Almost half of Europe’s AI startups have no actual AI

A new report highlights many of Europe’s AI startups appear to be cashing in on the hype and have no actual AI to speak of.

The fact you can add ‘AI’, ‘IoT’, or ‘blockchain’ to your company name/description and it will skyrocket your valuation has become something of a running joke in the industry. Shares in Long Island Iced Tea, for example, infamously shot up almost 200 percent after changing its parent company name to ‘Long Blockchain Corp.’

European...

5 March 2019 | Europe

Transhumanism: AI could figure out how to make humans live forever

During a panel discussion on transhumanism at this year’s MWC, one expert predicted AI could figure out how to make a human live forever.

‘If You're Under 50, You'll Live Forever: Hello Transhumanism’ was the name of the session and featured Alex Rodriguez Vitello of the World Economic Forum and Stephen Dunne of Telefonica-owned innovation facility Alpha.

Transhumanism is the idea that humans can evolve beyond their current physical and mental limitations using...

28 February 2019 | Healthcare

Google is using AI to predict wind farm power output

Google is using AI to solve the problem of predicting the power output of a wind farm ahead of time.

Wind farms are a fantastic source of renewable energy but their output can be hard to predict due to the nature of wind.

By improving the accuracy of predictions and providing more data, wind farm operators are better prepared to meet upcoming power demands.

In a blog post, Google wrote:

“Based on these predictions, our model recommends how to make...

27 February 2019 | Google

#MWC19: AI requires innovation, values, and trust

During an MWC keynote, a range of experts and policymakers explained the keywords they believe are behind ensuring responsible AI deployments.

The keynote featured IBM’s SVP of Global Business Services, Mark Foster; the EU’s Digital Economy and Society Commissioner, Mariya Gabriel; and the Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Angel Gurria.

Foster opened the session with a foreboding tone: “What we want to talk about is...

25 February 2019 | Ethics

UK investment in AI startups nears the rest of Europe combined

The UK is splashing the cash on artificial intelligence startups so much that it almost totals the rest of Europe combined.

Venture capital firms invested a record $1.3bn (£998m) in UK-based AI companies last year.

The figures are provided by Dealroom and show a fourfold increase in five years. A couple of notable rounds includes $200 million for Graphcore in your humble editor’s hometown of Bristol, and $50 million for what feels like my second home of...

21 February 2019 | Europe

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

US defense department outlines its AI strategy

Shortly after President Trump issued his vague AI executive order, the US Defense Department outlined a more comprehensive strategy.

"The impact of artificial intelligence will extend across the entire department, spanning from operations and training to recruiting and healthcare,” DoD CIO Dana Deasy said.

A 17-page document outlines how the DoD intends to advance its AI prowess with five key steps:

Delivering AI-enabled capabilities that address key...

14 February 2019 | Government

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