<a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/rahul-gandhi-leaves-for-norway-to-skip-rjds-bjp-bhagao-desh-bachao-rally-19518">Rahul Gandhi, who has just returned from Norway</a> is now heading for&nbsp;another foreign visit.&nbsp;

This time the Congress vice-president will be visiting Silicon Valley in the United States to groom his Artificial Intelligence skills.&nbsp;

Party sources say&nbsp;Rahul Gandhi wants India to excel in Artificial Intelligence and added that he is going to the US to &quot;expand his thoughts about artificial intelligence&quot;.&nbsp;

Artificial Intelligence, the science of creating intelligent machines that think like human brains, is still in its nascent&nbsp;phase in India. However many other countries including China have already invested in the field.&nbsp;

The Chinese government had long ago&nbsp;realised the importance of Artificial Intelligence for boosting its economy. The country has already devised plans to emerge as the world&#39;s premier AI innovation hub by 2030.&nbsp;

Despite the<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/second-academic-journal-pressed-to-censor-china-content-19309"> strict censorship in China</a>, <a href="http://www.wionews.com/photos/game-of-tech-apple-google-facebook-who-will-win-392">Google</a> is striving to utilise the intelligent technology resource and engineering talent&nbsp;from China. The US tech giant is looking for AI experts from the country.

The growth of artificial intelligence in China has moved Google to establish its own AI research team in the country, which it&nbsp;indicated during its&nbsp;May AI summit held near Shanghai.&nbsp;

Google&#39;s search engine has been <a href="http://www.wionews.com/science-tech/apple-abstains-its-chinese-users-from-accessing-vpn-18430">blocked in China</a> since 2010, however, the company is making efforts to maintain a strong foot hold in the country.&nbsp;

Google recently entered into a partnership with the local government on the AI summit in the town of Wuzhen.

The US giant has also relaunched Google Translate mobile app in Chinese language. &nbsp;Recently Google initiated building artificial&nbsp;intelligence team in the country.

Recently Google has initiated for building artificial team in the country. As part of its AI research It is looking for expert qualified human resources for its machine learning programme

Rahul Gandhi, who has just returned from Norway is now heading for another foreign visit. This time the Congress vice-president will be visiting Silicon Valley in the United States to groom his Artificial Intelligence skills. Party sources say Rahul Gandhi wants India to excel in Artificial Intelligence and added that he is going to the US to "expand his thoughts about artificial intelligence". Artificial Intelligence, the science of creating intelligent machines that think like human brains, is still in its nascent phase in India. However many other countries including China have already invested in the field. The Chinese government had long ago realised the importance of Artificial Intelligence for boosting its economy. The country has already devised plans to emerge as the world's premier AI innovation hub by 2030. Despite the strict censorship in China, Google is striving to utilise the intelligent technology resource and engineering talent from China. The US tech giant is looking for AI experts from the country. The growth of artificial intelligence in China has moved Google to establish its own AI research team in the country, which it indicated during its May AI summit held near Shanghai. Google's search engine has been blocked in China since 2010, however, the company is making efforts to maintain a strong foot hold in the country. Google recently entered into a partnership with the local government on the AI summit in the town of Wuzhen. The US giant has also relaunched Google Translate mobile app in Chinese language. Recently Google initiated building artificial intelligence team in the country.

Rahul Gandhi to visit Silicon Valley to study Artificial Intelligence

Visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg were trading jabs on social media over artificial intelligence this week in a debate that has turned personal between the two technology luminaries.

Musk, the founder of Tesla, SpaceX and other ventures, on Tuesday claimed Zuckerberg&#39;s knowledge of artificial intelligence was &quot;limited,&quot; two days after the Facebook founder described &quot;naysayers&quot; as &quot;irresponsible.&quot;

The debate underscored the rift in the tech community on whether new technologies capable of creating intelligent machines like robots and self-driving cars would be a blessing or a curse for humanity.

Musk has long warned of the potential for machines to get so smart that humans become tantamount to pets, while Zuckerberg has touted the potential for artificial intelligence to improve lives.

Facebook is among the Silicon Valley&#39;s largest investors in artificial intelligence.

While live streaming on the leading social network from his yard on Sunday, Zuckerberg touched on the topic while answering questions from viewers.

&quot;With AI especially, I am really optimistic,&quot; Zuckerberg said.

&quot;And I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios -- &nbsp;I just, I don&#39;t understand it. It&#39;s really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible.&quot;

When asked about Zuckerberg&#39;s comment early Tuesday during an exchange on Twitter, Musk wrote that he has discussed the topic with Zuckerberg and that &quot;his understanding of the subject is limited.&quot;

Musk more than a year ago took part in creating a nonprofit research company devoted to developing artificial intelligence that will help people and not hurt them.

People pets

&quot;If we create some digital super-intelligence that exceeds us in every way by a lot, it is very important that it be benign,&quot; Musk said a while back at a conference in California.

He reasoned that even a benign situation with ultra-intelligent AI would put people so far beneath the machine they would be &quot;like a house cat.&quot;

&quot;I don&#39;t love the idea of being a house cat,&quot; Musk said, envisioning the creation of neural lacing that magnifies people&#39;s brain power by linking them directly to computing capabilities.

At a gathering of US governors this month, Musk contended that artificial intelligence &nbsp;is a terrifying problem and a threat to human civilization.

He argued for the technology to be regulated sooner rather than later for risk of safeguards being put in place too late.

Smart machines could start wars or kill people in streets, Musk has warned.

Musk is also behind a startup devoted to neural lace that would enable brains to interface directly with computers.

Such a &quot;Neuralink&quot; would have the potential to level the playing field a bit by enabling people to directly access processing power and perhaps even download memories for storage.

Zuckerberg last year created his own personal &quot;butler&quot; imbued with artificial intelligence, named Jarvis, which plays with his family.

This comes two days after the Facebook founder described 'naysayers' as 'irresponsible'

Visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg were trading jabs on social media over artificial intelligence this week in a debate that has turned personal between the two technology luminaries. Musk, the founder of Tesla, SpaceX and other ventures, on Tuesday claimed Zuckerberg's knowledge of artificial intelligence was "limited," two days after the Facebook founder described "naysayers" as "irresponsible." The debate underscored the rift in the tech community on whether new technologies capable of creating intelligent machines like robots and self-driving cars would be a blessing or a curse for humanity. Musk has long warned of the potential for machines to get so smart that humans become tantamount to pets, while Zuckerberg has touted the potential for artificial intelligence to improve lives. Facebook is among the Silicon Valley's largest investors in artificial intelligence. While live streaming on the leading social network from his yard on Sunday, Zuckerberg touched on the topic while answering questions from viewers. "With AI especially, I am really optimistic," Zuckerberg said. "And I think people who are naysayers and try to drum up these doomsday scenarios -- I just, I don't understand it. It's really negative and in some ways I actually think it is pretty irresponsible." When asked about Zuckerberg's comment early Tuesday during an exchange on Twitter, Musk wrote that he has discussed the topic with Zuckerberg and that "his understanding of the subject is limited." Musk more than a year ago took part in creating a nonprofit research company devoted to developing artificial intelligence that will help people and not hurt them. People pets "If we create some digital super-intelligence that exceeds us in every way by a lot, it is very important that it be benign," Musk said a while back at a conference in California. He reasoned that even a benign situation with ultra-intelligent AI would put people so far beneath the machine they would be "like a house cat." "I don't love the idea of being a house cat," Musk said, envisioning the creation of neural lacing that magnifies people's brain power by linking them directly to computing capabilities. At a gathering of US governors this month, Musk contended that artificial intelligence is a terrifying problem and a threat to human civilization. He argued for the technology to be regulated sooner rather than later for risk of safeguards being put in place too late. Smart machines could start wars or kill people in streets, Musk has warned. Musk is also behind a startup devoted to neural lace that would enable brains to interface directly with computers. Such a "Neuralink" would have the potential to level the playing field a bit by enabling people to directly access processing power and perhaps even download memories for storage. Zuckerberg last year created his own personal "butler" imbued with artificial intelligence, named Jarvis, which plays with his family.

Mark Zuckeberg's knowledge of artificial intelligence 'limited': Elon Musk

A total of 34 artificial intelligence (AI) startups were acquired in the first quarter of this year, more than twice the amount of activity in the year-ago quarter, according to the research firm CB Insights.

Tech giants seeking to reinforce their leads in artificial intelligence or make up for lost ground have been the most aggressive buyers. Alphabet&#39;s Google has acquired 11 AI startups since 2012, the most of any firm, followed by Apple, Facebook and Intel, respectively, according to CB Insights.

The companies declined to comment on their acquisition strategies. A spokesman for Apple did confirm the company&#39;s recent purchase of Lattice Data, a startup that specialises in working with unstructured data.

The first quarter also saw one of the largest deals to date as Ford Motor invested $1 billion in Argo AI, founded by former executives on self-driving teams at Google and Uber.

Startups are looking to go deep on applications of artificial intelligence to specific fields, such as health and retail, industry observers say, rather than compete directly with established companies.

&ldquo;What you will see is very big players will build platform services, and startup communities will migrate more to applied intelligent apps,&rdquo; said Matt McIlwain, managing director of Madrona Venture Group.

Healthcare startup Forward, for example, is using artificial intelligence to crunch data that can inform doctors&rsquo; recommendations.

&ldquo;For people who really want to focus on core AI problems, it makes a lot of sense to be in bigger companies,&rdquo; said Forward Chief Executive Officer Adrian Aoun, who previously worked at Google. &ldquo;But for folks who really want to prove a new field, a new area, it makes more sense to be separate.&rdquo;

Artificial intelligence companies that do remain independent field a steady stream of suitors: Matthew Zeiler, chief executive of Clarifai, which specialises in image and video recognition, said he has been approached about a dozen times by prospective acquirers since starting the company in late 2013.

Clarifai&rsquo;s pitch to customers such as consumer goods company Unilever and hotel search firm Trivago is bolstered by its narrow focus on artificial intelligence.

&ldquo;(Google) literally competes with almost every company on the planet,&rdquo; Zeiler said. &ldquo;Are you going to trust them with being your partner for AI?&rdquo;

Tech giants have been locked in a bidding war for academics specialising in artificial intelligence. Startups rarely have the capital to compete, but a company with a specialized mission can win over recruits, said Vic Gundotra, chief executive of AliveCor, which makes an AI-driven portable heart monitor.

&ldquo;They say, &lsquo;I want to come here and work on a project that might save my mother&rsquo;s life,&rsquo;&rdquo; Gundotra said.

(Reuters)

Tech giants are seeking to reinforce their leads in artificial intelligence

A total of 34 artificial intelligence (AI) startups were acquired in the first quarter of this year, more than twice the amount of activity in the year-ago quarter, according to the research firm CB Insights. Tech giants seeking to reinforce their leads in artificial intelligence or make up for lost ground have been the most aggressive buyers. Alphabet's Google has acquired 11 AI startups since 2012, the most of any firm, followed by Apple, Facebook and Intel, respectively, according to CB Insights. The companies declined to comment on their acquisition strategies. A spokesman for Apple did confirm the company's recent purchase of Lattice Data, a startup that specialises in working with unstructured data. The first quarter also saw one of the largest deals to date as Ford Motor invested $1 billion in Argo AI, founded by former executives on self-driving teams at Google and Uber. Startups are looking to go deep on applications of artificial intelligence to specific fields, such as health and retail, industry observers say, rather than compete directly with established companies. “What you will see is very big players will build platform services, and startup communities will migrate more to applied intelligent apps,” said Matt McIlwain, managing director of Madrona Venture Group. Healthcare startup Forward, for example, is using artificial intelligence to crunch data that can inform doctors’ recommendations. “For people who really want to focus on core AI problems, it makes a lot of sense to be in bigger companies,” said Forward Chief Executive Officer Adrian Aoun, who previously worked at Google. “But for folks who really want to prove a new field, a new area, it makes more sense to be separate.” Artificial intelligence companies that do remain independent field a steady stream of suitors: Matthew Zeiler, chief executive of Clarifai, which specialises in image and video recognition, said he has been approached about a dozen times by prospective acquirers since starting the company in late 2013. Clarifai’s pitch to customers such as consumer goods company Unilever and hotel search firm Trivago is bolstered by its narrow focus on artificial intelligence. “(Google) literally competes with almost every company on the planet,” Zeiler said. “Are you going to trust them with being your partner for AI?” Tech giants have been locked in a bidding war for academics specialising in artificial intelligence. Startups rarely have the capital to compete, but a company with a specialized mission can win over recruits, said Vic Gundotra, chief executive of AliveCor, which makes an AI-driven portable heart monitor. “They say, ‘I want to come here and work on a project that might save my mother’s life,’” Gundotra said. (Reuters)

Acquisitions accelerate as tech giants seek to build AI smarts

Google&#39;s artificial intelligence (AI) program, AlphaGo, beat Chinese Go master Ke Jie for a second time on Thursday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in a best of three series meant to test the limits of computers in taking on humans at complex tasks.

Go is a highly complex board game dating back thousands of years that involves two contestants placing black and white stones on a grid. It is popular in Asian countries and most top-ranked players hail from China, Japan and South Korea.

Ke, the 19-year-old world no. 1, was visibly frustrated, tugging his hair and laying his head on the table during the final moments of the second match against AlphaGo on Thursday.

&quot;Last year, I think the way AlphaGo played was pretty close to human beings, but today I think he plays like the God of Go,&quot; Ke said after the game. Following his defeat in the first match of the series on Tuesday, Ke said he would not compete against AI again due to its rapid improvement.

The victory over the world&#39;s top player - which many thought would take decades to achieve - comes after the AI program from Google&#39;s DeepMind unit bested a South Korean Go professional in a similar exhibition match last year.

This week&#39;s event, held in the eastern river town of Wuzhen and attended by local officials and Google parent Alphabet&#39;s top brass, is a feather in the cap for the US&nbsp;search giant as it woos Beijing for better market access.

Since AlphaGo&#39;s defeat of Lee Sedol just over a year ago, AI has shot up the agenda for China&#39;s top policy makers, making its first appearance this year in Premier Li Keqiang&#39;s annual work report, a document laying out China&#39;s top policy priorities.

Market boost

For Google, AlphaGo&#39;s triumph in China also offers a marketing boost in a country where its main services have long been blocked, and local rivals to its search engine, email and video sites have thrived since it largely exited China in 2010.

Despite Mandarin and English livestreams of the match being broadcast on Youtube, which is blocked in China, the match was widely reported via local news outlets and social media.

Ke, who has some 3.5 million followers on Twitter-like service Weibo, shared details of the Google event and his trip to Wuzhen, which is also the seat of the country&#39;s top annual government internet conference.

&quot;Ke Jie pushed AlphaGo right to the limit,&quot; tweeted DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis following the match. Twitter Inc is also blocked in China.

(Reuters)

Many thought it would take decades for an AI to achieve this

Google's artificial intelligence (AI) program, AlphaGo, beat Chinese Go master Ke Jie for a second time on Thursday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in a best of three series meant to test the limits of computers in taking on humans at complex tasks. Go is a highly complex board game dating back thousands of years that involves two contestants placing black and white stones on a grid. It is popular in Asian countries and most top-ranked players hail from China, Japan and South Korea. Ke, the 19-year-old world no. 1, was visibly frustrated, tugging his hair and laying his head on the table during the final moments of the second match against AlphaGo on Thursday. "Last year, I think the way AlphaGo played was pretty close to human beings, but today I think he plays like the God of Go," Ke said after the game. Following his defeat in the first match of the series on Tuesday, Ke said he would not compete against AI again due to its rapid improvement. The victory over the world's top player - which many thought would take decades to achieve - comes after the AI program from Google's DeepMind unit bested a South Korean Go professional in a similar exhibition match last year. This week's event, held in the eastern river town of Wuzhen and attended by local officials and Google parent Alphabet's top brass, is a feather in the cap for the US search giant as it woos Beijing for better market access. Since AlphaGo's defeat of Lee Sedol just over a year ago, AI has shot up the agenda for China's top policy makers, making its first appearance this year in Premier Li Keqiang's annual work report, a document laying out China's top policy priorities. Market boost For Google, AlphaGo's triumph in China also offers a marketing boost in a country where its main services have long been blocked, and local rivals to its search engine, email and video sites have thrived since it largely exited China in 2010. Despite Mandarin and English livestreams of the match being broadcast on Youtube, which is blocked in China, the match was widely reported via local news outlets and social media. Ke, who has some 3.5 million followers on Twitter-like service Weibo, shared details of the Google event and his trip to Wuzhen, which is also the seat of the country's top annual government internet conference. "Ke Jie pushed AlphaGo right to the limit," tweeted DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis following the match. Twitter Inc is also blocked in China. (Reuters)

Google's AlphaGo clinches series win over Chinese Go master

Google machine vision capabilities are being used to enable services such as recognizing who is in pictures and what they are doing as well as translate languages in signs viewed through smartphone cameras, demonstrations showed.

Advanced &quot;Lens&quot; features are being added first to the Google Photo application, which is available free.

Aiming a smartphone camera at a flower will prompt it to be identified; while aiming it at a complex password and hotspot name on a router will let it automatically log into the wireless connection.

Google also unveiled a second-generation computer chip it designed specifically to improve cloud computing capabilities in data centers.

&quot;We want Google Cloud to be the best cloud for machine learning,&quot; Pichai said.

He described the internet giant&#39;s core search service and its Google Assistant as the company&#39;s most important AI products.

Google Assistant, introduced last year, is now on more than 100 million devices, according to the team&#39;s vice president of engineering, Scott Huffman.

&quot;We are really starting to crack the hard computer challenge of conversationality,&quot; Huffman said. &quot;Soon, with Google Lens, your assistant will be able to have a conversation about what you see.&quot;

Google used the conference to announce a software kit that will let developers build Assistant capabilities into robots, applications, and other computerized creations.

Google also announced enhancements to its Home personal assistant, adding abilities such as hands free telephone calls and acting as speakers for wireless audio.

(AFP)

Aiming a smartphone camera at a flower will prompt it to be identified while it can automatically log into a wireless connection if aimed at password and hotspot name on a router

Google machine vision capabilities are being used to enable services such as recognizing who is in pictures and what they are doing as well as translate languages in signs viewed through smartphone cameras, demonstrations showed. Advanced "Lens" features are being added first to the Google Photo application, which is available free. Aiming a smartphone camera at a flower will prompt it to be identified; while aiming it at a complex password and hotspot name on a router will let it automatically log into the wireless connection. Google also unveiled a second-generation computer chip it designed specifically to improve cloud computing capabilities in data centers. "We want Google Cloud to be the best cloud for machine learning," Pichai said. He described the internet giant's core search service and its Google Assistant as the company's most important AI products. Google Assistant, introduced last year, is now on more than 100 million devices, according to the team's vice president of engineering, Scott Huffman. "We are really starting to crack the hard computer challenge of conversationality," Huffman said. "Soon, with Google Lens, your assistant will be able to have a conversation about what you see." Google used the conference to announce a software kit that will let developers build Assistant capabilities into robots, applications, and other computerized creations. Google also announced enhancements to its Home personal assistant, adding abilities such as hands free telephone calls and acting as speakers for wireless audio. (AFP)

Google Lens announced with machine vision capabilities

Nasdaq on Tuesday launched a service to help fund managers and quantitative traders better use data from social media, central bank announcements, retail sentiment and other sources to improve trading profits.

The Nasdaq Analytics Hub will use machine intelligence, a subset of artificial intelligence, to derive signals from end-of-day data that market participants can use to enhance investing strategies, the exchange operator said.

The data from Nasdaq and third party providers are vigorously vetted with the help of financial technology startup Lucena Research, Mike O&#39;Rourke, global head of machine intelligence and data services at Nasdaq, said in an interview.

&quot;We back test the data using a number of strategies and then we use machine intelligence to add value-added analytics to the data that allows firms to make it more actionable.&quot;

The exchange operator said it would add new data sets and sources, as well as new insights and analytics, on a continual basis.

(Reuters)

The data from Nasdaq and third party providers are vigorously vetted with the help of financial technology startup Lucena Research

Nasdaq on Tuesday launched a service to help fund managers and quantitative traders better use data from social media, central bank announcements, retail sentiment and other sources to improve trading profits. The Nasdaq Analytics Hub will use machine intelligence, a subset of artificial intelligence, to derive signals from end-of-day data that market participants can use to enhance investing strategies, the exchange operator said. The data from Nasdaq and third party providers are vigorously vetted with the help of financial technology startup Lucena Research, Mike O'Rourke, global head of machine intelligence and data services at Nasdaq, said in an interview. "We back test the data using a number of strategies and then we use machine intelligence to add value-added analytics to the data that allows firms to make it more actionable." The exchange operator said it would add new data sets and sources, as well as new insights and analytics, on a continual basis. (Reuters)

Nasdaq uses machine intelligence to improve trading profits

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled new tools intended to democratise artificial intelligence (AI) by enabling machine smarts to be built into software from smartphone games to factory floors.

The company is improving programs with artificial intelligence that could tap into services in the internet &quot;cloud&quot; and&nbsp;take advantage of computing power in nearby machines. This was part of a vision unveiled as the US technology titan&#39;s annual Build Conference opened recently.

&quot;We are infusing AI&nbsp;into every product and service we offer,&quot; said Microsoft executive vice president of artificial intelligence and research, Harry Shum.

He added, &quot;We&#39;ve been creating the building blocks for the current wave of AI breakthroughs for more than two decades.&quot;

Microsoft research has gone deep into areas such as machine learning, speech recognition, and enabling machines to recognise what they &quot;see.&quot;

Now, we&#39;re in the unique position of being able to use those decades of research breakthroughs,&quot; Shum said.

Microsoft rivals including Amazon, Apple, Google and IBM have all been aggressively pursuing the promise and potential of artificial intelligence.

Amazon on Tuesday unveiled the latest member of its family of devices powered by its Alexa digital assistant, with a touchscreen.

Also this week, Samsung-owned Harman Kardon announced the release of its new Invoke speaker powered by Microsoft&#39;s digital assistant Cortana and integrating Skype for making calls using the device.

Meanwhile, Google has been ramping up capabilities of its Home digital assistant.

Artificial intelligence is getting a foothold in people&#39;s homes, with personal assistants answering questions and controlling connected devices such as appliances or light bulbs.

Digital assistants already boasts of features such as reminding people of appointments entered in their&nbsp;calendars and chiming in with advice to set out early if traffic is challenging.

Microsoft&#39;s focus&nbsp;on Wednesday was on businesses and software developers, whether&nbsp;students building a fun app or a professional technology team.

&quot;Microsoft is trying to use AI for businesses to solve business problems and app developers to make applications better,&quot; said Moor Insights and Strategy principal analyst, Patrick Moorhead.

&quot;Which is different from Amazon, Facebook, and Google whose primary business model is to mine personal information using AI to sell you things or put ads in front of you.&quot;

Microsoft is taking a unique approach by letting developers customise gesture commands, voice recognition and more instead of making them conform to settings in &quot;off-the-shelf&quot; AI, according to the analyst.

(AFP)

The company is improving programs with artificial intelligence that could tap into services in the internet cloud

Microsoft on Wednesday unveiled new tools intended to democratise artificial intelligence (AI) by enabling machine smarts to be built into software from smartphone games to factory floors. The company is improving programs with artificial intelligence that could tap into services in the internet "cloud" and take advantage of computing power in nearby machines. This was part of a vision unveiled as the US technology titan's annual Build Conference opened recently. "We are infusing AI into every product and service we offer," said Microsoft executive vice president of artificial intelligence and research, Harry Shum. He added, "We've been creating the building blocks for the current wave of AI breakthroughs for more than two decades." Microsoft research has gone deep into areas such as machine learning, speech recognition, and enabling machines to recognise what they "see." Now, we're in the unique position of being able to use those decades of research breakthroughs," Shum said. Microsoft rivals including Amazon, Apple, Google and IBM have all been aggressively pursuing the promise and potential of artificial intelligence. Amazon on Tuesday unveiled the latest member of its family of devices powered by its Alexa digital assistant, with a touchscreen. Also this week, Samsung-owned Harman Kardon announced the release of its new Invoke speaker powered by Microsoft's digital assistant Cortana and integrating Skype for making calls using the device. Meanwhile, Google has been ramping up capabilities of its Home digital assistant. Artificial intelligence is getting a foothold in people's homes, with personal assistants answering questions and controlling connected devices such as appliances or light bulbs. Digital assistants already boasts of features such as reminding people of appointments entered in their calendars and chiming in with advice to set out early if traffic is challenging. Microsoft's focus on Wednesday was on businesses and software developers, whether students building a fun app or a professional technology team. "Microsoft is trying to use AI for businesses to solve business problems and app developers to make applications better," said Moor Insights and Strategy principal analyst, Patrick Moorhead. "Which is different from Amazon, Facebook, and Google whose primary business model is to mine personal information using AI to sell you things or put ads in front of you." Microsoft is taking a unique approach by letting developers customise gesture commands, voice recognition and more instead of making them conform to settings in "off-the-shelf" AI, according to the analyst. (AFP)

Microsoft aims to make artificial intelligence mainstream

This is the decade of automation, with machines making our work easier than before and in some cases, robots even replacing people at farms and manufacturing units. Pick any one industry and it is easy to imagine a world in which machines outrun humans. Martin Ford, author of the book &lsquo;Rise of the Robots&rsquo;, talks about a not-so-distant future when robots programmed using algorithms and advanced technology become more efficient than humans. Although data on job losses due to automation is still sketchy, the world that Ford foresees is still a possibility. It must also be noted that so far, most technology-driven agents are not fully autonomous and need human intervention.

<h3>The best examples of the kind are Roomba, which became famous for vacuuming the floor in no time, or Siri, which guides us through almost everything, even a heartache with its witty responses.</h3>

&nbsp;

Here are some jobs that robots can do, and for which, the world might not need humans:

<h2>Astronauts</h2>

NASA and General Motors have come together to make Robonaut 2. The machine will have an array of sensors and will be capable of handling small jobs like cleaning the space station and assisting humans in space. But there are talks of making it capable of venturing out in space to conduct scientific research.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pJVn7yLz4Lw" width="970"></iframe>

<h2>Babysitters</h2>

Recently, Aeon Co., a major Japanese retailer, introduced a four-foot-tall robot at a store to babysit children while the adults shop. There are, however, other models also, like the Hello Kitty robot which tells jokes, quizzes, and tracks kids using a radio-frequency identification chip.

<h2>Drivers</h2>

Several major technology companies have announced their interest in launching driverless cars that will be safe and effective at the same time. These are being developed with the aim of making driving easier and error free. Google has tested seven cars with human supervisors. The cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AeHtU6uOI1U" width="970"></iframe>

<h2>Lawyers and Paralegals</h2>

A lawyer would take much longer time than a robot to read through documents and review them. A machine can do all this in a fraction of that time and at a much lower cost. Most popular law firms feel that this is a boon for the industry as people have a tendency of tiring, while a machine can continue working for much, much longer.

<h2>Pharmacist</h2>

It is quite possible to imagine a robot as a pharmacist. Behind the counter, machines can analyse documents, fill out prescriptions and handle other such tasks. The UCSF Medical Center launched an automated, robotics-controlled pharmacy at two of its hospitals. Once they receive orders for medications, the robots pick, package and dispense pills without any error. So far, they have been successful in preparing 350,000 doses perfectly.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xr0vVc6JnW0" width="970"></iframe>

<h2>Reporters</h2>

Even reporters of today face a risk of losing their jobs to robots. There is a software developed by Northwestern University, which is being used by Fox Cable for baseball and softball coverage as it is cheaper and easier to have a machine multi-task rather than having several reporters at one event. After the game is over, the software collects all data, emails it to the data centre, which comes out with a story in minutes. There is also the story of Xiao Nan robot from China. The robot reporter recently wrote a 300-characters-long article in just one second. Also in comparison to staff writers, robots have stronger data analysis capacity and are quicker at writing stories.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xHRURWOiCQw" width="970"></iframe>

<h2>Rescuers</h2>

Robots can reach areas that are inaccessible to humans and provide crucial help in rescuing victims from natural disasters. There are currently various prototypes, out of which there is a snake-like robot that can enter tight spaces and use a camera to survey the surrounding area. There are also aerial drones that can conduct inspections or ROV&rsquo;s, which can help locate underwater objects and determine the condition of bridges and pipelines.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HxHufRiysYw" width="970"></iframe>

<h2>Soldiers</h2>

Security and surveillance systems are likely to be a major frontier for automation. While robots are not replacing soldiers altogether any time soon, we do have drones and surveillance systems that can monitor, track and direct security missions. One example is MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), which provides armed robots in Iraq. These robots have GPS monitors which can be programmed to differentiate between fire and no-fire zones, open doors, and even drag out injured bodies.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bczvYHcSu98" width="970"></iframe>

<h2>Store clerks</h2>

The easiest target for a robot would be the job of a store clerk. Companies are always working out ways of keeping less staff, so as to maximise profits, and robots might come handy in this. Robots can answer telephones, can communicate, can provide virtual assistance and ensure self-service, reducing the need for checkout clerks. According to Los Angeles Times, there has been a 9% increase in business through self-service machines since 2010.&nbsp;

Currently, robots are manned by humans however with technology upgradations, it is possible to imagine a world where robots run their own chores.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(Contributed by: Zeba Khan)

Self-driving car, curated suggestions at e-com sites or life-like robots; the machine-world can do it all without us

This is the decade of automation, with machines making our work easier than before and in some cases, robots even replacing people at farms and manufacturing units. Pick any one industry and it is easy to imagine a world in which machines outrun humans. Martin Ford, author of the book ‘Rise of the Robots’, talks about a not-so-distant future when robots programmed using algorithms and advanced technology become more efficient than humans. Although data on job losses due to automation is still sketchy, the world that Ford foresees is still a possibility. It must also be noted that so far, most technology-driven agents are not fully autonomous and need human intervention. The best examples of the kind are Roomba, which became famous for vacuuming the floor in no time, or Siri, which guides us through almost everything, even a heartache with its witty responses. Here are some jobs that robots can do, and for which, the world might not need humans: Astronauts NASA and General Motors have come together to make Robonaut 2. The machine will have an array of sensors and will be capable of handling small jobs like cleaning the space station and assisting humans in space. But there are talks of making it capable of venturing out in space to conduct scientific research. Babysitters Recently, Aeon Co., a major Japanese retailer, introduced a four-foot-tall robot at a store to babysit children while the adults shop. There are, however, other models also, like the Hello Kitty robot which tells jokes, quizzes, and tracks kids using a radio-frequency identification chip. Drivers Several major technology companies have announced their interest in launching driverless cars that will be safe and effective at the same time. These are being developed with the aim of making driving easier and error free. Google has tested seven cars with human supervisors. The cars have driven 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. Lawyers and Paralegals A lawyer would take much longer time than a robot to read through documents and review them. A machine can do all this in a fraction of that time and at a much lower cost. Most popular law firms feel that this is a boon for the industry as people have a tendency of tiring, while a machine can continue working for much, much longer. Pharmacist It is quite possible to imagine a robot as a pharmacist. Behind the counter, machines can analyse documents, fill out prescriptions and handle other such tasks. The UCSF Medical Center launched an automated, robotics-controlled pharmacy at two of its hospitals. Once they receive orders for medications, the robots pick, package and dispense pills without any error. So far, they have been successful in preparing 350,000 doses perfectly. Reporters Even reporters of today face a risk of losing their jobs to robots. There is a software developed by Northwestern University, which is being used by Fox Cable for baseball and softball coverage as it is cheaper and easier to have a machine multi-task rather than having several reporters at one event. After the game is over, the software collects all data, emails it to the data centre, which comes out with a story in minutes. There is also the story of Xiao Nan robot from China. The robot reporter recently wrote a 300-characters-long article in just one second. Also in comparison to staff writers, robots have stronger data analysis capacity and are quicker at writing stories. Rescuers Robots can reach areas that are inaccessible to humans and provide crucial help in rescuing victims from natural disasters. There are currently various prototypes, out of which there is a snake-like robot that can enter tight spaces and use a camera to survey the surrounding area. There are also aerial drones that can conduct inspections or ROV’s, which can help locate underwater objects and determine the condition of bridges and pipelines. Soldiers Security and surveillance systems are likely to be a major frontier for automation. While robots are not replacing soldiers altogether any time soon, we do have drones and surveillance systems that can monitor, track and direct security missions. One example is MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), which provides armed robots in Iraq. These robots have GPS monitors which can be programmed to differentiate between fire and no-fire zones, open doors, and even drag out injured bodies. Store clerks The easiest target for a robot would be the job of a store clerk. Companies are always working out ways of keeping less staff, so as to maximise profits, and robots might come handy in this. Robots can answer telephones, can communicate, can provide virtual assistance and ensure self-service, reducing the need for checkout clerks. According to Los Angeles Times, there has been a 9% increase in business through self-service machines since 2010. Currently, robots are manned by humans however with technology upgradations, it is possible to imagine a world where robots run their own chores. (Contributed by: Zeba Khan)

Are we going to lose our jobs to robots?

Mark Zuckerberg introduced the world to &quot;Jarvis&quot;, an artificial intelligence system the Facebook chief created in his spare time, which can choose and play music, turn on lights, and recognise visitors, deciding whether to open the front door.

Jarvis, named after the virtual assistant in the Iron Man movies, could be a step toward a new product, Zuckerberg wrote, although he cautioned that the system he had created in 100 hours over the last year was customised for his house.

Zuckerberg announced results of the project, a personal challenge he set for himself this year, as digital home assistants by Google and Amazon.com compete for holiday sales and are expected to outsell popular emerging gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and drones.

Creating Jarvis proved humanity is &quot;both closer and farther off&quot; from an AI breakthrough than we imagine, Zuckerberg <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-jarvis/10154361492931634">wrote</a>.

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Diagram of the systems connected to build Jarvis. (Facebook)
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Computers are getting very good at pick out patterns, such as face recognition, but it is difficult to teach them new things, he <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building-jarvis/10154361492931634">wrote</a>.

&quot;Everything I did this year - natural language, face recognition, speech recognition and so on - are all variants of the same fundamental pattern recognition techniques,&quot; he wrote. &quot;But even if I spent 1,000 more hours, I probably wouldn&#39;t be able to build a system that could learn completely new skills on its own.&quot;

By the end of the year, Jarvis was able to respond to text and voice commands and it could run music, air conditioning, doors, and other systems. It could recognise visitors, start a toaster and even shoot t-shirts from a cannon in his closet. 
With more effort to broaden Jarvis&#39; use beyond Zuckerberg&#39;s own house, the experiment &quot;could be a great foundation to build a new product,&quot; he wrote.

A dearth of internet-connected devices, lack of common standards for connected devices to communicate and challenges related to speech recognition and machine learning were all obstacles, he said.

At the same time, he said challenges lead to eureka moments.

Adjustments made to help Jarvis recognise context in commands ultimately helped the system respond to less specific requests in a better fashion, such as asking the system to &quot;play me some music&quot;.

&quot;I&#39;ve found we use these more open-ended requests more frequently than more specific asks. No commercial products I know of do this today, and this seems like a big opportunity,&quot; he wrote.

(Reuters)

It's a result of a personal challenge he set for himself in the beginning of 2016

Mark Zuckerberg introduced the world to "Jarvis", an artificial intelligence system the Facebook chief created in his spare time, which can choose and play music, turn on lights, and recognise visitors, deciding whether to open the front door. Jarvis, named after the virtual assistant in the Iron Man movies, could be a step toward a new product, Zuckerberg wrote, although he cautioned that the system he had created in 100 hours over the last year was customised for his house. Zuckerberg announced results of the project, a personal challenge he set for himself this year, as digital home assistants by Google and Amazon.com compete for holiday sales and are expected to outsell popular emerging gadgets such as virtual reality headsets and drones. Creating Jarvis proved humanity is "both closer and farther off" from an AI breakthrough than we imagine, Zuckerberg wrote. Diagram of the systems connected to build Jarvis. (Facebook) × Computers are getting very good at pick out patterns, such as face recognition, but it is difficult to teach them new things, he wrote. "Everything I did this year - natural language, face recognition, speech recognition and so on - are all variants of the same fundamental pattern recognition techniques," he wrote. "But even if I spent 1,000 more hours, I probably wouldn't be able to build a system that could learn completely new skills on its own." By the end of the year, Jarvis was able to respond to text and voice commands and it could run music, air conditioning, doors, and other systems. It could recognise visitors, start a toaster and even shoot t-shirts from a cannon in his closet. With more effort to broaden Jarvis' use beyond Zuckerberg's own house, the experiment "could be a great foundation to build a new product," he wrote. A dearth of internet-connected devices, lack of common standards for connected devices to communicate and challenges related to speech recognition and machine learning were all obstacles, he said. At the same time, he said challenges lead to eureka moments. Adjustments made to help Jarvis recognise context in commands ultimately helped the system respond to less specific requests in a better fashion, such as asking the system to "play me some music". "I've found we use these more open-ended requests more frequently than more specific asks. No commercial products I know of do this today, and this seems like a big opportunity," he wrote. (Reuters)

This is what Mark Zuckerberg created in his spare time this year

Samsung Electronics will launch a Siri-like digital assistant with the launch of its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone. This new announcement from Samsung comes across as a way to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7&#39;s collapse.

The South Korean giant, in October, announced the acquisition of California-based Viv Labs, a prominent US artificial intelligence (AI) startup founded by the creators of Siri - the voice-based digital assistant used on the iPhones of arch-rival Apple.

Samsung now plans to integrate the San Jose-based company&#39;s AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices.

The company will first bring the new digital assistant to its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone. Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three quarters through the first quarter of 2017.

While there is no clear word on what all services would be part of this new AI assistant, which is expected to be announced early next week, the company has clarified that the new digital assistant on Samsung phones will allow customers to seamlessly use third-party services.

&quot;Developers can attach and upload services to our agent,&quot; said Samsung Executive Vice President Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant.

&quot;Even if Samsung doesn&#39;t do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease,&rdquo; he added.

Samsung has been trying for years to bolster voice-based services for its handsets to compete against iPhone&#39;s Siri.

The &quot;S Voice&quot; software installed on Samsung&rsquo;s handsets has never been warmly embraced by consumers.

Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially by voice.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Samsung has been trying for years to bolster voice-based services for its handsets to compete against iPhone's Siri

Samsung Electronics will launch a Siri-like digital assistant with the launch of its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone. This new announcement from Samsung comes across as a way to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7's collapse. The South Korean giant, in October, announced the acquisition of California-based Viv Labs, a prominent US artificial intelligence (AI) startup founded by the creators of Siri - the voice-based digital assistant used on the iPhones of arch-rival Apple. Samsung now plans to integrate the San Jose-based company's AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. The company will first bring the new digital assistant to its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone. Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three quarters through the first quarter of 2017. While there is no clear word on what all services would be part of this new AI assistant, which is expected to be announced early next week, the company has clarified that the new digital assistant on Samsung phones will allow customers to seamlessly use third-party services. "Developers can attach and upload services to our agent," said Samsung Executive Vice President Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant. "Even if Samsung doesn't do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease,” he added. Samsung has been trying for years to bolster voice-based services for its handsets to compete against iPhone's Siri. The "S Voice" software installed on Samsung’s handsets has never been warmly embraced by consumers. Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially by voice. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Samsung to launch Siri-like digital assistant with Galaxy S8

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7&#39;s collapse and differentiate its devices.

The world&#39;s top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc&#39;s Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company&#39;s AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices.

Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three-quarters through the first quarter of 2017.

Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum.

Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly.

&quot;Developers can attach and upload services to our agent,&quot; said Samsung executive vice president Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant.

&quot;Even if Samsung doesn&#39;t do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease.&quot;

Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially by voice.

Alphabet Inc&#39;s Google is widely considered to be the leader in AI, but others including Amazon.com, Apple and Microsoft Corp have launched their own offerings including voice-powered digital assistants.

Samsung also hopes to differentiate its devices, from phones to fridges, by incorporating AI. Competition from Google&#39;s new Pixel smartphones, armed with the US&nbsp;firm&#39;s voice-powered digital assistant, adds to the urgency.

The South Korean firm has said it plans more acquisitions to bolster its AI and other software capabilities.

&nbsp;

(Reuters)

Samsung also plans to integrate voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7's collapse and differentiate its devices. The world's top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc's Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company's AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three-quarters through the first quarter of 2017. Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum. Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly. "Developers can attach and upload services to our agent," said Samsung executive vice president Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant. "Even if Samsung doesn't do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease." Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially by voice. Alphabet Inc's Google is widely considered to be the leader in AI, but others including Amazon.com, Apple and Microsoft Corp have launched their own offerings including voice-powered digital assistants. Samsung also hopes to differentiate its devices, from phones to fridges, by incorporating AI. Competition from Google's new Pixel smartphones, armed with the US firm's voice-powered digital assistant, adds to the urgency. The South Korean firm has said it plans more acquisitions to bolster its AI and other software capabilities. (Reuters)

Samsung to launch Galaxy S8 with AI

Microsoft on Monday announced it bought a startup to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities, and rival Apple confirmed it has boosted its health focus with an acquisition of its own. 
 
Microsoft did not disclose financial terms of its deal to buy Genee, which specialises in using machine smarts to handle the time-sucking task of scheduling meetings. 
 
&quot;Genee uses natural language processing and optimised decision-making algorithms so that interacting with a virtual assistant is just like interacting with a human one,&quot; Outlook and Office 365 corporate vice president Rajesh Jha said in a blog post. 
 
For example, Genee can be copied into an email exchange to act as a virtual assistant of sorts to pin down a time for a business or social meeting. 
 
Jha touted Genee as having designed &quot;an intelligent virtual assistant specialised in the appointment decision.&quot; 
 
The technology was expected to be put to work in Office 365 software that Microsoft offers as a service in the internet cloud. 
 
The team that started Silicon Valley-based Genee in 2014 will join the Microsoft and the existing service will be discontinued next month, according to the companies. 
 
Apple and the &#39;magical machine&#39;&nbsp; 
 
Apple confirmed press reports that it has bought startup Gliimpse, which uses machine learning as part of its formula for letting people manage and share personal medical information. 
 
&quot;Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,&quot; Apple said in a statement. 
 
Glimpse offers a unique platform allowing users to compile medical and health data from different sources, and share as needed with third parties, including doctors. 
 
&quot;We&#39;ve built a magical machine,&quot; Gliimpse said on its website. 
 
&quot;It takes incomprehensible electronic medical records and turns them into understandable, standardised, coded elements and terminology that both humans and machines can easily understand and use.&quot; 
 
Apple has introduced features and software platforms for its mobile devices to be tools for people to manage and improve fitness and health. 
 
(AFP)

The two tech giants have acquired 'smart startups'. While Apple focuses on health data, Microsoft would help in scheduling meetings

Microsoft on Monday announced it bought a startup to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities, and rival Apple confirmed it has boosted its health focus with an acquisition of its own. Microsoft did not disclose financial terms of its deal to buy Genee, which specialises in using machine smarts to handle the time-sucking task of scheduling meetings. "Genee uses natural language processing and optimised decision-making algorithms so that interacting with a virtual assistant is just like interacting with a human one," Outlook and Office 365 corporate vice president Rajesh Jha said in a blog post. For example, Genee can be copied into an email exchange to act as a virtual assistant of sorts to pin down a time for a business or social meeting. Jha touted Genee as having designed "an intelligent virtual assistant specialised in the appointment decision." The technology was expected to be put to work in Office 365 software that Microsoft offers as a service in the internet cloud. The team that started Silicon Valley-based Genee in 2014 will join the Microsoft and the existing service will be discontinued next month, according to the companies. Apple and the 'magical machine' Apple confirmed press reports that it has bought startup Gliimpse, which uses machine learning as part of its formula for letting people manage and share personal medical information. "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans," Apple said in a statement. Glimpse offers a unique platform allowing users to compile medical and health data from different sources, and share as needed with third parties, including doctors. "We've built a magical machine," Gliimpse said on its website. "It takes incomprehensible electronic medical records and turns them into understandable, standardised, coded elements and terminology that both humans and machines can easily understand and use." Apple has introduced features and software platforms for its mobile devices to be tools for people to manage and improve fitness and health. (AFP)

Apple boosts health while Microsoft revs machine smarts

A Denmark-based company has developed a hugging machine called OrbisBox to help calm people with autism. 
 
The device is 163 centimeters tall, 85 cm wide and 223 cm in length. It can be transported to different locations and contains side plates covered with polyurethane foam. 
 
The device is said to be a commercial model based on Dr Temple Grandin&rsquo;s invention of the &ldquo;hug machine.&rdquo; Dr. Grandin is a world renowned spokesperson for autism, who created the device when she in college. 
 
Once the user is inside the OrbisBox, the side plates will start to move in and press against them, mimicking the sense of a hug. The weight of the pressure can be adjusted from 10 kg to 30 kg. 
 
The box has built-in speakers to play soothing music. Lighting can also be changed to make the user feel more relaxed. 
 
Autism is a complex brain development disorder which, scientists say, likely affects boys five times more than it does girls. Signs of autism may include difficulties in social interaction, strange attachment to objects and unawareness to danger. 
 
Due to their hypersensitivity, people with autism are often uncomfortable or unable to seek comfort from other people. 
 
Autism is a growing developmental disorder in the US that it currently affects roughly two per cent of teenage boys, or one in 42 boys, according to Autism Speaks. 
 
(Reuters)

Once the user is inside the OrbisBox, the side plates will start to move in and press against them, mimicking the sense of a hug

A Denmark-based company has developed a hugging machine called OrbisBox to help calm people with autism. The device is 163 centimeters tall, 85 cm wide and 223 cm in length. It can be transported to different locations and contains side plates covered with polyurethane foam. The device is said to be a commercial model based on Dr Temple Grandin’s invention of the “hug machine.” Dr. Grandin is a world renowned spokesperson for autism, who created the device when she in college. Once the user is inside the OrbisBox, the side plates will start to move in and press against them, mimicking the sense of a hug. The weight of the pressure can be adjusted from 10 kg to 30 kg. The box has built-in speakers to play soothing music. Lighting can also be changed to make the user feel more relaxed. Autism is a complex brain development disorder which, scientists say, likely affects boys five times more than it does girls. Signs of autism may include difficulties in social interaction, strange attachment to objects and unawareness to danger. Due to their hypersensitivity, people with autism are often uncomfortable or unable to seek comfort from other people. Autism is a growing developmental disorder in the US that it currently affects roughly two per cent of teenage boys, or one in 42 boys, according to Autism Speaks. (Reuters)

Danish company creates hugging machine for people with Autism

Would you buy a car that might risk your life to save a pedestrian? 
 
That&#39;s the question researchers are mulling in a recent study about driverless cars. 
 
When it comes to autonomous cars, people generally approve of cars programmed to sacrifice their passengers to save others, but these same people are not enthusiastic about riding in such &quot;utilitarian&quot; vehicles themselves, the survey revealed. 
 
This inconsistency, which illustrates an inherent social tension between wanting the good of the individual and that of the public, persisted across a wide range of survey scenarios, revealing just how difficult it will be to make underlying programming decisions for autonomous cars - something that should be done well before these cars become a global commodity, the study`s authors note. 
 
Autonomous vehicles, or AVs, have the potential to benefit the world by eliminating up to 90 per cent of traffic accidents, but not all crashes will be avoided and some crash scenarios will require AVs to make difficult ethical decisions. 
 
To begin to inform a collective discussion about the way AVs should make such decisions, Jean-Fran?ois Bonnefon and colleagues conducted six online surveys of US residents between June and November 2015, asking participants questions about how they would want their AVs to behave. 
 
The scenarios involved in the survey varied in the number of pedestrian and passenger lives that could be saved, among other factors.Overall, participants said that AVs should be programmed to be utilitarian, but the same people also said they would prefer to buy cars that protected them and their passengers, especially if family members were involved.This suggests that if both self-protective and utilitarian AVs were allowed on the market, few people would be willing to ride in the latter, the authors say, even though they would prefer others to do so. 
 
Bonnefon et al. note that regulation may be necessary, but, based on their survey results (which reveal that regulation could substantially delay AV adoption), they say it could also be counterproductive. 
 
In a related Perspective, Joshua D. Greene highlights additional challenges around programming driverless cars, including how manufacturers of utilitarian vehicles will be criticized for their willingness to kill their own passengers, while manufacturers of self-protective cars &quot;will be criticized for devaluing the lives of others.&quot; 
 
Determining just how to build ethical autonomous machines &quot;is one of the thorniest challenges in artificial intelligence today,&quot; Bonnefon and colleagues concluded. However, their data-driven approach highlights the way the field of experimental ethics can provide key insights in this space as more and more autonomous cars hit the road. The study appears in the journal Science. 
 
(ANI)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Autonomous vehicles have the potential eliminate up to 90% of traffic accidents, but not all crases will be avoided

Would you buy a car that might risk your life to save a pedestrian? That's the question researchers are mulling in a recent study about driverless cars. When it comes to autonomous cars, people generally approve of cars programmed to sacrifice their passengers to save others, but these same people are not enthusiastic about riding in such "utilitarian" vehicles themselves, the survey revealed. This inconsistency, which illustrates an inherent social tension between wanting the good of the individual and that of the public, persisted across a wide range of survey scenarios, revealing just how difficult it will be to make underlying programming decisions for autonomous cars - something that should be done well before these cars become a global commodity, the study`s authors note. Autonomous vehicles, or AVs, have the potential to benefit the world by eliminating up to 90 per cent of traffic accidents, but not all crashes will be avoided and some crash scenarios will require AVs to make difficult ethical decisions. To begin to inform a collective discussion about the way AVs should make such decisions, Jean-Fran?ois Bonnefon and colleagues conducted six online surveys of US residents between June and November 2015, asking participants questions about how they would want their AVs to behave. The scenarios involved in the survey varied in the number of pedestrian and passenger lives that could be saved, among other factors.Overall, participants said that AVs should be programmed to be utilitarian, but the same people also said they would prefer to buy cars that protected them and their passengers, especially if family members were involved.This suggests that if both self-protective and utilitarian AVs were allowed on the market, few people would be willing to ride in the latter, the authors say, even though they would prefer others to do so. Bonnefon et al. note that regulation may be necessary, but, based on their survey results (which reveal that regulation could substantially delay AV adoption), they say it could also be counterproductive. In a related Perspective, Joshua D. Greene highlights additional challenges around programming driverless cars, including how manufacturers of utilitarian vehicles will be criticized for their willingness to kill their own passengers, while manufacturers of self-protective cars "will be criticized for devaluing the lives of others." Determining just how to build ethical autonomous machines "is one of the thorniest challenges in artificial intelligence today," Bonnefon and colleagues concluded. However, their data-driven approach highlights the way the field of experimental ethics can provide key insights in this space as more and more autonomous cars hit the road. The study appears in the journal Science. (ANI)

Driver-less cars pose 'safety dilemma'

Apple Inc announced a series of long-awaited enhancements to its App Store on Wednesday, but the new features may not ease concerns of developers and analysts who say that the App Store model - and the very idea of the single-purpose app - has seen its best days. 
 
The revamped App Store will let developers advertise their wares in search results and give developers a bigger cut of revenues on subscription apps, while Apple said it has already dramatically sped up its app-approval process. 
The goal is to sustain the virtuous cycle at the heart of the hugely lucrative iPhone&nbsp;business. Software developers make apps for the iPhone because its customers are willing to pay, and those customers, in turn, pay a premium for the device because it has the best apps. 
 
The store is now more strategically important than ever for Apple as sales of the iPhone begin to level off and the company looks to software and services to fill the gap. Apple CEO Tim Cook said during&nbsp;a recent conference call&nbsp;that App Store revenues were up 35 per cent over last year. 
 
But the store is also a victim of its own success. Eight years after its launch, it is packed with more than 1.9 million apps, according to analytics firm App Annie, making it almost impossible for developers to find an audience - and increasingly difficult for customers to find what they need, as some 14,000 new apps arrive in the store each week. 
 
&quot;The app space has grown out of control,&quot; said Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the internet and now a vice president at Alphabet Inc&#39;s Google, who was speaking at a San Francisco conference on the future of the web on Wednesday. &quot;We need to move away from having an individual app for every individual thing you want to do.&quot; 
 
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 
Some users are moving away from apps toward messaging services such as Slack and Facebook Inc&#39;s Messenger, which are branching out into areas like shopping and document storage. 
 
Meanwhile, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to a world where people navigate their phones through voice-controlled digital assistants such as Apple&#39;s Siri, rather than opening individual apps. 
 
To be sure, chat and AI are in their infancy, and their appeal to the masses remains uncertain. But if they take off, they could erase the edge Apple enjoys by virtue of its strong app ecosystem and tip the scales toward Google, which is widely considered to have the lead in AI. 
 
&quot;The current dynamic is very favorable to Apple, and this is a suggestion that we might shift to a different dynamic where Google would have a very strong advantage,&quot; said Benedict Evans, a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. 
 
&quot;No matter what you do to an app store, you always have that underlying problem: It&#39;s a list of a million things,&quot; Evans&nbsp;added. 
 
Apple may yet find ways to wield AI to reinforce the App Store. The company has already woven more intelligence into its operating system, which now prompts iPhone users to open certain apps during the day based on their habits. 
 
DEVELOPER GRIPES 
On a more basic level, the changes announced this week address some of the loudest complaints from developers, who say it is virtually impossible to stand out in an app landscape dominated by hit games, big media companies and internet giants such as Facebook and Google. 
 
Statistics from Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm, show a stark and widening divide between top earners and low performers in the App Store. 
 
The top one&nbsp;per cent of app publishers raked in about 94 per cent of the store&#39;s estimated $1.43 billion net revenue in the first quarter of 2016. The gulf has expanded rapidly since July 2012, the first month for which Sensor Tower has data, when the top one&nbsp;per cent netted about 80 per cent of the revenue in the store, according to data provided to Reuters. The figures cover paid apps and apps that include in-app purchases. 
 
Some developers who carved out a niche early say they doubt success would come so easily today. 
 
&quot;Now the challenge for developers is, if there&#39;s an app for everything, how will you create an app people will use?&quot; said Lucas Buick, who founded Hipstamatic, a photography app that was an early hit in the App Store. 
 
TOO LATE? 
David Barnard, founder of Contrast, an app development company, applauded the new focus on subscriptions, which he said would encourage developers to invest in their apps. But getting attention in the store remains a challenge. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s not like they fixed everything in one fell swoop,&quot; Barnard said. 
 
Pete Zed, a 33-year-old Oakland, California developer, thought he had a hit on his hands when reminder app Bump was featured by Apple in January 2015, inspiring thousands of users to install the programme. But as soon as the promotion ended, downloads dropped. Zed discontinued the service this year. 
 
Some developers are banking on the next wave of user interfaces. 
 
In 2014, developer Eswar Priyadarshan founded Tasteful, which aims to guide users with various diets to healthy restaurant dishes through its app. Tasteful&#39;s audience, though loyal, is too niche to vault it up the App Store charts, Priyadarshan said. 
 
In a bid to lessen his dependence on the App Store, he recently made Tasteful available on chat platforms such as Messenger and Slack. 
 
&quot;It has been difficult to get the kind of growth we need to sustain an app&nbsp;business,&quot; Priyadarshan said. 
 
Analyst Bob O&#39;Donnell of TECHnalysis Research said he doubted the changes will do much to move the needle for small developers. 
 
&quot;At the end of the day I&rsquo;m not sure how much real-world impact it&rsquo;s going to end up having for a lot of these apps,&quot; he said. 
&nbsp;

It already has 1.9 million apps, making it impossible for app builders to find an audience and customers to find what they want

Apple Inc announced a series of long-awaited enhancements to its App Store on Wednesday, but the new features may not ease concerns of developers and analysts who say that the App Store model - and the very idea of the single-purpose app - has seen its best days. The revamped App Store will let developers advertise their wares in search results and give developers a bigger cut of revenues on subscription apps, while Apple said it has already dramatically sped up its app-approval process. The goal is to sustain the virtuous cycle at the heart of the hugely lucrative iPhone business. Software developers make apps for the iPhone because its customers are willing to pay, and those customers, in turn, pay a premium for the device because it has the best apps. The store is now more strategically important than ever for Apple as sales of the iPhone begin to level off and the company looks to software and services to fill the gap. Apple CEO Tim Cook said during a recent conference call that App Store revenues were up 35 per cent over last year. But the store is also a victim of its own success. Eight years after its launch, it is packed with more than 1.9 million apps, according to analytics firm App Annie, making it almost impossible for developers to find an audience - and increasingly difficult for customers to find what they need, as some 14,000 new apps arrive in the store each week. "The app space has grown out of control," said Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the internet and now a vice president at Alphabet Inc's Google, who was speaking at a San Francisco conference on the future of the web on Wednesday. "We need to move away from having an individual app for every individual thing you want to do." ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Some users are moving away from apps toward messaging services such as Slack and Facebook Inc's Messenger, which are branching out into areas like shopping and document storage. Meanwhile, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to a world where people navigate their phones through voice-controlled digital assistants such as Apple's Siri, rather than opening individual apps. To be sure, chat and AI are in their infancy, and their appeal to the masses remains uncertain. But if they take off, they could erase the edge Apple enjoys by virtue of its strong app ecosystem and tip the scales toward Google, which is widely considered to have the lead in AI. "The current dynamic is very favorable to Apple, and this is a suggestion that we might shift to a different dynamic where Google would have a very strong advantage," said Benedict Evans, a partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. "No matter what you do to an app store, you always have that underlying problem: It's a list of a million things," Evans added. Apple may yet find ways to wield AI to reinforce the App Store. The company has already woven more intelligence into its operating system, which now prompts iPhone users to open certain apps during the day based on their habits. DEVELOPER GRIPES On a more basic level, the changes announced this week address some of the loudest complaints from developers, who say it is virtually impossible to stand out in an app landscape dominated by hit games, big media companies and internet giants such as Facebook and Google. Statistics from Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm, show a stark and widening divide between top earners and low performers in the App Store. The top one per cent of app publishers raked in about 94 per cent of the store's estimated $1.43 billion net revenue in the first quarter of 2016. The gulf has expanded rapidly since July 2012, the first month for which Sensor Tower has data, when the top one per cent netted about 80 per cent of the revenue in the store, according to data provided to Reuters. The figures cover paid apps and apps that include in-app purchases. Some developers who carved out a niche early say they doubt success would come so easily today. "Now the challenge for developers is, if there's an app for everything, how will you create an app people will use?" said Lucas Buick, who founded Hipstamatic, a photography app that was an early hit in the App Store. TOO LATE? David Barnard, founder of Contrast, an app development company, applauded the new focus on subscriptions, which he said would encourage developers to invest in their apps. But getting attention in the store remains a challenge. "It's not like they fixed everything in one fell swoop," Barnard said. Pete Zed, a 33-year-old Oakland, California developer, thought he had a hit on his hands when reminder app Bump was featured by Apple in January 2015, inspiring thousands of users to install the programme. But as soon as the promotion ended, downloads dropped. Zed discontinued the service this year. Some developers are banking on the next wave of user interfaces. In 2014, developer Eswar Priyadarshan founded Tasteful, which aims to guide users with various diets to healthy restaurant dishes through its app. Tasteful's audience, though loyal, is too niche to vault it up the App Store charts, Priyadarshan said. In a bid to lessen his dependence on the App Store, he recently made Tasteful available on chat platforms such as Messenger and Slack. "It has been difficult to get the kind of growth we need to sustain an app business," Priyadarshan said. Analyst Bob O'Donnell of TECHnalysis Research said he doubted the changes will do much to move the needle for small developers. "At the end of the day I’m not sure how much real-world impact it’s going to end up having for a lot of these apps," he said.

Revamped Apple App Store may not win over developers

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