AI can now beat those pesky CAPTCHAs

We’ve all had to prove we’re not “a robot” at some point, but it turns out the robots can now fact beat those pesky CAPTCHA checks. Until now we’ve come to accept them as a necessary evil, but it seems CAPTCHAs are quickly becoming a waste of time. Whether it’s one that asks you to solve a simple math equation, copy a jumbled (and often utterly illegible) set of characters, or choose select blocks from a grid. At least, that’s according to research published in the journal...

27 October 2017 | Bots

LinkedIn is teaching all its engineers AI skills

Rather than pay its employees six-figure salaries, LinkedIn is teaching all its engineers valuable AI skills. Earlier today, our sister publication Developer reported on the AI skill shortage driving employers to offer six-figure salaries to candidates. Most companies do not like, or can afford, to offer their employees such a high salary. LinkedIn is in a better situation financially than a startup wanting to delve into AI, especially since the Microsoft acquisition, but it’s taking a...

25 October 2017 | Developers

The BBC is using AI to improve its content

The BBC has announced a five-year partnership with eight universities in a bid to use machine learning to improve its content. The iconic broadcaster is going through a difficult period. It’s facing stiff competition in the entertainment sphere from streaming services, its news coverage has been subject to calls for investigations following claims of breaching impartiality rules, and it’s been at the center of controversial scandals. A difficult period Increasing adoption of streaming...

19 October 2017 | Machine Learning

Facebook is helping Intel with AI for the first Neural Network Processor

The CEO of Intel has revealed Facebook is providing its AI knowledge ahead of the launch of the world’s first Neural Network Processor. Brian Krzanich made the comment during an on-stage interview at the WSJD Live conference in Laguna Beach, California. The news Intel is working on its own AI chips is no surprise, but the choice of partner may be. "This is the first piece of silicon," Krzanich said. "We have a whole family planned for this, (Facebook) is helping us, along with others,...

18 October 2017 | Hardware

Research: One in three smartphones will feature dedicated AI chips by 2020

New research conducted by Counterpoint Research predicts that one in three smartphones will feature chipset-level AI by 2020. In an editorial last month, we predicted an invasion of mobile AI chips with a pace of adoption quicker than what Counterpoint is expecting. Recent announcements, such as the Huawei Mate 10 yesterday, certainly appear to indicate the start of a trend over the coming months. If you missed our coverage from Huawei’s event in Munich yesterday, we came away...

17 October 2017 | Smartphones

Opinion: Huawei shows what’s possible when you put AI first

Huawei unveiled its latest Mate 10 flagship smartphone at a dedicated event in Munich today, and its AI prowess lives up to the expectations the company set beforehand. When our invite came through we couldn't pass on the opportunity to see the device for ourselves. Huawei has openly mocked Apple for boasting of the company dipping its toes into AI with the iPhone X, but ultimately with a lack of ambition that's left it looking far behind what Android phones have accomplished for...

16 October 2017 | Machine Learning

US author makes provocative claim AI will replace God

US author Dan Brown made a provocative claim during the Frankfurt Book Fair that AI will replace belief in traditional religions. Brown’s reasoning for his remark is that humanity no longer needs God but instead will develop a new form of collective consciousness with the help of artificial intelligence which fulfills the role of religion. Studies prove that religious belief is already in decline globally. Brown’s new book, Origin, was inspired by the question of “Will God survive...

13 October 2017 | Uncategorized

AI to fuel cloud computing growth, says ACCA chairman

Bernie Trudel, chairman of the Asia Cloud Computing Association (ACCA), while addressing the audience at the Cloud Expo Asia conference in Singapore, said that he expects AI to fuel cloud computing growth. He said that although AI only accounts for 1% of the global cloud computing market currently, its share of the overall IT market is growing at 52%. Trudel added, “We’re starting to see AI having a significant impact on cloud computing. If you extrapolate what the analysts are saying,...

13 October 2017 | Cloud

Facebook’s CherryPi ranked sixth in ‘StarCraft’ tournament of AI bots

Facebook participated in a StarCraft tournament which pitted artificial intelligent “bots” against each other instead of humans. Facebook’s “CherryPi” AI bot ranked sixth in the overall tournament with 2,049 wins out of 2,966 games. The StarCraft AI competition made use of the original StarCraft PC game and its expansion, Brood War. The motive behind this was to evaluate the state of artificial intelligence and how it handles real-time strategy games. This genre poses a challenge...

12 October 2017 | Bots

Opinion: PornHub’s new AI is wasted on adult content

Warning: Contains descriptions of explicit sexual acts. PornHub has announced an AI for tagging adult content, but I can’t help but feel it demonstrates promising technology with better use elsewhere. The company’s AI is virtually perving on PornHub’s entire online catalogue, frame-by-frame, and tagging it with relevant tags for real users to discover content faster. It has been fed with thousands of images of models and specific acts to generate a database of names, faces, and...

11 October 2017 | Machine Learning