Google launches cross-platform ML Kit APIs to simplify AI integration

Google is going all in on AI going by this year’s I/O conference, and it’s helping developers access some of these capabilities with its ML Kit set of APIs. ML Kit is a new suite of cross-platform APIs from Google enabling app developers to use machine learning for things such as face recognition, text scanning, reading barcodes, and even identifying objects and landmarks. From the ML Kit documentation page:

“We want the entire device experience to be...

9 May 2018 | Developers

Facebook trained its AI using 3.5 billion Instagram images

Facebook has a vast amount of data at its disposal for training AI algorithms, including billions of users' Instagram images. The social media giant acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012. At the time, some criticised its value with its 30 million users. Now, however, the platform has over 800 million active monthly users. Facebook trained a machine learning algorithm to categorise images by itself using over 3.5 billion posted on Instagram. The algorithm took into account the 17,000...

4 May 2018 | Machine Learning

Thousands of AI researchers are boycotting a science journal

Thousands of AI researchers are boycotting a popular science journal for a decision they believe is harmful to advancing developments. Science journal Nature recently announced it will be launching a dedicated section of its online publication to machine learning in January, 2019. That would normally be welcome, except the section is set to be put behind a paywall. Naturally, many AI researchers took umbrage at the plans. Much of the community are fierce advocates of open research — both to...

2 May 2018 | Machine Learning

AI Expo: ‘The answer to AI in sport is prediction’

During a panel at the AI Tech Expo in London, we heard from several figures from professional football clubs who are using AI to get the edge over their competition both on and off the field. The panelists included Newcastle FC Sports Scientist John Fitzpatrick, Sport Lisboa e Benfica CIO Joao Copeto, and Sport Lisboa e Benfica Head of Analysis Nuno Maurício. Fitzpatrick has been with Newcastle United for around five years and has witnessed the increasing demand for IoT and AI technologies....

19 April 2018 | Healthcare

AI could help in the battle against fake news – but smaller steps being taken for now

The rise of fake news is inescapable - but can artificial intelligence be deployed as the solution? According to Lisa Gibbs, director of news partnerships at The Associated Press, there can be a role for it – but for the time being its main role will be to automate smaller-scale stories. Speaking at the Arab Media Forum in Dubai, Gibbs said that while AI will in the future be used to assist human journalists, rather than replace them, the technology will have a role in scaling up content,...

4 April 2018 | Machine Learning

Google’s AI and search chief is stepping down – his role splitting into two

Google has announced its AI and search chief, John Giannandrea, will be stepping down and his role will be splitting into two. AI has been in Google’s DNA since it began life as a humble search engine. Since then, it’s aimed to be a part of every aspect of our lives. Part of Google’s success in achieving this ubiquity has been its ability to move with the times and take advantage of the next big thing. Google started as being ‘web first’ as the internet grew, became ‘mobile...

3 April 2018 | Google

Huawei uses AI to ‘Master Photography’

Huawei has unveiled its P20 flagship smartphone and we were at the launch to see how AI is helping the company differentiate from its competition. Last year, we covered the impressive AI-powered capabilities of the Mate 10 Pro. This year, the company is starting to really take advantage of its dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit). Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of the features, it's worth taking a second to appreciate the effort Huawei puts into developing its technologies. In fact,...

28 March 2018 | Machine Learning

Google CEO is (unsurprisingly) impressed with AI in China

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, has expressed how impressed he is with AI in China during a forum attended by senior government officials and leading executives in Beijing. “China is already playing a big part in how AI will shape our futures," said Pichai at the annual China Development Forum in Beijing. "When we build together, we get to better ideas faster." Google is known for the vast amount of data it collects, and the powerful services having access to such large pools of information...

26 March 2018 | Government

Two examples of how neural networks are being trained to surpass human reading abilities

For anyone who’s ever struggled to read somebody’s handwriting – or even their own – this may be of interest: Captricity, an Oakland-based provider of digital automation software, has claimed its AI can outperform humans in reading handwriting. The company is touting its Captricity READ product, where enterprises in various sectors including financial, healthcare and government, can use the system to convert the handwritten word into decision-ready data in a fraction of the usual time....

22 March 2018 | Machine Learning

Microsoft’s AI can translate Chinese on parity with a human

Microsoft believes its AI is able to translate Chinese as well as a human translator. The company says the development represents a “major milestone” and was achieved by regularly feeding the AI with news stories often used across the AI industry for testing purposes. Microsoft claims its AI translated the articles to the same level as two human bilingual translators. The researchers aimed to replicate the ‘trial and error’ approach to how humans learn. With this in mind, the AI...

16 March 2018 | Machine Learning