Tencent uses AI to speed up Parkinson’s diagnosis

Chinese tech giant Tencent has partnered with London-based medical firm Medopad to use AI for earlier Parkinson’s diagnosis. Earlier diagnosis of any medical problem is always good. Often it increases the chance of successful treatment, minimises suffering, and can increase life expectancy in terminal cases. Parkinson’s is a degenerative affliction without any known cure. Caught early, however, and measures can be taken which helps to slow its progression. Speaking to Forbes,...

8 October 2018 | Healthcare

Chinese AI darling SenseTime wants facial recognition standards

The CEO of Chinese AI darling SenseTime wants to see facial recognition standards established for a ‘healthier’ industry. SenseTime is among China’s most renowned AI companies. Back in April, we reported it had become the world’s most funded AI startup. Part of the company’s monumental success is the popularity of facial recognition in China where it’s used in many aspects of citizens’ lives. Just yesterday, game developer Tencent announced it’s testing facial recognition to...

2 October 2018 | China

IBM releases tool for tackling scourge of bias in AI algorithms

Bias and prejudice remains a serious issue across many societies, take away human input and the result could be disastrous. IBM is stepping in with a tool it calls ‘Fairness 360’ which scans for signs of bias in algorithms to recommend adjustments on how to correct them. AIs already have a documented bias problem. It’s rarely intentional, but typically a result of their developers coming from the predominant part of each society. Take facial recognition software, for example. A 2010...

19 September 2018 | Ethics

Experts warn of AI disasters leading to research lockdown

Experts from around the world have warned of potential AI disasters that could lead to a subsequent lockdown of research. Andrew Moore, the new head of AI at Google Cloud, is one such expert who has warned of scenarios that would lead to public backlash and restrictions that would prevent AI from reaching its full potential. Back in November, Moore spoke at the Artificial Intelligence and Global Security Initiative. In his keynote, he said:

"If an AI disaster...

13 September 2018 | Government

Study claims AI will spur growth on par with the steam engine

A study predicts AI will spur growth similar to groundbreaking technologies such as the steam engine, for at least the next decade. The simulation run by the McKinsey Global Institute shows artificial intelligence has the possibility to add 1.2 percent to annual gross domestic product growth until at least 2030. For perspective, that represents $13 trillion of additional global economic activity. Such growth is equivalent to other landmark developments such as that of the steam engine. AI is...

6 September 2018 | Government

Harvard and Google partner on earthquake aftershock-predicting AI

Harvard University has partnered with Google to create a potentially life-saving AI that can predict where aftershocks will hit following an earthquake. The AI uses data from 199 earthquakes and the more than 130,000 aftershocks. Manual predictions are possible but they consume time and have proven to be less accurate than those of the AI. Many believe aftershocks occur within a short timeframe of an earthquake. The AI, however, can predict aftershocks up to a year after the initial...

30 August 2018 | Google

EFF offers guidance to militaries seeking AI implementation

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has released a whitepaper offering guidance on the implementation of military AI projects. AI being used for military purposes is a scary thought, but it’s ultimately inevitable. The best that can be hoped for is that it’s used in a sensible way that addresses people’s concerns. The publishing of the whitepaper arrives in the wake of Google employees resigning over the company’s defense contract to provide AI knowledge to the US...

15 August 2018 | Military

AI can determine your personality through eye movements

A global team of scientists have discovered AI can tell an individual’s personality traits by analysing their eye movements. The scientists used machine learning to discover a link between eye movements and the personality of a person earlier this year. Armed with this information, the researchers deployed AI to analyse the eye movements of 42 students. The results were announced last week. In psychology, there are five basic personality traits: Extraversion, Agreeableness, Openness,...

31 July 2018 | Machine Learning

Amazon expert suggests AI regulation after ACLU’s bias findings

An expert from Amazon has suggested the government should implement a minimum confidence level for the use of facial recognition in law enforcement. Dr. Matt Wood, GM of Deep Learning and AI at Amazon Web Services, made the suggestion in a blog post responding to the ACLU’s (American Civil Liberties Union) findings of a racial bias in the ‘Rekognition’ facial recognition algorithm by Amazon. In their findings, the ACLU found Rekognition erroneously labelled those with darker skin...

30 July 2018 | Amazon

ACLU finds Amazon’s facial recognition AI is racially biased

A test of Amazon’s facial recognition technology by the ACLU has found it erroneously labelled those with darker skin colours as criminals more often. Bias in AI technology, when used by law enforcement, has raised concerns of infringing on civil rights by automated racial profiling. A 2010 study by researchers at NIST and the University of Texas in Dallas found that algorithms designed and tested in East Asia are better at recognising East Asians, while those designed in Western...

27 July 2018 | Amazon