AI-conducted study highlights ‘massive gender bias’ in the UK

A first-of-its-kind study conducted by an AI highlights the ‘massive gender bias’ which continues to plague the UK workforce.

The research was published by the Royal Statistical Society but conducted by Glass AI, a startup which uses artificial intelligence to analyse every UK website.

In a blog post, the company explained its unique approach:

“Previous related studies created for economists, policy-makers, or business analysts have tended to underuse or...

20 February 2019 | Society

OpenAI withholds its latest research fearing societal impact

OpenAI has decided not to publish its latest research fearing its potential misuses and the negative societal impact that would have.

The institute, backed by the likes of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, developed an AI which can produce convincing ‘fake news’ articles.

Articles produced by the AI writer can be on any subject and merely require a brief prompt before it gets to work unsupervised.

The AI scrapes data from ~8 million webpages and solely looks at...

15 February 2019 | Ethics

Trump’s AI executive order misses something important

President Donald Trump has issued his executive order relating to AI, only it misses something quite important to ensure US leadership.

The executive order titled ‘Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence’ claims to be guided by five principles:

Driving technological breakthroughs.Leading in developing standards while reducing barriers preventing safe AI testing and deployment.Training Americans with AI-related skills.Fostering trust in AI technologies...

13 February 2019 | Government

Human beats IBM’s AI-powered debate computer

IBM’s argumentative AI-powered computer has faced off in a debate against a human professional and lost.

Computers typically have a vast amount of information at their disposal but IBM’s was unable to persuade a live audience of its viewpoint.

IBM’s debating computer was tasked with taking on Harish Natarajan, a grand finalist in 2016's World Debating Championships.

The live debate was broadcasted live on Monday and held in San Francisco's famous Yerba...

12 February 2019 | IBM

NHS report suggests AI will give docs more patient time

A report from the NHS suggests the impending technological ‘revolution’ in healthcare will increase the amount of time doctors can spend with patients.

NHS doctors are overburdened; a problem only getting worse from a growing and ageing population, and not enough funding.

The report was led by US academic Eric Topol and calls for a reskilling of NHS staff to harness new digital skills. AI and robotics can reduce the burden on healthcare professionals, but only if...

11 February 2019 | Healthcare

Amazon joins calls to establish facial recognition standards

Amazon has put its weight behind the growing number of calls from companies, individuals, and rights groups to establish facial recognition standards.

Michael Punke, VP of Global Public Policy at Amazon Web Services, said.

"Over the past several months, we've talked to customers, researchers, academics, policymakers, and others to understand how to best balance the benefits of facial recognition with the potential risks.

It's critical that any legislation protect...

8 February 2019 | Amazon

White House will intervene to ensure the US leads in AI, 5G

The US is planning an intervention that will see it play a role in ensuring the country leads in technologies such as AI and 5G.

In an email to The Hill, an official wrote:

"Within the coming weeks, we could expect to see action designed to preserve American [research and development] leadership in artificial intelligence, 5G, and the first deliverables from the National Quantum Initiative Act.”

The ‘National Quantum Initiative Act’ is a law passed by the...

7 February 2019 | Government

Microsoft warns its AI offerings ‘may result in reputational harm’

Microsoft has warned investors that its AI offerings could damage the company’s reputation in a bid to prepare them for the worst.

AI can be unpredictable, and Microsoft already has experience. Back in 2016, a Microsoft chatbot named Tay became a racist, sexist, generally-rather-unsavoury character after internet users took advantage of its machine learning capabilities

The chatbot was covered in media around the world and itself was bound to have caused Microsoft some...

6 February 2019 | Ethics

AI is even discovering new spices for our meals

The world’s largest spice maker is hoping AI will help it come up with some new flavours in order to, uh, spice things up.

McCormick & Company has been around for 130 years and makes a wide range of seasonings, spices, and condiments. However, after that many years, it seems the firm’s human minds are running out of ideas.

Lawrence Kurzius, CEO of McCormick, said:

"McCormick's use of artificial intelligence highlights our commitment to insight-driven...

5 February 2019 | IBM

UN: China and the US are leading the way in AI race

A report from the United Nations highlights a dominance by China and the United States in the race to artificial intelligence supremacy.

The study, by the UN World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), was published on Thursday.

US tech giant IBM is leading in AI patents with 8,920 filed. Microsoft followed with 5,930.

Japan’s Toshiba has the next highest number of patents (5,223), ahead of South Korea’s Samsung (5,102), and Japan’s NEC Group...

31 January 2019 | Government