Researchers create AI bot to protect the identities of BLM protesters

Researchers from Stanford have created an AI-powered bot to automatically cover up the faces of Black Lives Matter protesters in photos.

Everyone should have the right to protest. And, if done legally, to do so without fear of having things like their future job prospects ruined because they've been snapped at a demonstration – from which a select few may have gone on to do criminal acts such as arson and looting.

With images from the protests being widely shared on...

29 July 2020 | Bots

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

DeepMind’s AI will show off its new StarCraft 2 skills this week

DeepMind has been continuing to train its AI in the ways of StarCraft 2 and will show off its most recent progress this week.

StarCraft 2 is a complex game with many strategies, making it the perfect testing ground for AI. Google’s DeepMind first started exploring how it can use AI to beat the world’s best StarCraft players back in 2016.

In 2017, StarCraft’s developer Blizzard made 65,000 past matches available to DeepMind researchers to begin training bots....

23 January 2019 | Gaming

Microsoft acquires conversational AI company XOXCO

Microsoft has announced the acquisition of Texas-based conversational AI firm XOXCO to amplify the company’s work in the field. XOXCO have been in operation since 2013 and gained renown for creating Howdy, the first commercially available bot for Slack. Microsoft believes that bots will become a key way that businesses engage with employees and customers. The company has undertaken many projects with the aim of unlocking their potential, to various success. Tay, for example, has...

16 November 2018 | Bots

Bill forcing AI bots to reveal themselves faces EFF opposition

A bill that would force AI bots to reveal themselves as not being human is facing opposition from the EFF over free speech concerns. Many were slightly disturbed by Google’s demo of its Duplex AI conducting a phone call and the other participant being unaware they weren’t speaking to a human. Less than a month later, Microsoft demonstrated it also had the same capabilities. There are clearly big changes ahead in how we interact, and not everyone is going to be happy speaking to a robot...

24 May 2018 | Bots

Watch out Google Duplex, Microsoft also has a chatty AI

Not content with being outdone by Google’s impressive (yet creepy) Duplex demo, Microsoft has shown it also has an AI capable of making human-like phone calls. The company first launched its XiaoIce project back in August 2017. In April, Microsoft said it had achieved full duplexing — the ability to speak and listen at the same time, similar to humans. Microsoft’s announcement was made before Google’s demonstration earlier this month but, unlike Google, the company had nothing to show...

23 May 2018 | Bots

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

Facebook’s AI-driven M assistant chatbot reaches the UK

facebook ai chatbot m assistant

Facebook’s AI-driven M assistant chatbot has safely made it across the Atlantic and is now helping Messenger users in the UK. The chatbot will butt into your conversations if it feels it can be of assistance. For example, when discussing making plans it could find you nearby places, create a poll about where to go, and find time in participants’ diaries. When you arrive you could follow up with a question like “Where are you?” and the chatbot will prompt the other person to send...

16 August 2017 | Bots