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

DeepMind’s AI bested in Atari game Montezuma’s Revenge

DeepMind’s AI has been setting records and beating humans in complex games for some time now, but it’s met its match in Montezuma’s Revenge.

Back in 2015, DeepMind attempted to play various Atari games. The AI was competent in most of the games and became as good at Video Pinball as a human player.

DeepMind notoriously struggled with Montezuma’s Revenge, a notoriously complex game from the 1980s. The AI was unable to learn a path and retrieve even the first...

1 February 2019 | Gaming

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

AnTuTu’s latest benchmark tests AI chip performance

We can now better scrutinise manufacturers’ claims about AI chip performance improvements thanks to AnTuTu’s latest benchmark.

If you’ve ever read a comprehensive smartphone review, you’ve likely heard of AnTuTu. The company’s smartphone benchmarking tool is often used for testing and comparing the CPU and 3D performance of devices.

With dedicated AI chips now appearing in devices from the mid-range to flagships, AnTuTu has decided it’s time for a benchmark...

30 January 2019 | Benchmark

Microsoft and MIT develop AI to fix driverless car ‘blind spots’

Microsoft and MIT have partnered on a project to fix so-called virtual ‘blind spots’ which lead driverless cars to make errors.

Roads, especially while shared with human drivers, are unpredictable places. Training a self-driving car for every possible situation is a monumental task.

The AI developed by Microsoft and MIT compares the action taken by humans in a given scenario to what the driverless car’s own AI would do. Where the human decision is more optimal, the...

28 January 2019 | Connected Cars

DeepMind thrashed pro StarCraft 2 players in latest demo

DeepMind’s AI demonstrated last night how its prowess in StarCraft 2 battles against professional human players has grown in recent months.

The live stream of the showdowns was viewed by more than 55,000 people.

“This is, of course, an exciting moment for us,” said David Silver, a researcher at DeepMind. “For the first time, we saw an AI that was able to defeat a professional player.”

DeepMind created five versions of their ‘AlphaStar’ AI. Each AI...

25 January 2019 | Gaming