work and processes are already being automated. It is work, processes and so on at the other end of the spectrum-the kind that requires a more sophisticated skillset- that is being done and conducted by humans. If this is the bellwether and the trend for the future, then the implications are pretty much obvious: these hark to integrating work done by humans and machines and thereby put a premium on skills and skill development that speaks to the needs of the times. In this schemata then, societies need to reorient themselves to a new social contract where perhaps there is no such thing as employment and work in the conventional sense and there as is now a conventional view, is a premium or even a demand for lifelong learning. &nbsp;

This, among other things, means that human capital and its vigorous development should enter the lexicon of both policymakers and businesses.

Machines and humans, right from the spinning jenny to robots now have long interacted and created a basis for social and economic progress. Each time a new invention and discovery were made in the economic history of mankind, it created angst and competing visions of both Utopia and dystopia. The prosaic reality, albeit in hindsight, is that humans adapted and adjusted and none of these competing visions actually to came to pass, even though, mankind has generally progressed. This time is no different. This assertion, however, needs a qualifier: the fourth industrial revolution’s defining characteristic is the staggering speed, scope and scale of change where time is a critical resource. It is about time then that we gird our loins and not merely brace for change but employ it for the benefit of societies and the world, at large.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

Like any upheaval, the fourth industrial revolution, which the world is on the cusp of, is upending paradigms, ideas and conventions. Profoundly disruptive like its predecessors, this momentous change of great import is reconfiguring the nature of businesses, firms, industries, markets and even the conventional notion of work.

Like any upheaval, the fourth industrial revolution, which the world is on the cusp of, is upending paradigms, ideas and conventions. Profoundly disruptive like its predecessors, this momentous change of great import is reconfiguring the nature of businesses, firms, industries, markets and even the conventional notion of work. If to paraphrase, Thomas Friedman, of the New York Times, the previous industrial revolutions were first about weight and mass, then miniaturisation, the current one is about digits or digitisation. Anything that is not discrete, as in does not have a physical feel, or in the jargon of economists is a ‘non-tradable’ , can be digitised and then, at the click of a mouse, transferred to any part of the world. Overlaid by other trends and developments of equal if not even more significant import like Artificial Intelligence(AI) and Robotics, the configuration and settings, to employ computing-related metaphors, of the fourth industrial revolution, are ushering in changes at a dramatic scale and speed that perhaps the world is not yet equipped to deal with. But, deal with these gales of creative destruction the world must if countries and societies that are not to be left as roadkill. While there is an element of technological determinism to these top-down changes, the question is: how can societies cope up? The short answer is adaptation and integration. That is, the technological tsunami or juggernaut that is in its infancy yet must not be resisted. Instead, it must be incorporated and integrated into the very fabric of societies and their concomitants like businesses, firms, industries and markets. Admittedly, the nature of this adaptation will neither be easy nor seamless and is likely to cause frisson and friction within societies altering radically not only the nature and patterns of employment, work, processes, products and services but also the bases of social and economic organisation. This disruption, if it is to contribute to social welfare and progress needs to be managed. The question is how? For both developing and developed societies, the changes induced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution present challenges and opportunities. In fact, it may be that the traditional North-South divide may have evaporated now. We are then in it together. While this is the major silver lining of the ongoing great disruption, other salubrious themes that stand out are that, for developing countries, 21st-century technologies render it eminently possible to ‘leap frog’ the process of catch up. For the developed world, these technologies make it possible to ‘re-industrialise’ albeit in a different permutation and combination. Key here, to repeat, is adaptation and integration(or adaptation). An example might suffice to illustrate the point here. It is now generally held (and in some contexts is already happening), the relatively lesser component of work and processes are already being automated. It is work, processes and so on at the other end of the spectrum-the kind that requires a more sophisticated skillset- that is being done and conducted by humans. If this is the bellwether and the trend for the future, then the implications are pretty much obvious: these hark to integrating work done by humans and machines and thereby put a premium on skills and skill development that speaks to the needs of the times. In this schemata then, societies need to reorient themselves to a new social contract where perhaps there is no such thing as employment and work in the conventional sense and there as is now a conventional view, is a premium or even a demand for lifelong learning. This, among other things, means that human capital and its vigorous development should enter the lexicon of both policymakers and businesses. Machines and humans, right from the spinning jenny to robots now have long interacted and created a basis for social and economic progress. Each time a new invention and discovery were made in the economic history of mankind, it created angst and competing visions of both Utopia and dystopia. The prosaic reality, albeit in hindsight, is that humans adapted and adjusted and none of these competing visions actually to came to pass, even though, mankind has generally progressed. This time is no different. This assertion, however, needs a qualifier: the fourth industrial revolution’s defining characteristic is the staggering speed, scope and scale of change where time is a critical resource. It is about time then that we gird our loins and not merely brace for change but employ it for the benefit of societies and the world, at large. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Fourth industrial revolution changes everything - is the world ready?

Google CEO Sundar Pichai spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos about the impacts of technology and how artificial intelligence and quantum computers can change human lives. Pichai said that even though there were risks with artificial technology, the biggest risk was to not work on it and make AI better.

Google CEO speaks on artificial intelligence at WEF in Davos

Telangana IT &amp; Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday took part in a panel discussion on 'Empowering AI Leadership' at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Talking about the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-aiming-at-equipping-defence-forces-with-artificial-intelligence-138463/amp">importance of Artificial Intelligence</a> in various sectors, Minister KTR said, "No business can stay untouched from the AI revolution. AI must be factored into every policy or strategy, whether government, IT, non-IT industries. We consider AI to be integral to all our work and hence in Telangana, we have dedicated 2020 to the year of AI."

During the panel discussion, he said, "AI is expected to <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/amazon-microsoft-putting-the-world-at-risk-of-killer-artificial-intelligence-study-244701">transform the global economy</a> and early adopters will have first-mover advantage. Therefore, the Telangana government is setting a vision to accelerate AI readiness and develop a conducive ecosystem in the state."

The minister asserted that AI will add 40% to the world's GDP by 2030. He also highlighted that Telangana has declared 2020 as the Year of AI to capture the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dont-believe-the-naysayers-artificial-intelligence-will-create-23-million-jobs-by-2020-30215">global AI opportunity</a> in the coming decade. "This declaration has set in motion a bunch of coordinated initiatives with key strategic partners, to achieve the state's vision to establish Hyderabad as amongst the Top 25 Global AI Innovation Hubs," he said.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/artificial-intelligence-holds-tremendous-potential-to-transform-education-212578">Artificial Intelligence holds tremendous potential to transform education</a>

When asked about the state of AI deployment currently, the minister stated that Telangana Government has deployed AI-based systems for G2C Chatbots, identity authentication for citizen service delivery, commodity supply chain optimisation, crowd counting, criminal tracking, and other law enforcement applications.

The minister highlighted that Hyderabad City Police recently piloted an AI-enabled traffic management system, saving road time for citizens. "Effective use of citizen data helps us identify the key issues our citizens face, makes us design targeted programs and provide better citizen services," he added.

<img alt="Artificial Intelligence" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="19bc417a-439e-45aa-8fe0-becb6e470d21" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%2849%29_1.jpg" /> 
[ Artificial Intelligence to Change the Future of Business - Representative Image (Courtesy: Reuters) ]

Sharing his thoughts further, the minister said, "As an international AI community, we need to brainstorm governance models to hold AI accountable. Govt of India, in consultation with critical stakeholders, is already developing AI governance guidelines. I appreciate the WEWF C4IR network's project on Public Sector AI Procurement guidelines."

Minister S. Iswaran, Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore (MCI), Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Michael Salvino, President, and Chief Executive Officer, DXC Technology, Frans Cronje, Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer, DataProphet and Genevieve Bell, Distinguished Professor; Director, 3A Institute, Australian National University were the other panellists who shared their thoughts during the panel discussion. 
On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Minister KTR held meetings with global industry leaders at the Telangana Pavilion in Davos.

Roche Chairman Christoph Franz met the minister at the Telangana Pavilion. During the meeting, the minister informed Franz that Hyderabad is renowned as the pharma and life sciences hub of the country. The minister also mentioned the investment opportunities in Hyderabad Pharma City and Medical Devices Park.

The minister also met Hewlett Packard Enterprise COO Vishal Lall, Apollo Tyres Vice Chairman &amp; MD Neeraj Kanwar, Carlsberg Group and Carlsberg Foundation Chairman, Prof. Flemming Besenbacher, and ProcterGamble CEO &amp; MD, Southeast Asia Magesvaran Suranjan and highlighted the investment opportunities in sectors like food processing, electronics, textile and life sciences in Telangana.

Telangana IT & Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday took part in a panel discussion on 'Empowering AI Leadership' at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Talking about the importance of Artificial Intelligence in various sectors, Minister KTR said, "No business can stay untouched from the AI revolution.

Telangana IT & Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Tuesday took part in a panel discussion on 'Empowering AI Leadership' at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Talking about the importance of Artificial Intelligence in various sectors, Minister KTR said, "No business can stay untouched from the AI revolution. AI must be factored into every policy or strategy, whether government, IT, non-IT industries. We consider AI to be integral to all our work and hence in Telangana, we have dedicated 2020 to the year of AI." During the panel discussion, he said, "AI is expected to transform the global economy and early adopters will have first-mover advantage. Therefore, the Telangana government is setting a vision to accelerate AI readiness and develop a conducive ecosystem in the state." The minister asserted that AI will add 40% to the world's GDP by 2030. He also highlighted that Telangana has declared 2020 as the Year of AI to capture the global AI opportunity in the coming decade. "This declaration has set in motion a bunch of coordinated initiatives with key strategic partners, to achieve the state's vision to establish Hyderabad as amongst the Top 25 Global AI Innovation Hubs," he said. Also Read: Artificial Intelligence holds tremendous potential to transform education When asked about the state of AI deployment currently, the minister stated that Telangana Government has deployed AI-based systems for G2C Chatbots, identity authentication for citizen service delivery, commodity supply chain optimisation, crowd counting, criminal tracking, and other law enforcement applications. The minister highlighted that Hyderabad City Police recently piloted an AI-enabled traffic management system, saving road time for citizens. "Effective use of citizen data helps us identify the key issues our citizens face, makes us design targeted programs and provide better citizen services," he added. [ Artificial Intelligence to Change the Future of Business - Representative Image (Courtesy: Reuters) ] Sharing his thoughts further, the minister said, "As an international AI community, we need to brainstorm governance models to hold AI accountable. Govt of India, in consultation with critical stakeholders, is already developing AI governance guidelines. I appreciate the WEWF C4IR network's project on Public Sector AI Procurement guidelines." Minister S. Iswaran, Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore (MCI), Henrietta H. Fore, Executive Director, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Michael Salvino, President, and Chief Executive Officer, DXC Technology, Frans Cronje, Co-Founder, and Chief Executive Officer, DataProphet and Genevieve Bell, Distinguished Professor; Director, 3A Institute, Australian National University were the other panellists who shared their thoughts during the panel discussion. On the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Minister KTR held meetings with global industry leaders at the Telangana Pavilion in Davos. Roche Chairman Christoph Franz met the minister at the Telangana Pavilion. During the meeting, the minister informed Franz that Hyderabad is renowned as the pharma and life sciences hub of the country. The minister also mentioned the investment opportunities in Hyderabad Pharma City and Medical Devices Park. The minister also met Hewlett Packard Enterprise COO Vishal Lall, Apollo Tyres Vice Chairman & MD Neeraj Kanwar, Carlsberg Group and Carlsberg Foundation Chairman, Prof. Flemming Besenbacher, and ProcterGamble CEO & MD, Southeast Asia Magesvaran Suranjan and highlighted the investment opportunities in sectors like food processing, electronics, textile and life sciences in Telangana.

No business can stay untouched from the Artificial Intelligence revolution: Telangana Minister KTR

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on January 20 called for a balanced approach to regulating artificial intelligence, telling a European audience that the technology brings benefits but also "negative consequences." Sundar Pichai's comments come as lawmakers and governments seriously consider putting limits on how artificial intelligence is used.

Google CEO calls for artificial intelligence regulation

According to a US government study, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/china-bans-fake-news-created-with-ai-bots-265404">facial recognition systems</a> can produce inaccurate results, especially for non-whites.

The study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified "false positives rates" for Asian and African American. It also found that African-American females are more likely to be misidentified.

NIST said it tested 189 algorithms from 99 developers including companies like Microsoft, however, tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google did not submit their profile for scrutiny. The study found "false positives" where an individual is mistakenly identified and "false negatives" in which the algorithm fails to match face in the database.

The revelations come even as facial recognition technologoy is being increasingly deployed&nbsp;by police in the US to identify criminal suspects and is&nbsp;also used in airport security, banking, online retail and in mobile unlocking systems.

It said Microsoft had almost ten times more "false positives" for women of colour than men of colour in one-to-many tests.

The study said it found American-Indian category showed the highest rate of "false positives" with black women likely to be falsely identified almost 35 per cent of the time. It said &nbsp;"false positives" rates for Asians and African-Americans was as much as hundred times higher than for whites.

According to a US government study, facial recognition systems can produce inaccurate results, especially for non-whites. The study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified "false positives rates" for Asian and African American.

According to a US government study, facial recognition systems can produce inaccurate results, especially for non-whites. The study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified "false positives rates" for Asian and African American. It also found that African-American females are more likely to be misidentified. NIST said it tested 189 algorithms from 99 developers including companies like Microsoft, however, tech giants Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google did not submit their profile for scrutiny. The study found "false positives" where an individual is mistakenly identified and "false negatives" in which the algorithm fails to match face in the database. The revelations come even as facial recognition technologoy is being increasingly deployed by police in the US to identify criminal suspects and is also used in airport security, banking, online retail and in mobile unlocking systems. It said Microsoft had almost ten times more "false positives" for women of colour than men of colour in one-to-many tests. The study said it found American-Indian category showed the highest rate of "false positives" with black women likely to be falsely identified almost 35 per cent of the time. It said "false positives" rates for Asians and African-Americans was as much as hundred times higher than for whites.

Racial bias found in facial recognition tools: US government study

Where is India in the Artificial Intelligence race? What should India do to be future-ready?

On WION Edit, we will explore these questions.

At the outset, we want to say opposing innovation and science is both silly and futile as Artificial Intelligence is inevitable.

We must equip ourselves for the shift. We would like to highlight an unfortunate contrast here.

Indians have been excellent at Artificial Intelligence, but not India.&nbsp;

Spending on AI has improved in sectors like financial services, high tech, automotive and assembly. But this is far from enough. India's workforce isn't skilled to make the transition.

The vast sections of graduate and post-graduate degree holders view AI as a fantastic idea rather than a realistic one. This utter lack of urgency will prove to be costly.

According to a study by EY and Nasscom, in just 3 years from now, 46 per cent of the workforce will be engaged in entirely new jobs that do not even exist today.

India runs the risk of a huge disruption. Forget AI, the labour force in India is not skilled enough even for conventional jobs in the market..

Job profiles are changing rapidly. If India's young workers are not skilled with relevant technologies, then the jobs data will only look worse by 2022. And don't blame the big business if such a thing happens. Firms will shift to artificial intelligence to cut costs and synergise their functioning.

The workforce has to catch up. Technical education in schools must be enhanced. It's not enough to teach just programming languages like 'Fortran' or 'C' or 'Java'.

Ask yourself this question, how many Indian students use a graphic user interface to visualise materials or chemical structure. India's education system has not evolved. It's just a good old textbook.

That's where the government comes in, revamp education, reskill the workforce. The corporate sector will have to pitch in.

Indians do some of the most difficult research and analysis in computation, coding and theoretical computer science. But for most Indians, the greatest technological break-through over the last 3 decades has been the access to a smartphone!

This divide needs to be corrected if we have to ride the Artificial Intelligence tide and make no mistake, we have to, saying no to evolution is not an option. Preparing for it is.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: WION Edit is the channel's take on the big events of the world)

Where is India in the Artificial Intelligence race? What should India do to be future-ready? On WION Edit, we will explore these questions. At the outset, we want to say opposing innovation and science is both silly and futile as Artificial Intelligence is inevitable.

Where is India in the Artificial Intelligence race? What should India do to be future-ready? On WION Edit, we will explore these questions. At the outset, we want to say opposing innovation and science is both silly and futile as Artificial Intelligence is inevitable. We must equip ourselves for the shift. We would like to highlight an unfortunate contrast here. Indians have been excellent at Artificial Intelligence, but not India. Spending on AI has improved in sectors like financial services, high tech, automotive and assembly. But this is far from enough. India's workforce isn't skilled to make the transition. The vast sections of graduate and post-graduate degree holders view AI as a fantastic idea rather than a realistic one. This utter lack of urgency will prove to be costly. According to a study by EY and Nasscom, in just 3 years from now, 46 per cent of the workforce will be engaged in entirely new jobs that do not even exist today. India runs the risk of a huge disruption. Forget AI, the labour force in India is not skilled enough even for conventional jobs in the market.. Job profiles are changing rapidly. If India's young workers are not skilled with relevant technologies, then the jobs data will only look worse by 2022. And don't blame the big business if such a thing happens. Firms will shift to artificial intelligence to cut costs and synergise their functioning. The workforce has to catch up. Technical education in schools must be enhanced. It's not enough to teach just programming languages like 'Fortran' or 'C' or 'Java'. Ask yourself this question, how many Indian students use a graphic user interface to visualise materials or chemical structure. India's education system has not evolved. It's just a good old textbook. That's where the government comes in, revamp education, reskill the workforce. The corporate sector will have to pitch in. Indians do some of the most difficult research and analysis in computation, coding and theoretical computer science. But for most Indians, the greatest technological break-through over the last 3 decades has been the access to a smartphone! This divide needs to be corrected if we have to ride the Artificial Intelligence tide and make no mistake, we have to, saying no to evolution is not an option. Preparing for it is. (Disclaimer: WION Edit is the channel's take on the big events of the world)

WION Edit: Will Artificial Intelligence lead to job losses?

What Should India Do To Adapt To The Artificial Intelligence Transition?

WION Edit: To ride the artificial intelligence, India must skill its students & workers

Senior&nbsp;government&nbsp;officials&nbsp;in multiple US-allied countries were&nbsp;targeted&nbsp;earlier this year with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/how-israel-spyware-firm-nso-operates-in-shadowy-cyber-world-218782">hacking&nbsp;software</a> that used Facebook Inc's&nbsp;WhatsApp&nbsp;to take over users' phones, according to people familiar with the messaging company's investigation.

Sources&nbsp;familiar with&nbsp;WhatsApp’s internal investigation into the breach said a “significant” portion of the known victims are high-profile&nbsp;government&nbsp;and military&nbsp;officials&nbsp;spread across at least 20 countries on five continents. Many of the nations are US&nbsp;allies, they said.

The&nbsp;hacking&nbsp;of a wider group of top&nbsp;government&nbsp;officials' smartphones than previously reported suggests the&nbsp;WhatsApp&nbsp;cyber intrusion could have broad political and diplomatic consequences.

WhatsApp&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/whatsapp-sues-israels-nso-for-alleged-cyber-espionage-targeting-civil-society-worldwide-258713">filed a lawsuit</a> on Tuesday against Israeli&nbsp;hacking&nbsp;tool developer NSO Group. The Facebook-owned software giant alleges that NSO Group built and sold a&nbsp;hacking&nbsp;platform that exploited a flaw in&nbsp;WhatsApp-owned servers to help clients hack into the cellphones of at least 1,400 users between April 29, 2019, and May 10, 2019.

The total number of&nbsp;WhatsApp&nbsp;users hacked could be even higher. A London-based human rights lawyer, who was among the targets, sent Reuters photographs showing attempts to break into his phone dating back to April 1.

While it is not clear who used the software to hack&nbsp;officials' phones, NSO has said it sells its spyware exclusively to&nbsp;government&nbsp;customers.

Some victims are in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Mexico, Pakistan and India, said people familiar with the investigation.&nbsp;Reuters could not verify whether the&nbsp;government&nbsp;officials&nbsp;were from those countries or elsewhere.

Some Indian nationals have gone public with allegations they were among the targets over the past couple of days; they include journalists, academics, lawyers and defenders of India's Dalit community.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/how-nso-secretly-transmitted-malicious-code-to-infect-phones-with-spyware-258836">NSO</a> said in a statement that it was "not able to disclose who is or is not a client or discuss specific uses of its technology." Previously it has denied any wrongdoing, saying its products are only meant to help&nbsp;governments catch terrorists and criminals.

Cybersecurity researchers have cast doubt on those claims over the years, saying NSO products were used against a wide range of targets, including protesters in countries under authoritarian rule.

Citizen Lab, an independent watchdog group that worked with&nbsp;WhatsApp&nbsp;to identify the&nbsp;hacking&nbsp;targets, said on Tuesday at least 100 of the victims were civil society figures such as journalists and dissidents, not criminals.

John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, said it was not surprising that foreign&nbsp;officials&nbsp;would be&nbsp;targeted&nbsp;as well.

“It is an open secret that many technologies branded for law enforcement investigations are used for state-on-state and political espionage,” Scott-Railton said.

Prior to notifying victims,&nbsp;WhatsApp&nbsp;checked the target list against existing law enforcement requests for information relating to criminal investigations, such as terrorism or child exploitation cases. But the company found no overlap, said a person familiar with the matter.&nbsp;Governments can submit such requests for information to&nbsp;WhatsApp&nbsp;through&nbsp;an online portal the company maintains.

WhatsApp&nbsp;has said it sent warning notifications to affected users earlier this week. The company has declined to comment on the identities of NSO Group's clients, who ultimately chose the targets.

Senior government officials in multiple US-allied countries were targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used Facebook Inc's WhatsApp to take over users' phones, according to people familiar with the messaging company's investigation.

Senior government officials in multiple US-allied countries were targeted earlier this year with hacking software that used Facebook Inc's WhatsApp to take over users' phones, according to people familiar with the messaging company's investigation. Sources familiar with WhatsApp’s internal investigation into the breach said a “significant” portion of the known victims are high-profile government and military officials spread across at least 20 countries on five continents. Many of the nations are US allies, they said. The hacking of a wider group of top government officials' smartphones than previously reported suggests the WhatsApp cyber intrusion could have broad political and diplomatic consequences. WhatsApp filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Israeli hacking tool developer NSO Group. The Facebook-owned software giant alleges that NSO Group built and sold a hacking platform that exploited a flaw in WhatsApp-owned servers to help clients hack into the cellphones of at least 1,400 users between April 29, 2019, and May 10, 2019. The total number of WhatsApp users hacked could be even higher. A London-based human rights lawyer, who was among the targets, sent Reuters photographs showing attempts to break into his phone dating back to April 1. While it is not clear who used the software to hack officials' phones, NSO has said it sells its spyware exclusively to government customers. Some victims are in the United States, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Mexico, Pakistan and India, said people familiar with the investigation. Reuters could not verify whether the government officials were from those countries or elsewhere. Some Indian nationals have gone public with allegations they were among the targets over the past couple of days; they include journalists, academics, lawyers and defenders of India's Dalit community. NSO said in a statement that it was "not able to disclose who is or is not a client or discuss specific uses of its technology." Previously it has denied any wrongdoing, saying its products are only meant to help governments catch terrorists and criminals. Cybersecurity researchers have cast doubt on those claims over the years, saying NSO products were used against a wide range of targets, including protesters in countries under authoritarian rule. Citizen Lab, an independent watchdog group that worked with WhatsApp to identify the hacking targets, said on Tuesday at least 100 of the victims were civil society figures such as journalists and dissidents, not criminals. John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, said it was not surprising that foreign officials would be targeted as well. “It is an open secret that many technologies branded for law enforcement investigations are used for state-on-state and political espionage,” Scott-Railton said. Prior to notifying victims, WhatsApp checked the target list against existing law enforcement requests for information relating to criminal investigations, such as terrorism or child exploitation cases. But the company found no overlap, said a person familiar with the matter. Governments can submit such requests for information to WhatsApp through an online portal the company maintains. WhatsApp has said it sent warning notifications to affected users earlier this week. The company has declined to comment on the identities of NSO Group's clients, who ultimately chose the targets.

Government officials around the globe targeted for hacking through WhatsApp: Report

Beijing will use facial recognition tools to speed up security checks in the city's overcrowded metro, using a 'credit system' to sort passengers into different channels, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

Long queues and commuters arguing with staff over slow security procedures are common sites during rush hour in the metro system of the 20 million-strong metropolis.

The city plans to install cameras that will scan the faces of passengers as they enter a subway station and sort them into different security channels, said Zhan Minghui, director of the Beijing Rail Traffic Control Center.

He said the plan involves creating a "passenger credit system," and individuals on a "white list" will be offered expedited security clearance, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Those who receive "abnormal feedback" after their faces are scanned will be subjected to extra checks.

Zhan did not offer details on the criteria used to sort passengers or what could trigger that type of feedback.

"The technique aims to improve the efficiency of security checks and includes both body checks and luggage screening when large numbers of passengers enter the station," he told an urban transportation forum in Beijing on Tuesday.

The Beijing subway in May said it has started "deducting credit points" from passengers who eat in railway carriages.

The city's subway system currently handles over 12 million trips on a workday and the number is expected to increase to 17 million trips by 2022.

Zhan did not offer a timetable for rolling out the technology.

Facial recognition is gaining traction across China, where it is being used for everything from supermarket checkouts to surveillance.

While researchers have warned of the privacy risks associated with gathering facial recognition data, consumers have widely embraced the technology.

The Universal Studios amusement park under construction in Beijing recently said it will admit visitors without a ticket, thanks to cameras that will scan their faces to determine if they paid for an entry.

Beijing will use facial recognition tools to speed up security checks in the city's overcrowded metro, using a 'credit system' to sort passengers into different channels, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

Beijing will use facial recognition tools to speed up security checks in the city's overcrowded metro, using a 'credit system' to sort passengers into different channels, state-run media reported on Wednesday. Long queues and commuters arguing with staff over slow security procedures are common sites during rush hour in the metro system of the 20 million-strong metropolis. The city plans to install cameras that will scan the faces of passengers as they enter a subway station and sort them into different security channels, said Zhan Minghui, director of the Beijing Rail Traffic Control Center. He said the plan involves creating a "passenger credit system," and individuals on a "white list" will be offered expedited security clearance, Beijing Youth Daily reported. Those who receive "abnormal feedback" after their faces are scanned will be subjected to extra checks. Zhan did not offer details on the criteria used to sort passengers or what could trigger that type of feedback. "The technique aims to improve the efficiency of security checks and includes both body checks and luggage screening when large numbers of passengers enter the station," he told an urban transportation forum in Beijing on Tuesday. The Beijing subway in May said it has started "deducting credit points" from passengers who eat in railway carriages. The city's subway system currently handles over 12 million trips on a workday and the number is expected to increase to 17 million trips by 2022. Zhan did not offer a timetable for rolling out the technology. Facial recognition is gaining traction across China, where it is being used for everything from supermarket checkouts to surveillance. While researchers have warned of the privacy risks associated with gathering facial recognition data, consumers have widely embraced the technology. The Universal Studios amusement park under construction in Beijing recently said it will admit visitors without a ticket, thanks to cameras that will scan their faces to determine if they paid for an entry.

Now, China eyes facial recognition tech for metro security

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged business leaders and technocrats to build a `bridge` between the artificial intelligence (AI) and human intentions, while stating that his government is using technology to effectively deliver the benefits of welfare schemes to targeted groups.

Addressing a gathering of several top business leaders including Ratan Tata, Prime Minister Modi said technology should be used to uplift the life of the poor and the marginalised sections of the society in the country.

"There should not be a debate on the dangers of artificial intelligence, but there should debate as to when the robot will be smarter than the human. There should be a debate as to how a bridge can be made between artificial intelligence and human intentions," said he.

Prime Minister Modi said that a section of people are working to project technology as anti-people and asserted that technology only benefits humanity if it is used with good intentions.

"There is a major attempt to demoralise technology. An environment of fear is being built. In the context of India, technology is being projected as a challenge for our demographic dividend," he said.

He said, "Technology unites, not divides. It is a multiplier of talent force, not a threat. Technology makes a bridge between aspirations and achievements and between demand and delivery. Technology is a strong medium to realise the dream of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas."

Asserting that his government has been using technology to smoothly deliver government schemes on the ground, the Prime Minister said the Centre used several modern technologies including AI, digital mapping, real-time monitoring, and data intelligence to distribute eight crores new LPG connections under Ujjawal Scheme within three years time to the targeted beneficiaries.

"We first located 17,000 LPG distribution centres through data intelligence and set up 10,000 new centres in a very short span of time. We also took the help of space technology," he said.

The Prime Minister also outlined that his government has used technology to remove silos amongst government departments and build a bridge between supply system and demand, through innovative ideas like Government e-market Place. Prime Minister Modi was speaking on the occasion of the unveiling of the book titled `Bridgital Nation,` which he termed as a `visionary document.`&nbsp;

The book has been written by N Chandrasekaran and Roopa Purushothanman and focuses on tackling the problem of a gap between demand and supply through technology.

According to a press release issued by the PIB, several diplomats including Ambassadors of the US, the UK and China, Secretaries of several ministries, representatives of industry bodies including CII, FICCI and NASSCOM, senior journalists Smita Prakash, Rajat Sharma, Navika Kumar, Rajkamal Jha, and Sudhir Chaudhary were present on the occasion.&nbsp;

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged business leaders and technocrats to build a `bridge` between the artificial intelligence (AI) and human intentions, while stating that his government is using technology to effectively deliver the benefits of welfare schemes to targeted groups.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged business leaders and technocrats to build a `bridge` between the artificial intelligence (AI) and human intentions, while stating that his government is using technology to effectively deliver the benefits of welfare schemes to targeted groups. Addressing a gathering of several top business leaders including Ratan Tata, Prime Minister Modi said technology should be used to uplift the life of the poor and the marginalised sections of the society in the country. "There should not be a debate on the dangers of artificial intelligence, but there should debate as to when the robot will be smarter than the human. There should be a debate as to how a bridge can be made between artificial intelligence and human intentions," said he. Prime Minister Modi said that a section of people are working to project technology as anti-people and asserted that technology only benefits humanity if it is used with good intentions. "There is a major attempt to demoralise technology. An environment of fear is being built. In the context of India, technology is being projected as a challenge for our demographic dividend," he said. He said, "Technology unites, not divides. It is a multiplier of talent force, not a threat. Technology makes a bridge between aspirations and achievements and between demand and delivery. Technology is a strong medium to realise the dream of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas." Asserting that his government has been using technology to smoothly deliver government schemes on the ground, the Prime Minister said the Centre used several modern technologies including AI, digital mapping, real-time monitoring, and data intelligence to distribute eight crores new LPG connections under Ujjawal Scheme within three years time to the targeted beneficiaries. "We first located 17,000 LPG distribution centres through data intelligence and set up 10,000 new centres in a very short span of time. We also took the help of space technology," he said. The Prime Minister also outlined that his government has used technology to remove silos amongst government departments and build a bridge between supply system and demand, through innovative ideas like Government e-market Place. Prime Minister Modi was speaking on the occasion of the unveiling of the book titled `Bridgital Nation,` which he termed as a `visionary document.` The book has been written by N Chandrasekaran and Roopa Purushothanman and focuses on tackling the problem of a gap between demand and supply through technology. According to a press release issued by the PIB, several diplomats including Ambassadors of the US, the UK and China, Secretaries of several ministries, representatives of industry bodies including CII, FICCI and NASSCOM, senior journalists Smita Prakash, Rajat Sharma, Navika Kumar, Rajkamal Jha, and Sudhir Chaudhary were present on the occasion.

Build a bridge between artificial intelligence and human intentions: PM Modi urges technocrats

The US&nbsp;government widened its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-blacklisted-28-chinese-organisations-involved-in-abuses-against-uighurs-254358">trade&nbsp;blacklist</a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;include&nbsp;some of&nbsp;China's&nbsp;top&nbsp;artificial intelligence&nbsp;startups, punishing Beijing for its <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/chinas-crackdown-in-xinjiang-for-uighur-refugees-freedom-means-losing-family-251676">treatment of Muslim minorities</a> and ratcheting up tensions&nbsp;ahead&nbsp;of high-level&nbsp;trade&nbsp;talks&nbsp;in Washington this week.

The decision, which drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, targets 20 Chinese public security bureaus&nbsp;and eight companies including video surveillance firm Hikvision, as well as leaders in facial recognition technology SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology Ltd.

The action bars the firms from buying components from US&nbsp;companies without US government approval - a potentially crippling move for some of them. It follows the same blueprint&nbsp;used by Washington in its attempt to limit the influence of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd&nbsp;for what it says are national security reasons.

US&nbsp;officials said the action was not tied to this week's resumption of&nbsp;trade&nbsp;talks&nbsp;with China, but it signals no let-up in US&nbsp;President Donald Trump's hard-line stance as the world's two biggest economies seek to end their 15-month<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/us-china-trade-war-certain-us-goods-exempted-by-china-250942">&nbsp;trade&nbsp;war.</a>

The Commerce Department said in a filing the "entities have been implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of&nbsp;China's&nbsp;campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups."

"The US&nbsp;Government and Department of Commerce cannot and will not tolerate the brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China," said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

China said the United States should stop&nbsp;interfering in its affairs. It will continue to take firm and resolute measures to protect its sovereign security, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular media briefing without elaborating.

Hikvision, with a market value of about $42 billion, calls itself the world's largest maker of video surveillance gear.

SenseTime, which says it is valued at more than $7.5 billion, is one of the world's most valuable&nbsp;AI&nbsp;unicorns while Megvii, backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, is valued at around $4 billion and is preparing an IPO to raise at least $500 million in Hong Kong.

The other companies on the list are speech recognition firm iFlytek Co, surveillance equipment maker Zhejiang Dahua Technology, data recovery firm Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co, facial recognition firm Yitu Technology and Yixin Science and Technology Co.

A US&nbsp;Hikvision spokesman said the company "strongly opposes" the decision and noted that in January it retained a human rights expert and former US&nbsp;ambassador to advise the company on human rights compliance.

"Punishing Hikvision, despite these engagements, will deter global companies from communicating with the US&nbsp;government, hurt Hikvision's US businesses partners and negatively impact the US economy," the company added.

Hikvision also said that it was assessing the potential impact of the&nbsp;blacklisting and was working on contingency plans.

John Honovich, founder of surveillance video research company IPVM, said Hikvision and Dahua both&nbsp;use Intel Corp, Nvidia Corp, Ambarella Inc, Western Digital and Seagate Technology&nbsp;as suppliers and that the impact on the Chinese companies would be "devastating".

The&nbsp;blacklisting of Huawei has hurt many of its US&nbsp;suppliers that depended on the world's largest telecommunications company for revenue and made it difficult for Huawei to sell new products.

Reuters reported in August Hikvision receives nearly 30 per cent&nbsp;of its 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) in revenue from overseas.

SenseTime said in a statement it was deeply disappointed by the US&nbsp;move, that it abides by all relevant laws of the jurisdictions in which its operates and that it has been actively developing an&nbsp;AI&nbsp;code of ethics to ensure its technologies are&nbsp;used responsibly.

Megvii said it strongly objected to being placed on the&nbsp;blacklist&nbsp;and that it required its clients not to weaponize its technology or&nbsp;use it for illegal purposes.

IFlytek said its placement on the&nbsp;blacklist&nbsp;would not affect its daily operations, while Xiamen Meiya said its overseas revenue was less than 1 per cent of total revenue and that most of its suppliers were domestic companies. Dahua said on a conference call it was confident it could easily replace some components and would also seek other solutions to keep servicing clients.

IFlytek fell 2.7 per cent&nbsp;and Xiamen Meiya lost 1.8 per cent&nbsp;on Tuesday as investors factored in their limited exposure to overseas markets and the potential for the US&nbsp;action to speed up restructuring, analysts said.

"China's&nbsp;stock market has become increasingly immune to bad news from the&nbsp;trade&nbsp;war. No more panic selling," said Stephen Huang, vice president of Shanghai&nbsp;See Truth Investment Management.

Hikvision and Dahua were suspended from&nbsp;trade&nbsp;at the companies' behest. US&nbsp;supplier Ambarella fell 12 per cent&nbsp;in after-hours trading on Monday.

In August, the Trump administration also released an interim rule banning federal purchases of telecommunications equipment from five Chinese companies, including Huawei and Hikvision.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/huawei-denies-us-allegations-of-technology-theft-247310">Huawei has repeatedly denied</a> it is controlled by the Chinese government, military or intelligence services and has filed a lawsuit against the US&nbsp;government's restrictions.

The US government widened its trade blacklist to include some of China's top artificial intelligence startups, punishing Beijing for its treatment of Muslim minorities and ratcheting up tensions ahead of high-level trade talks in Washington this week.

The US government widened its trade blacklist to include some of China's top artificial intelligence startups, punishing Beijing for its treatment of Muslim minorities and ratcheting up tensions ahead of high-level trade talks in Washington this week. The decision, which drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, targets 20 Chinese public security bureaus and eight companies including video surveillance firm Hikvision, as well as leaders in facial recognition technology SenseTime Group Ltd and Megvii Technology Ltd. The action bars the firms from buying components from US companies without US government approval - a potentially crippling move for some of them. It follows the same blueprint used by Washington in its attempt to limit the influence of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for what it says are national security reasons. US officials said the action was not tied to this week's resumption of trade talks with China, but it signals no let-up in US President Donald Trump's hard-line stance as the world's two biggest economies seek to end their 15-month trade war. The Commerce Department said in a filing the "entities have been implicated in human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China's campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups." "The US Government and Department of Commerce cannot and will not tolerate the brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China," said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. China said the United States should stop interfering in its affairs. It will continue to take firm and resolute measures to protect its sovereign security, foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular media briefing without elaborating. Hikvision, with a market value of about $42 billion, calls itself the world's largest maker of video surveillance gear. SenseTime, which says it is valued at more than $7.5 billion, is one of the world's most valuable AI unicorns while Megvii, backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, is valued at around $4 billion and is preparing an IPO to raise at least $500 million in Hong Kong. The other companies on the list are speech recognition firm iFlytek Co, surveillance equipment maker Zhejiang Dahua Technology, data recovery firm Xiamen Meiya Pico Information Co, facial recognition firm Yitu Technology and Yixin Science and Technology Co. A US Hikvision spokesman said the company "strongly opposes" the decision and noted that in January it retained a human rights expert and former US ambassador to advise the company on human rights compliance. "Punishing Hikvision, despite these engagements, will deter global companies from communicating with the US government, hurt Hikvision's US businesses partners and negatively impact the US economy," the company added. Hikvision also said that it was assessing the potential impact of the blacklisting and was working on contingency plans. John Honovich, founder of surveillance video research company IPVM, said Hikvision and Dahua both use Intel Corp, Nvidia Corp, Ambarella Inc, Western Digital and Seagate Technology as suppliers and that the impact on the Chinese companies would be "devastating". The blacklisting of Huawei has hurt many of its US suppliers that depended on the world's largest telecommunications company for revenue and made it difficult for Huawei to sell new products. Reuters reported in August Hikvision receives nearly 30 per cent of its 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) in revenue from overseas. SenseTime said in a statement it was deeply disappointed by the US move, that it abides by all relevant laws of the jurisdictions in which its operates and that it has been actively developing an AI code of ethics to ensure its technologies are used responsibly. Megvii said it strongly objected to being placed on the blacklist and that it required its clients not to weaponize its technology or use it for illegal purposes. IFlytek said its placement on the blacklist would not affect its daily operations, while Xiamen Meiya said its overseas revenue was less than 1 per cent of total revenue and that most of its suppliers were domestic companies. Dahua said on a conference call it was confident it could easily replace some components and would also seek other solutions to keep servicing clients. IFlytek fell 2.7 per cent and Xiamen Meiya lost 1.8 per cent on Tuesday as investors factored in their limited exposure to overseas markets and the potential for the US action to speed up restructuring, analysts said. "China's stock market has become increasingly immune to bad news from the trade war. No more panic selling," said Stephen Huang, vice president of Shanghai See Truth Investment Management. Hikvision and Dahua were suspended from trade at the companies' behest. US supplier Ambarella fell 12 per cent in after-hours trading on Monday. In August, the Trump administration also released an interim rule banning federal purchases of telecommunications equipment from five Chinese companies, including Huawei and Hikvision. Huawei has repeatedly denied it is controlled by the Chinese government, military or intelligence services and has filed a lawsuit against the US government's restrictions.

US expands blacklist to include China's top AI startups ahead of trade talks

Maybe we can get through the climate crisis without a global catastrophe, although that door is closing fast. And maybe we can cope with the huge loss of jobs caused by the revolution in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) without a social and political calamity. But can we do both at the same time?

We should know how to deal with the AI revolution because we have been down this road before. It’s a bit different this time, of course, in the sense that the original industrial revolution in 1780-1850 created as many new jobs (in manufacturing) as it destroyed (in cottage industries and skilled trades).

The AI revolution, by contrast, is not producing nearly enough replacement jobs, but it is making us much wealthier.&nbsp;

The value of manufactured goods doubled in the United States in the past 30 years even as the number of good industrial jobs fell by a third (8 million jobs gone). Maybe we could use that extra wealth to ease the transition to a job-scarce future.

The climate emergency is unlike any challenge we have faced before. Surmounting it would require an unprecedented level of global cooperation and very big changes in how people consume and behave, neither of which human beings have historically been good at.

These two crisis are already interacting. The erosion of middle-class jobs and the stagnation (or worse) of real wage levels generates resentment and anger among the victims that is already creating populist, authoritarian regimes throughout the world. These regimes despise international cooperation and often deny climate change as well (Donald Trump in the US, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil).

Even Trump is worried, which is why he postponed the harsher US trade tariffs against China that were due next month.

So what can we do about all this? The first thing is to recognise that we cannot plot a course that takes us from here and now through all the changes and past all the unpleasant surprises to ultimate safety, maybe 50 years from now.

We can plan how to get through the next five years, and we should be thinking hard about what will be needed later on, but we can’t steer a safe and steady course to the year 2070 any more than intelligent decision-makers in 1790 could have planned how to get through to 1840 without too much upheaval. They might have seen steam engines, but they would have had no idea what a railroad was.

We are in the same position as those people with regard to both AI and the global environmental emergency (which extends far beyond ‘climate change’, although that is at its heart).&nbsp;

We know a good deal about both issues, but not enough to be confident about our choices — and besides, they may well mutate and head off in unforeseen directions as the crisis deepens.

But, there are two big things we can do right now. We need to stop the slide into populist and increasingly authoritarian governments. And we have to win ourselves more time to get our greenhouse gas emissions under control.&nbsp;

The best bet for getting our politics back on track is a guaranteed minimum income high enough to keep everybody comfortable whether they are working or not. That is well within the reach of any developed country’s economy, and has the added benefit of putting enough money into people’s pockets to save everybody’s business model.

And the best way to win more time on the climate front is to start geoengineering (direct intervention in the atmosphere to hold the global temperature down) as soon as we get anywhere near +2 degree Celsius. To be ready then, we need to be doing open-air testing on a small scale now.

There will be howls of protest from the right about a guaranteed minimum income, and from the greener parts of the left about geo-engineering. However, both will probably be indispensable if we want to get through these huge changes without mass casualties or even civilisational collapse. 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-dealing-with-two-critical-converging-crises-on-planet-earth-2790804">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)&nbsp;

Maybe we can get through the climate crisis without a global catastrophe, although that door is closing fast. And maybe we can cope with the huge loss of jobs caused by the revolution in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) without a social and political calamity.

Maybe we can get through the climate crisis without a global catastrophe, although that door is closing fast. And maybe we can cope with the huge loss of jobs caused by the revolution in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) without a social and political calamity. But can we do both at the same time? We should know how to deal with the AI revolution because we have been down this road before. It’s a bit different this time, of course, in the sense that the original industrial revolution in 1780-1850 created as many new jobs (in manufacturing) as it destroyed (in cottage industries and skilled trades). The AI revolution, by contrast, is not producing nearly enough replacement jobs, but it is making us much wealthier. The value of manufactured goods doubled in the United States in the past 30 years even as the number of good industrial jobs fell by a third (8 million jobs gone). Maybe we could use that extra wealth to ease the transition to a job-scarce future. The climate emergency is unlike any challenge we have faced before. Surmounting it would require an unprecedented level of global cooperation and very big changes in how people consume and behave, neither of which human beings have historically been good at. These two crisis are already interacting. The erosion of middle-class jobs and the stagnation (or worse) of real wage levels generates resentment and anger among the victims that is already creating populist, authoritarian regimes throughout the world. These regimes despise international cooperation and often deny climate change as well (Donald Trump in the US, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil). Even Trump is worried, which is why he postponed the harsher US trade tariffs against China that were due next month. So what can we do about all this? The first thing is to recognise that we cannot plot a course that takes us from here and now through all the changes and past all the unpleasant surprises to ultimate safety, maybe 50 years from now. We can plan how to get through the next five years, and we should be thinking hard about what will be needed later on, but we can’t steer a safe and steady course to the year 2070 any more than intelligent decision-makers in 1790 could have planned how to get through to 1840 without too much upheaval. They might have seen steam engines, but they would have had no idea what a railroad was. We are in the same position as those people with regard to both AI and the global environmental emergency (which extends far beyond ‘climate change’, although that is at its heart). We know a good deal about both issues, but not enough to be confident about our choices — and besides, they may well mutate and head off in unforeseen directions as the crisis deepens. But, there are two big things we can do right now. We need to stop the slide into populist and increasingly authoritarian governments. And we have to win ourselves more time to get our greenhouse gas emissions under control. The best bet for getting our politics back on track is a guaranteed minimum income high enough to keep everybody comfortable whether they are working or not. That is well within the reach of any developed country’s economy, and has the added benefit of putting enough money into people’s pockets to save everybody’s business model. And the best way to win more time on the climate front is to start geoengineering (direct intervention in the atmosphere to hold the global temperature down) as soon as we get anywhere near +2 degree Celsius. To be ready then, we need to be doing open-air testing on a small scale now. There will be howls of protest from the right about a guaranteed minimum income, and from the greener parts of the left about geo-engineering. However, both will probably be indispensable if we want to get through these huge changes without mass casualties or even civilisational collapse. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Dealing with two critical converging crisis on planet earth

Technology helps Wimbledon to hook growing tennis-loving market in Asia, especially India

A new Microsoft study, in collaboration with IDC Asia/Pacific, points toward a boom in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/opinions/artificial-intelligence-holds-tremendous-potential-to-transform-education-212578">Artificial Intelligence in India</a>, as a result of which innovations and organisational productivity are likely to go up in the coming years.&nbsp;

Artificial Intelligence is expected to double the rate of innovations in organisations by 2021 in India, the study said.

The research added that the rise of AI doesn't necessarily mean people will be out of work for the want of new technological skills, rather entrepreneurship and initiative-taking will be paramount to the effective implementation of AI.

"It does not necessarily mean an acute need for technological skills. The top future skills identified by business leaders include a very important soft skill needed to create new AI-led innovations – entrepreneurship and initiative taking," said Dr Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India whose findings were released and published on Microsoft's website.&nbsp;

The research furthered that to adapt to the fast-paced and rapidly changing "digital-first" world, organisations will need to be "fast adopters of best-in-class technology, including AI". "The jobs of today will not be the jobs of tomorrow," it stated.

Digital talent will also need to be invested in. For all of this, an investment in human capital could not be discounted. "Business leaders must have the urgency to invest in workers’ training, as AI cannot progress without skilled individuals," the research stated.

However, the study noted that "there is a necessity for workers to reskill and upskill to remain relevant and play a part in the workforce of tomorrow".&nbsp;

"Business leaders will need to drive cultural transformation within their organizations that values experimentation, agility, proactiveness and a growth mindset," the study read.

However, on surveying workers and business leaders, it was exhibited that they felt that "cultural traits and behaviours that contribute to AI adoption are not being demonstrated today".

A new Microsoft study, in collaboration with IDC Asia/Pacific, points toward a boom in Artificial Intelligence in India, as a result of which innovations and organisational productivity are likely to go up in the coming years.

A new Microsoft study, in collaboration with IDC Asia/Pacific, points toward a boom in Artificial Intelligence in India, as a result of which innovations and organisational productivity are likely to go up in the coming years. Artificial Intelligence is expected to double the rate of innovations in organisations by 2021 in India, the study said. The research added that the rise of AI doesn't necessarily mean people will be out of work for the want of new technological skills, rather entrepreneurship and initiative-taking will be paramount to the effective implementation of AI. "It does not necessarily mean an acute need for technological skills. The top future skills identified by business leaders include a very important soft skill needed to create new AI-led innovations – entrepreneurship and initiative taking," said Dr Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India whose findings were released and published on Microsoft's website. The research furthered that to adapt to the fast-paced and rapidly changing "digital-first" world, organisations will need to be "fast adopters of best-in-class technology, including AI". "The jobs of today will not be the jobs of tomorrow," it stated. Digital talent will also need to be invested in. For all of this, an investment in human capital could not be discounted. "Business leaders must have the urgency to invest in workers’ training, as AI cannot progress without skilled individuals," the research stated. However, the study noted that "there is a necessity for workers to reskill and upskill to remain relevant and play a part in the workforce of tomorrow". "Business leaders will need to drive cultural transformation within their organizations that values experimentation, agility, proactiveness and a growth mindset," the study read. However, on surveying workers and business leaders, it was exhibited that they felt that "cultural traits and behaviours that contribute to AI adoption are not being demonstrated today".

Rise of AI in India: Digital world will still need investment in human capital, says study

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. From digital assistants to algorithms that suggest what music to listen to, are all now a part of our everyday lives.

While soon we may travel in self-driven cars, the area where AI is poised to most profoundly affect our lives is education. It is no surprise, therefore, that the education sector is witnessing remarkable uses of AI-based technologies.&nbsp;

For instance, AI-powered teaching assistants can take over time-consuming tasks like grading and record-keeping. This technology would also allow a student to enjoy continuous and individually customised inputs that would be required at her/his stage of learning.&nbsp;

It could also help flag issues at an early stage as well as assist in the feedback process between the teacher and students - thereby enabling healthy and relevant communication.&nbsp;

Students would get access to relevant additional tools and teachers would be able to know the efficacy of different pedagogies quickly.

AI would not just hold teachers accountable, but also strengthen best teaching practices. Current systems have the ability to analyse when a large group of students makes a mistake in a question. This can be expected to improve to the point where AI could provide live hints or suggest corrective action in a customised manner.&nbsp;

With such technology, students would be able to learn from anywhere and anytime, receive individual input and maybe have access to elements of a traditional classroom.

Another upcoming innovation is the use of blockchain technology. Its use in universities could remarkably alter how evaluations and credits are maintained and transferred - both within and across institutions.&nbsp;

Academic research within universities would also see increased protection and their due share of recognition. This would incentivise academicians to pursue research work without worrying about administrative hassles. We can expect a true revolution in academic research.

 
AI helps to inspire continuous, self-directed learning. One impact of AI-assisted learning is that the gap between traditional schoolroom education and online/self-directed learning can become blurred. AI tutors can enable students to choose the most effective tools and resources from among the multitude of options available out there.&nbsp;

The best effect of the personal AI tutor is that he could usher in a completely new mentality of continuous, self-directed learning in which all will remain students throughout their lives, whether they are in a classroom or not.

There is little doubt that there are new opportunities to set up education startups. AI is creating new opportunities for first-generation entrepreneurs in all segments like affordable health care, robot-assisted surgery, preliminary diagnosis, analysis of the history of a patient to cure, etc.&nbsp; 
 
In the same manner, AI is helping the education domain as well. In future, we will be able to educate our children through 360-degree learning, explanation in dimensions more than 3D - industrial training in a manufacturing company in Germany can be imparted by sitting in India. &nbsp;

Real-time action through robots with the help of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) would be commonplace. The learning tools available today for English, Maths, Geography through Knowji, Splash Math, Oddizzi and others are applications of AI only.&nbsp;

Engagement of students is the key challenge for every educator and they always trying to find new ways of engagement for students.&nbsp;

AI, AR, VR, ML would be able to help us to face this challenge. We have seen students, who are more inclined towards videos rather than textbooks and so every second organisation is creating video content or acquiring startups working on the new trends of education.&nbsp;

Even traditional organisations RIL, Tata, &nbsp;Microsoft, Google and others have entered into AI-based education platforms.&nbsp;

To illustrate, RIL has acquired Embibe, Microsoft has taken Flipgrid and Google acquired Workbench to utilise the power of artificial intelligence. Thus, it is more than evident that AI will dominate the future in all walks of life. 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-ai-holds-tremendous-potential-to-transform-education-2741846">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. From digital assistants to algorithms that suggest what music to listen to, are all now a part of our everyday lives.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all around us. From digital assistants to algorithms that suggest what music to listen to, are all now a part of our everyday lives. While soon we may travel in self-driven cars, the area where AI is poised to most profoundly affect our lives is education. It is no surprise, therefore, that the education sector is witnessing remarkable uses of AI-based technologies. For instance, AI-powered teaching assistants can take over time-consuming tasks like grading and record-keeping. This technology would also allow a student to enjoy continuous and individually customised inputs that would be required at her/his stage of learning. It could also help flag issues at an early stage as well as assist in the feedback process between the teacher and students - thereby enabling healthy and relevant communication. Students would get access to relevant additional tools and teachers would be able to know the efficacy of different pedagogies quickly. AI would not just hold teachers accountable, but also strengthen best teaching practices. Current systems have the ability to analyse when a large group of students makes a mistake in a question. This can be expected to improve to the point where AI could provide live hints or suggest corrective action in a customised manner. With such technology, students would be able to learn from anywhere and anytime, receive individual input and maybe have access to elements of a traditional classroom. Another upcoming innovation is the use of blockchain technology. Its use in universities could remarkably alter how evaluations and credits are maintained and transferred - both within and across institutions. Academic research within universities would also see increased protection and their due share of recognition. This would incentivise academicians to pursue research work without worrying about administrative hassles. We can expect a true revolution in academic research. AI helps to inspire continuous, self-directed learning. One impact of AI-assisted learning is that the gap between traditional schoolroom education and online/self-directed learning can become blurred. AI tutors can enable students to choose the most effective tools and resources from among the multitude of options available out there. The best effect of the personal AI tutor is that he could usher in a completely new mentality of continuous, self-directed learning in which all will remain students throughout their lives, whether they are in a classroom or not. There is little doubt that there are new opportunities to set up education startups. AI is creating new opportunities for first-generation entrepreneurs in all segments like affordable health care, robot-assisted surgery, preliminary diagnosis, analysis of the history of a patient to cure, etc. In the same manner, AI is helping the education domain as well. In future, we will be able to educate our children through 360-degree learning, explanation in dimensions more than 3D - industrial training in a manufacturing company in Germany can be imparted by sitting in India. Real-time action through robots with the help of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) would be commonplace. The learning tools available today for English, Maths, Geography through Knowji, Splash Math, Oddizzi and others are applications of AI only. Engagement of students is the key challenge for every educator and they always trying to find new ways of engagement for students. AI, AR, VR, ML would be able to help us to face this challenge. We have seen students, who are more inclined towards videos rather than textbooks and so every second organisation is creating video content or acquiring startups working on the new trends of education. Even traditional organisations RIL, Tata, Microsoft, Google and others have entered into AI-based education platforms. To illustrate, RIL has acquired Embibe, Microsoft has taken Flipgrid and Google acquired Workbench to utilise the power of artificial intelligence. Thus, it is more than evident that AI will dominate the future in all walks of life. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL.)

Artificial Intelligence holds tremendous potential to transform education

Chinese authorities are using a vast system of facial recognition technology to<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/criticising-uighur-policy-could-hit-economic-relations-china-to-turkey-200550"> track its Uighur Muslim minority</a> across the country, according to a story in the New York Times.

Beijing has already attracted widespread criticism for its<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/show-us-video-information-of-missing-relatives-activists-lash-out-at-china-196893"> treatment of Uighurs</a> in the northwest region of Xinjiang, where up to one million members of mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minority groups are held in internment camps, according to estimates cited by a UN panel.

But according to a Times article on Sunday, facial recognition technology - integrated into China’s huge networks of surveillance cameras - has been programmed to look exclusively for Uighurs based on their appearance and keep records of their movements across China.

Police are now reportedly using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to target Uighurs outside Xinjiang, including in wealthy cities like Hangzhou and Wenzhou. The newspaper claims one central city scanned whether residents were Uighurs 500,000 times in one month alone.

Beijing announced a plan in 2017 to become the world leader in the AI industry. But there have been concerns in the international community that new smart technology is being used for heavy police surveillance in recent years after violent inter-ethnic tensions.

The Times cites experts who say this is the first known example of a government intentionally using AI for racial profiling, with appetite for the new systems growing in cities across the country.

In the central province of Shaanxi, authorities reportedly "aimed to acquire a smart camera system last year that 'should support facial recognition to identify Uighur/non-Uighur attributes'."

The Times says China's Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a faxed request for comment.

China denies the accounts of mass detention in Xinjiang, saying it is running educational training centres as part of a fight against Islamic extremism in the region.

Chinese authorities are using a vast system of facial recognition technology to track its Uighur Muslim minority across the country, according to a story in the New York Times.

Chinese authorities are using a vast system of facial recognition technology to track its Uighur Muslim minority across the country, according to a story in the New York Times. Beijing has already attracted widespread criticism for its treatment of Uighurs in the northwest region of Xinjiang, where up to one million members of mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking minority groups are held in internment camps, according to estimates cited by a UN panel. But according to a Times article on Sunday, facial recognition technology - integrated into China’s huge networks of surveillance cameras - has been programmed to look exclusively for Uighurs based on their appearance and keep records of their movements across China. Police are now reportedly using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to target Uighurs outside Xinjiang, including in wealthy cities like Hangzhou and Wenzhou. The newspaper claims one central city scanned whether residents were Uighurs 500,000 times in one month alone. Beijing announced a plan in 2017 to become the world leader in the AI industry. But there have been concerns in the international community that new smart technology is being used for heavy police surveillance in recent years after violent inter-ethnic tensions. The Times cites experts who say this is the first known example of a government intentionally using AI for racial profiling, with appetite for the new systems growing in cities across the country. In the central province of Shaanxi, authorities reportedly "aimed to acquire a smart camera system last year that 'should support facial recognition to identify Uighur/non-Uighur attributes'." The Times says China's Ministry of Public Security did not respond to a faxed request for comment. China denies the accounts of mass detention in Xinjiang, saying it is running educational training centres as part of a fight against Islamic extremism in the region.

China using AI to identify Uighurs across the country: Reports

An artificial intelligence research laboratory opened by Google in Ghana, the first of its kind in Africa, will take on challenges across the continent, researchers say.

The US technology giant said the lab in the capital Accra would address economic, political and environmental issues.

"Africa has many challenges where the use of AI could be beneficial, sometimes even more than in other places," Google's head of AI Accra, Moustapha Cisse, told AFP at the centre's official opening this week.

Similar research centres have already opened in cities around the world including Tokyo, Zurich, New York and Paris.

The new lab, Cisse said, would use AI to develop solutions in healthcare, education and agriculture -- such as helping to diagnose certain types of crop disease.

Cisse, an expert from Senegal, said he hoped specialist engineers and AI researchers would collaborate with local organisations and policymakers.

<a href="http://13.232.42.114/world/eu-countries-back-copyright-reforms-aimed-at-google-facebook-198643">Google</a> is working with universities and start-ups in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa to enhance AI development regionally, he said.

"We just need to ensure that the right education and opportunities are in place," he said.

"That is why Google is sponsoring a lot of these young people for their degrees... to help develop a new generation of AI developers."

'Clear opportunity'

Other tech companies, including Facebook, have launched initiatives in Africa and demographics are a key factor behind the drive.

Africa's population is estimated to be 1.2 billion, 60 per cent of them under the age of 24.

By 2050, the UN estimates the population will double to 2.4 billion.

As online social networks expand, that presents a huge market for US tech giants to tap into.

"There's a clear opportunity for companies like Facebook and Google to really go in and put a pole in the sand," said Daniel Ives, a technology researcher at GBH Insights in New York.&nbsp;

"If you look at Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, where is a lot of that growth coming from? It's international," he told AFP in a recent interview.

An artificial intelligence research laboratory opened by Google in Ghana, the first of its kind in Africa, will take on challenges across the continent, researchers say.

An artificial intelligence research laboratory opened by Google in Ghana, the first of its kind in Africa, will take on challenges across the continent, researchers say. The US technology giant said the lab in the capital Accra would address economic, political and environmental issues. "Africa has many challenges where the use of AI could be beneficial, sometimes even more than in other places," Google's head of AI Accra, Moustapha Cisse, told AFP at the centre's official opening this week. Similar research centres have already opened in cities around the world including Tokyo, Zurich, New York and Paris. The new lab, Cisse said, would use AI to develop solutions in healthcare, education and agriculture -- such as helping to diagnose certain types of crop disease. Cisse, an expert from Senegal, said he hoped specialist engineers and AI researchers would collaborate with local organisations and policymakers. Google is working with universities and start-ups in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa to enhance AI development regionally, he said. "We just need to ensure that the right education and opportunities are in place," he said. "That is why Google is sponsoring a lot of these young people for their degrees... to help develop a new generation of AI developers." 'Clear opportunity' Other tech companies, including Facebook, have launched initiatives in Africa and demographics are a key factor behind the drive. Africa's population is estimated to be 1.2 billion, 60 per cent of them under the age of 24. By 2050, the UN estimates the population will double to 2.4 billion. As online social networks expand, that presents a huge market for US tech giants to tap into. "There's a clear opportunity for companies like Facebook and Google to really go in and put a pole in the sand," said Daniel Ives, a technology researcher at GBH Insights in New York. "If you look at Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, where is a lot of that growth coming from? It's international," he told AFP in a recent interview.

Google takes on 'Africa's challenges' with first AI centre in Ghana

Google on Thursday confirmed that it has disbanded a recently assembled artificial intelligence ethics advisory panel in the face of controversy over its membership.

The end of the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) came just days after a group of Google employees launched a public campaign against having the president of the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation among its members.

Another member of the board had already resigned, and the inclusion of a drone company executive had rekindled concerns about potential military uses of artificial intelligence, according to Vox news website, which first reported on the council being disbanded.

"It's become clear that in the current environment, ATEAC can't function as we wanted," Google told AFP.

"So we're ending the council and going back to the drawing board."

Google added that it would seek alternative ways to gather outside input regarding responsible use of artificial intelligence.

Keeping AI unbiased

A petition published online called on Google to cull the Heritage Foundation's Kay Coles James from the council formed a week ago, due to her history of being "vocally anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigrant."

"In selecting James, Google is making clear that its version of 'ethics' values proximity to power over the wellbeing of trans people, other LGBTQ people and immigrants," read a statement posted on Medium by a group identifying itself as Googlers Against Transphobia.

Positions expressed by James contradict Google's stated values and, if infused into artificial intelligence, could build discrimination into super-smart machines, according to the post.

The group said that reasoning for James being added to the panel has been given as an effort to have a diversity of thought.

As of late Thursday, the online petition showed more than 2,300 signatures from academics, Google employees and others, including technology industry peers.

The controversy comes as the world grapples with balancing potential benefits of artificial intelligence with risks it could be used against people or even, if given a mind of its own, turn on its creators.

Google chief Sundar Pichai said in an interview published late last year that tech companies building AI should factor in ethics early in the process to make certain artificial intelligence with "agency of its own" doesn't hurt people.

The California-based internet giant is a leader in the development of AI, competing in the smart software race with firms such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft.

Last year, Google published a set of internal AI principles, the first being that AI should be socially beneficial.

Google vowed not to design or deploy AI for use in weapons, surveillance outside of international norms or in technology aimed at violating human rights.

The company noted that it would continue to work with the military or governments in areas such as cybersecurity, training, recruitment, health care and search-and-rescue.AI is already used to recognize people in photos, filter unwanted content from online platforms and enable cars to drive themselves.

Google on Thursday confirmed that it has disbanded a recently assembled artificial intelligence ethics advisory panel in the face of controversy over its membership.

Google on Thursday confirmed that it has disbanded a recently assembled artificial intelligence ethics advisory panel in the face of controversy over its membership. The end of the Advanced Technology External Advisory Council (ATEAC) came just days after a group of Google employees launched a public campaign against having the president of the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation among its members. Another member of the board had already resigned, and the inclusion of a drone company executive had rekindled concerns about potential military uses of artificial intelligence, according to Vox news website, which first reported on the council being disbanded. "It's become clear that in the current environment, ATEAC can't function as we wanted," Google told AFP. "So we're ending the council and going back to the drawing board." Google added that it would seek alternative ways to gather outside input regarding responsible use of artificial intelligence. Keeping AI unbiased A petition published online called on Google to cull the Heritage Foundation's Kay Coles James from the council formed a week ago, due to her history of being "vocally anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigrant." "In selecting James, Google is making clear that its version of 'ethics' values proximity to power over the wellbeing of trans people, other LGBTQ people and immigrants," read a statement posted on Medium by a group identifying itself as Googlers Against Transphobia. Positions expressed by James contradict Google's stated values and, if infused into artificial intelligence, could build discrimination into super-smart machines, according to the post. The group said that reasoning for James being added to the panel has been given as an effort to have a diversity of thought. As of late Thursday, the online petition showed more than 2,300 signatures from academics, Google employees and others, including technology industry peers. The controversy comes as the world grapples with balancing potential benefits of artificial intelligence with risks it could be used against people or even, if given a mind of its own, turn on its creators. Google chief Sundar Pichai said in an interview published late last year that tech companies building AI should factor in ethics early in the process to make certain artificial intelligence with "agency of its own" doesn't hurt people. The California-based internet giant is a leader in the development of AI, competing in the smart software race with firms such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft. Last year, Google published a set of internal AI principles, the first being that AI should be socially beneficial. Google vowed not to design or deploy AI for use in weapons, surveillance outside of international norms or in technology aimed at violating human rights. The company noted that it would continue to work with the military or governments in areas such as cybersecurity, training, recruitment, health care and search-and-rescue.AI is already used to recognize people in photos, filter unwanted content from online platforms and enable cars to drive themselves.

Google disbands artificial intelligence ethics board amid controversy over its membership

Japan to take help of AI tool for fashion industry

After Harish Natarajan beats IBM computer, project manager says 'AI meant to help people filter information'

India is embracing the use of artificial intelligence in a confident but steady manner. Government agencies, start-ups and large corporations are applying it to various functions and processes.

Most of the start-up ecosystem is heavily dependent on the use of new technologies including AI to achieve cost and organisational efficiencies. For the start-ups, using the technology is a natural step if not essential.&nbsp;

With good ideas, but low market presence they depend on AI-based insights to expand in the market. Larger organisations, however, are approaching the technologies with more care and caution. Not least because their size often hinders agility to change over to new systems. Such companies are deploying AI for specific functions of new business divisions.

Individuals are more digital these days than most organisations. Without our realisation, basic AI is already managing our personal and work lives through emails, work processes and even entertainment.

However, India hasn’t invested in AI at the scale required. The key recommendation by a NITI Aayog paper on AI includes setting up collaborative structures between academia, government, industry to create AI-based solutions for economic and development challenges.

A three-way collaboration between government, industry and academia is required for India specific challenges. Since many companies don’t have the risk-taking ability to invest in AI-based pilot projects, a structure for collaboration is needed. This can’t be done by the government alone either. The industry has the capital but not the risk-taking ability. The government can take the risk but doesn’t have inherent knowledge.&nbsp;

Academia has the structure but not the talent. Tech companies are innovative, but they don’t always conform to regulation and are often misguided. But someone has to bring them together. Globally several countries are trying to experiment with structures that will allow them to bring the important stakeholders together including citizens.

The report recognises this, “Many countries have instituted dedicated public offices such as Ministry of AI (UAE), and Office of AI and AI Council (UK) while China and Japan have allowed existing ministries to take up AI implementation in their sectoral areas. Not just national governments, but even local city governments have become increasingly aware of the importance and potential of AI and have committed public investments.”

What form can a structure like this take? Can there be a national body that brings everyone together? Will it be a Ministry of AI? India is yet to clarify its thoughts on this. What is clear is that India will need a body, perhaps not a ministry in the way we know it now. What is required is a coordinating and catalysing body that can guide, shape and enable the use of AI.

Some work has already begun with global organisations like the World Economic Forum (WEF) which is trying to get multiple stakeholders to grasp the importance of AI and related technologies. The Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) is a global hub created by WEF to improve the adoption of new technologies in a sustainable, responsible and collaborative manner, and to minimise their negative effects in the society.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the C4IR in October. Mumbai will host the centre for India. Other centres are in San Francisco, Tokyo and Beijing. The over 45 global corporate partners and members include Reliance Industries, Salesforce, Wipro, ABB and SAP.

For India, the C4IR has chosen to support and guide the usage of drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain. The private sector is already using technologies but its growth can be impeded if the government policies don’t keep pace.

C4IR is working with NITI Aayog on expanding access to data to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence in sectors such as healthcare, education, smart cities &amp; infrastructure, and smart mobility and transportation. The Centre will support the creation of a National Data Marketplace for India through which available data across these different sectors can be collected and integrated for targeted decision making and analyses using artificial intelligence.

In each of these sectors, the information about various dimensions is fragmented across various bodies that capture and store the data. There is virtually no protocol or framework where this data can be annotated, pooled and analysed. C4IR will help bring all relevant stakeholders together to create governance frameworks, systems and processes that will allow government bodies, private sector and individuals to pool such data and be incentivised for their contribution. For example, in the healthcare sector information about diseases, prevention efforts and clinical trials are distributed across various agencies like private hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and government clinics. For smart data analysis, all healthcare data should be created, curated and stored under a common protocol.

Collaborative structures like these have the potential of transforming the way government and private sector collaborate. Technology can bring a strong bond of trust which will be essential for pooling information and applying it in productive ways.

Though AI by itself is an important tool, the changes it will trigger will be much deeper and beneficial for an emerging economy like India.

(This article was originally published on DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-india-s-progress-on-artificial-intelligence-route-2698481">original article)</a>

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

India is embracing the use of artificial intelligence in a confident but steady manner. Government agencies, start-ups and large corporations are applying it to various functions and processes.

India is embracing the use of artificial intelligence in a confident but steady manner. Government agencies, start-ups and large corporations are applying it to various functions and processes. Most of the start-up ecosystem is heavily dependent on the use of new technologies including AI to achieve cost and organisational efficiencies. For the start-ups, using the technology is a natural step if not essential. With good ideas, but low market presence they depend on AI-based insights to expand in the market. Larger organisations, however, are approaching the technologies with more care and caution. Not least because their size often hinders agility to change over to new systems. Such companies are deploying AI for specific functions of new business divisions. Individuals are more digital these days than most organisations. Without our realisation, basic AI is already managing our personal and work lives through emails, work processes and even entertainment. However, India hasn’t invested in AI at the scale required. The key recommendation by a NITI Aayog paper on AI includes setting up collaborative structures between academia, government, industry to create AI-based solutions for economic and development challenges. A three-way collaboration between government, industry and academia is required for India specific challenges. Since many companies don’t have the risk-taking ability to invest in AI-based pilot projects, a structure for collaboration is needed. This can’t be done by the government alone either. The industry has the capital but not the risk-taking ability. The government can take the risk but doesn’t have inherent knowledge. Academia has the structure but not the talent. Tech companies are innovative, but they don’t always conform to regulation and are often misguided. But someone has to bring them together. Globally several countries are trying to experiment with structures that will allow them to bring the important stakeholders together including citizens. The report recognises this, “Many countries have instituted dedicated public offices such as Ministry of AI (UAE), and Office of AI and AI Council (UK) while China and Japan have allowed existing ministries to take up AI implementation in their sectoral areas. Not just national governments, but even local city governments have become increasingly aware of the importance and potential of AI and have committed public investments.” What form can a structure like this take? Can there be a national body that brings everyone together? Will it be a Ministry of AI? India is yet to clarify its thoughts on this. What is clear is that India will need a body, perhaps not a ministry in the way we know it now. What is required is a coordinating and catalysing body that can guide, shape and enable the use of AI. Some work has already begun with global organisations like the World Economic Forum (WEF) which is trying to get multiple stakeholders to grasp the importance of AI and related technologies. The Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) is a global hub created by WEF to improve the adoption of new technologies in a sustainable, responsible and collaborative manner, and to minimise their negative effects in the society. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the C4IR in October. Mumbai will host the centre for India. Other centres are in San Francisco, Tokyo and Beijing. The over 45 global corporate partners and members include Reliance Industries, Salesforce, Wipro, ABB and SAP. For India, the C4IR has chosen to support and guide the usage of drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain. The private sector is already using technologies but its growth can be impeded if the government policies don’t keep pace. C4IR is working with NITI Aayog on expanding access to data to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence in sectors such as healthcare, education, smart cities & infrastructure, and smart mobility and transportation. The Centre will support the creation of a National Data Marketplace for India through which available data across these different sectors can be collected and integrated for targeted decision making and analyses using artificial intelligence. In each of these sectors, the information about various dimensions is fragmented across various bodies that capture and store the data. There is virtually no protocol or framework where this data can be annotated, pooled and analysed. C4IR will help bring all relevant stakeholders together to create governance frameworks, systems and processes that will allow government bodies, private sector and individuals to pool such data and be incentivised for their contribution. For example, in the healthcare sector information about diseases, prevention efforts and clinical trials are distributed across various agencies like private hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and government clinics. For smart data analysis, all healthcare data should be created, curated and stored under a common protocol. Collaborative structures like these have the potential of transforming the way government and private sector collaborate. Technology can bring a strong bond of trust which will be essential for pooling information and applying it in productive ways. Though AI by itself is an important tool, the changes it will trigger will be much deeper and beneficial for an emerging economy like India. (This article was originally published on DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

India’s progress on Artificial Intelligence route

Uber is now working towards a way to determine if a customer <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/uber-may-use-artificial-intelligence-to-detect-if-a-customer-is-drunk-144016">booking a ride is drunk or not</a>. A patent application filed by the company this week outlines the use of artificial intelligence to identify the current state of a customer.&nbsp;

The system identifies how you would typically use the Uber app so that it can determine unusual behaviour.&nbsp;

If the customer seems to appear intoxicated, the ridesharing app could deny rides to them or may match them with other drivers who have the right training to deal with such a situation.&nbsp;

Uber may even monitor drivers who pick up inebriated passengers as instances of sexual assault where passengers were found to be drunk are on the rise globally. &nbsp;

Is Uber indicating drunk driving?

The success rate of such a technology seems unclear as of now. The use of this technology and the consequent results are put to question since Uber has the authority to deny the ride to the drunk customer. Uber presents itself as an alternative to drunk driving but is seeking technology that would enable drivers to ignore such passengers - who may not have any other means to get home.&nbsp;

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 individuals in the United States die every day in drunk driving accidents. This means someone dies every 51 minutes because someone is driving under the influence of alcohol.&nbsp;

The sole purpose of booking a cab is to get you home when you are not in the condition to drive yourself - it could be because of alcohol consumption or it could be because you are tired etc. Regardless, if Uber is given the authority to deny a ride to a person in need what will they do? If someone is wasted, are they running a risk of potential danger to life?

Customer information abuse

There could also be a possible risk of assaults involved. Uber, in the past, has been subject to sexual assault allegations whose drivers have taken advantage of drunk passengers and, now, the fact that drivers will have information about the state of their customers perhaps may put their safety into question. As per reports, at least 103 Uber drivers in the US have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing passengers in the last four years, with many of the police reports noting that the passengers were inebriated or had been drinking before getting into the car.

The ridesharing company, in the public eye, got their act together after the resignation of the scandal-ridden co-founder Travis Kalanick and the appointment of Dara Khosrowshahi as CEO last year. However, there has been some dreary incidents regarding customer data. &nbsp;

Uber’s notorious “God View” tool, for example, which showed the location of users who had requested a car, was abused by employees to track the location of their exes as well as monitor celebrities and politicians, according to an October 2016 court verdict by Uber’s former forensic investigator.

There is no confirmation that Uber’s patent application is anything other than a plan in process at the moment. There have been no comments by the company regarding the same.&nbsp;

A system like this could be terribly misused, violate privacy and could be a serious threat to the people. This is still at a nascent stage, but it must be understood that even though the concept behind this idea could be to prevent the drivers to go through the odious situation of dropping back drunk passengers, it could seriously pan out in the opposite direction for the them as well as the company and pose some grave backlash.&nbsp;

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Uber is now going to use artificial intelligence to detect whether a passenger is too drunk to ride a cab or not

Uber is now working towards a way to determine if a customer booking a ride is drunk or not. A patent application filed by the company this week outlines the use of artificial intelligence to identify the current state of a customer. The system identifies how you would typically use the Uber app so that it can determine unusual behaviour. If the customer seems to appear intoxicated, the ridesharing app could deny rides to them or may match them with other drivers who have the right training to deal with such a situation. Uber may even monitor drivers who pick up inebriated passengers as instances of sexual assault where passengers were found to be drunk are on the rise globally. Is Uber indicating drunk driving? The success rate of such a technology seems unclear as of now. The use of this technology and the consequent results are put to question since Uber has the authority to deny the ride to the drunk customer. Uber presents itself as an alternative to drunk driving but is seeking technology that would enable drivers to ignore such passengers - who may not have any other means to get home. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 individuals in the United States die every day in drunk driving accidents. This means someone dies every 51 minutes because someone is driving under the influence of alcohol. The sole purpose of booking a cab is to get you home when you are not in the condition to drive yourself - it could be because of alcohol consumption or it could be because you are tired etc. Regardless, if Uber is given the authority to deny a ride to a person in need what will they do? If someone is wasted, are they running a risk of potential danger to life? Customer information abuse There could also be a possible risk of assaults involved. Uber, in the past, has been subject to sexual assault allegations whose drivers have taken advantage of drunk passengers and, now, the fact that drivers will have information about the state of their customers perhaps may put their safety into question. As per reports, at least 103 Uber drivers in the US have been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing passengers in the last four years, with many of the police reports noting that the passengers were inebriated or had been drinking before getting into the car. The ridesharing company, in the public eye, got their act together after the resignation of the scandal-ridden co-founder Travis Kalanick and the appointment of Dara Khosrowshahi as CEO last year. However, there has been some dreary incidents regarding customer data. Uber’s notorious “God View” tool, for example, which showed the location of users who had requested a car, was abused by employees to track the location of their exes as well as monitor celebrities and politicians, according to an October 2016 court verdict by Uber’s former forensic investigator. There is no confirmation that Uber’s patent application is anything other than a plan in process at the moment. There have been no comments by the company regarding the same. A system like this could be terribly misused, violate privacy and could be a serious threat to the people. This is still at a nascent stage, but it must be understood that even though the concept behind this idea could be to prevent the drivers to go through the odious situation of dropping back drunk passengers, it could seriously pan out in the opposite direction for the them as well as the company and pose some grave backlash. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Opinion: Uber's latest AI bid could lead to some serious consequences

Uber is now going to use artificial intelligence to detect whether a passenger is too drunk to ride a cab or not. The company has now applied for a patent for a system which will be able to "predict a users state,"&nbsp;reports said.

Uber has been curious about its drunk users, and are applying for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a system that would use machine learning to determine how intoxicated a passenger might be.

While the patent limits itself to a dry discussion of ‘user state,’ it seems that what Uber is really interested in is detecting the difference between users of sound mind and users who are under the influence.

The system identifies how you would typically use the Uber app so that it can determine unusual behaviour.&nbsp;

The system relies on an algorithm to weigh a variety of factors, including typos, how precisely a user clicks on links and buttons, walking speed, and how long it takes to request a ride. The time of day, and where a ride is requested may also be considered, reports say. So say, for example, you are booking a ride on a Saturday night at 1 am&nbsp;and it takes you over 10-15 minutes, Uber will be able to detect the unusual behaviour.&nbsp;

If the customer seems to appear intoxicated, the ridesharing app could deny rides to them or may match them with other drivers who have the right training to deal with such a situation.&nbsp;

Uber may even monitor drivers who pick up inebriated passengers as instances of sexual assault where passengers were found to be drunk are on the rise globally.&nbsp;

The success rate of such a technology seems unclear as of now.

The company has been curious about its drunk users, applying for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a system that would use machine learning to determine how intoxicated a passenger will be

Uber is now going to use artificial intelligence to detect whether a passenger is too drunk to ride a cab or not. The company has now applied for a patent for a system which will be able to "predict a users state," reports said. Uber has been curious about its drunk users, and are applying for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a system that would use machine learning to determine how intoxicated a passenger might be. While the patent limits itself to a dry discussion of ‘user state,’ it seems that what Uber is really interested in is detecting the difference between users of sound mind and users who are under the influence. The system identifies how you would typically use the Uber app so that it can determine unusual behaviour. The system relies on an algorithm to weigh a variety of factors, including typos, how precisely a user clicks on links and buttons, walking speed, and how long it takes to request a ride. The time of day, and where a ride is requested may also be considered, reports say. So say, for example, you are booking a ride on a Saturday night at 1 am and it takes you over 10-15 minutes, Uber will be able to detect the unusual behaviour. If the customer seems to appear intoxicated, the ridesharing app could deny rides to them or may match them with other drivers who have the right training to deal with such a situation. Uber may even monitor drivers who pick up inebriated passengers as instances of sexual assault where passengers were found to be drunk are on the rise globally. The success rate of such a technology seems unclear as of now.

Uber may use artificial intelligence to detect if a customer is drunk

In his blog post on Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the Internet giant will not "design or deploy" Artificial Intelligence(AI) in "weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people".

Pichai, however, clarified that the company will continue to work with the US government&nbsp;and the military in many areas.&nbsp;

Pichai wrote,"we will not design or deploy AI"&nbsp;in the following application areas:

"Technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm. &nbsp;Where there is a material risk of harm...weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people....weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people...technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms...technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights".

He further specified that Artificial Intelligence&nbsp;will be used in cybersecurity, training, military recruitment and the veterans’ healthcare, and search and rescue.&nbsp;

Google's decision to retreat from a deal with the US military came in response to the severe backlash it received&nbsp;from its employees against the company's collaboration with the US military.

According to a report, the partnership of Google with the US Department of Defense had jolted the internet company.

Thousands of workers had filed a petition asking Google to stay out of "the business of war". Some even quit the company to protest against the collaboration with the military.

The backlash forced the Internet titan not to continue with the contract aimed at helping the US military analyse aerial drone imagery.

After the protest by the workers, Google has decided not to renew the "Maven" AI project with the US Defence Department after it expires in 2019. 
&nbsp;

After the protest by the workers, Google has decided not to renew the 'Maven' AI project with the US Defence Department after it expires in 2019

In his blog post on Thursday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the Internet giant will not "design or deploy" Artificial Intelligence(AI) in "weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people". Pichai, however, clarified that the company will continue to work with the US government and the military in many areas. Pichai wrote,"we will not design or deploy AI" in the following application areas: "Technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm. Where there is a material risk of harm...weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people....weapons or other technologies whose principal purpose or implementation is to cause or directly facilitate injury to people...technologies that gather or use information for surveillance violating internationally accepted norms...technologies whose purpose contravenes widely accepted principles of international law and human rights". He further specified that Artificial Intelligence will be used in cybersecurity, training, military recruitment and the veterans’ healthcare, and search and rescue. Google's decision to retreat from a deal with the US military came in response to the severe backlash it received from its employees against the company's collaboration with the US military. According to a report, the partnership of Google with the US Department of Defense had jolted the internet company. Thousands of workers had filed a petition asking Google to stay out of "the business of war". Some even quit the company to protest against the collaboration with the military. The backlash forced the Internet titan not to continue with the contract aimed at helping the US military analyse aerial drone imagery. After the protest by the workers, Google has decided not to renew the "Maven" AI project with the US Defence Department after it expires in 2019.

Sundar Pichai announces Google's retreat from US military's AI weapon's project

Google workers have got word that the internet titan will retreat from a deal to help the US military use artificial intelligence to analyze drone video following an outcry from staff, according to reports. The collaboration with the US Department of Defense was said to have sparked rebellion inside the California-based company. An internal petition calling for Google to stay out of "the business of war" garnered thousands of signatures, and some workers reportedly quit to protest a collaboration with the military.

The New York Times and tech news website Gizmodo cited unnamed sources as saying that a Google's cloud team executive announced told employees on Friday that the company would not seek to renew the controversial contract after it expires next year. The contract was reported to be worth less than $10 million to Google but was thought to have potential to lead to more lucrative technology collaborations with the military.

Google did not respond to a request for comment. Google has remained mum about Project Maven, which reportedly uses machine learning and engineering talent to distinguish people and objects in drone videos for the Defense Department. "We believe that Google should not be in the business of war," the employee petition reads, according to copies posted online. "Therefore, we ask that Project Maven be cancelled and that Google draft, publicize and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology."

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an internet rights group and the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) were among those who have weighed in with support.

"As military commanders come to see the object recognition algorithms as reliable, it will be tempting to attenuate or even remove human review and oversight for these systems," ICRAC said in an open letter.

"We are then just a short step away from authorizing autonomous drones to kill automatically, without human supervision or meaningful human control." Google has gone on the record saying that its work to improve machines' ability to recognize objects is not for offensive uses. 
The EFF and others stressed the need for moral and ethical frameworks regarding the use of artificial intelligence in weaponry.

"The use of AI in weapons systems is a crucially important topic and one that deserves an international public discussion and likely some international agreements to ensure global safety," the EFF said in a blog post on the topic.&nbsp

Google workers have got word that the internet titan will retreat from a deal to help the US military use artificial intelligence to analyze drone video following an outcry from staff, according to reports

Google workers have got word that the internet titan will retreat from a deal to help the US military use artificial intelligence to analyze drone video following an outcry from staff, according to reports. The collaboration with the US Department of Defense was said to have sparked rebellion inside the California-based company. An internal petition calling for Google to stay out of "the business of war" garnered thousands of signatures, and some workers reportedly quit to protest a collaboration with the military. The New York Times and tech news website Gizmodo cited unnamed sources as saying that a Google's cloud team executive announced told employees on Friday that the company would not seek to renew the controversial contract after it expires next year. The contract was reported to be worth less than $10 million to Google but was thought to have potential to lead to more lucrative technology collaborations with the military. Google did not respond to a request for comment. Google has remained mum about Project Maven, which reportedly uses machine learning and engineering talent to distinguish people and objects in drone videos for the Defense Department. "We believe that Google should not be in the business of war," the employee petition reads, according to copies posted online. "Therefore, we ask that Project Maven be cancelled and that Google draft, publicize and enforce a clear policy stating that neither Google nor its contractors will ever build warfare technology." The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an internet rights group and the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) were among those who have weighed in with support. "As military commanders come to see the object recognition algorithms as reliable, it will be tempting to attenuate or even remove human review and oversight for these systems," ICRAC said in an open letter. "We are then just a short step away from authorizing autonomous drones to kill automatically, without human supervision or meaningful human control." Google has gone on the record saying that its work to improve machines' ability to recognize objects is not for offensive uses. The EFF and others stressed the need for moral and ethical frameworks regarding the use of artificial intelligence in weaponry. "The use of AI in weapons systems is a crucially important topic and one that deserves an international public discussion and likely some international agreements to ensure global safety," the EFF said in a blog post on the topic.

Google retreating from military AI project: Reports

Ai, News on Ai, stories on Ai, articles on Ai, Ai stories at Wion, Ai news, Ai latest news