House of Lords: The UK can lead in AI by putting ethics first

uk house of lords ai ethics report

A report published today by the House of Lords reveals the current outlook for AI in the United Kingdom and suggests practical measures to secure its place as a global leader. While the world faces a shortage of AI talent, the UK’s leading universities produce candidates who are often snapped up quickly. Some of the biggest players in the space invest heavily in UK companies — most notable, perhaps, is Google’s £400 million acquisition of Cambridge-based DeepMind. The Lords’ report...

16 April 2018 | Ethics

Nutrino raises $8 million in series A round to expand AI-based nutrition data services

Israel-based nutrition data startup Nutrino has secured $8 million in a series A funding round to expand its AI-based nutrition data services across the digital health sector. With this most recent seed round, Nutrino’s total raised amounted to $10 million which will also be used to further develop its database, which is used by enterprises related to several sectors including food & beverages, digital health, and fitness. The startup says that its nutrition insights platform for...

12 April 2018 | Healthcare

Microsoft dropped some potential deals over AI ethical concerns

According to a director at Microsoft Research Labs, the company has dropped some potential deals with customers over ethical concerns their AI technology may be misused. Speaking at the Carnegie Mellon University – K&L Gates Conference on Ethics and AI in Pittsburgh, Eric Horvitz made the revelation. He says the group at Microsoft looking into possible misuse on a case-by-case basis is the Aether Committee (“Aether” stands for AI and Ethics in Engineering and...

10 April 2018 | Ethics

Facial recognition provider SenseTime becomes the most funded AI startup

Chinese facial recognition provider SenseTime has become the world’s most funded AI startup following a $600 million funding round. The latest round of funding was led by Alibaba Group Holdings to extend SenseTime’s existing one billion dollar valuation. Other investors which took part in the series-C fundraising include Temasek Holdings and Suning.Com Co Ltd. While the company is yet to disclose its current valuation, Bloomberg reported it’s over $3 billion. Joe Tsai, Alibaba...

9 April 2018 | Funding

How AI can be utilised in healthcare to deliver better patient management

Here’s another example of how AI is getting serious funding boosts: Medial EarlySign, an Israel-based provider of machine learning for optimal patient management, has secured $30 million in series B funding. The round was conducted by aMoon Fund, the life sciences investment arm of Marius Nacht, the co-founder of Check Point Software. With the funding’s completion, the company’s total worth is now $50 million. Medial EarlySign's machine-learning based models analyse many factors...

6 April 2018 | Healthcare

Apple has poached Google’s AI chief

A mere day after we reported Google’s head of AI was stepping down, it’s emerged Apple has given him a position leading their efforts. John Giannandrea stepped down on Monday but was expected to be staying at Google. He reportedly wanted to be in a position that allowed him to be “more hands-on with technology” than in his previous role. It seems that Apple offered him the opportunity he was looking for. Apple is often regarded in tech circles as trailing Google when it comes to...

4 April 2018 | Apple

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

Samsung plans to open a huge AI research facility in France

Samsung has announced plans to open a huge AI research facility in France which is set to be its largest outside Korea and the US. The new facility will house more than 100 researchers and joins an expansion announcement from Fujitsu who are set to grow their own presence in the country. “Great progress on artificial intelligence is happening in France,” President Macron said in a Twitter message. “Samsung chooses France to locate its new research center on artificial intelligence,...

29 March 2018 | Research

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