CB Insights: The majority of promising AI startups are US-based

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A new report from CB Insights suggests the majority of promising AI startups are still based in the US.

Despite increasing AI investments around the world, 65 percent of the top 100 AI startups were located in the US. However, some of the companies also had headquarters in other countries.

It’s little surprise to see the most promising AI companies based in the world’s largest economy, but some of the others are more surprising.

The UK and Canada were in...

3 March 2020 | Research

MIT researchers use AI to discover a welcome new antibiotic

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A team of MIT researchers have used AI to discover a welcome new antibiotic to help in the fight against increasing resistance.

Using a machine learning algorithm, the MIT researchers were able to discover a new antibiotic compound which did not develop any resistance during a 30-day treatment period on mice.

The algorithm was trained using around 2,500 molecules – including about 1,700 FDA-approved drugs and a set of 800 natural products – to seek out chemical...

21 February 2020 | Healthcare

Meena is Google’s first truly conversational AI

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Google is attempting to build the first digital assistant that can truly hold a conversation with an AI project called Meena.

Digital assistants like Alexa and Siri are programmed to pick up keywords and provide scripted responses. Google has previously demonstrated its work towards a more natural conversation with its Duplex project but Meena should offer another leap forward.

Meena is a neural network with 2.6 billion parameters. Google claims Meena is able to handle...

29 January 2020 | Google

ABI Research: USA reclaims the top spot from China for AI investments

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A year after China overtook the USA as the number one country for AI investments, the Americans have reclaimed pole position.

According to figures published by ABI Research, the United States received 52.3 percent of global AI investments in 2018.

In 2018, investments in US-based AI technologies reached a total of $9.7 billion. This represents a staggering 120 percent year-on-year growth.

Huge AI investments from companies such as Zoox, Cruise Automation,...

1 November 2019 | Adoption

Study highlights just how poor AIs are at recognising non-cisgender people

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A study conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder has revealed just how bad AIs are at recognising non-cisgender people.

The worrying problems AIs have with recognising racial minorities are becoming increasingly well-documented, but this new study is among the first to evaluate gender classifications.

AI systems categorise people based on what they can “see” and often use stereotypical parameters (e.g. males don’t have long hair, females don’t have facial...

18 October 2019 | Ethics

Researchers explain how AI can help people with bipolar disorder

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Two professors explain how artificial intelligence can help to improve the lives of individuals living with bipolar disorder.

Melvin McInnis, professor of bipolar disorder and depression, and Emily Mower Provost, associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering, are working on an AI system to help unlock deeper insights about individual bipolar sufferers.

Speaking on a panel titled "Artificial Intelligence, Personalized Technology, and Mental Health" at...

30 September 2019 | Healthcare

Report: Companies like Amazon and Microsoft are ‘putting world at risk’ of killer AI

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A survey of major players within the industry concludes that leading tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft are putting the world ‘at risk’ of killer AI.

PAX, a Dutch NGO, ranked 50 firms based on three criteria:

If technology they’re developing could be used for killer AI.Their involvement with military projects.If they’ve committed to not being involved with military applications in the future.

Microsoft and Amazon are named among the world's ‘highest...

22 August 2019 | Amazon

Google Assistant wins IQ test, but Alexa and Siri are catching up

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Google Assistant continues to lead the virtual assistant pack, but its rivals are close behind according to a new IQ study by Loup Ventures.

Loup Ventures asked each of the three main virtual assistants – Google Assistant, Alexa, and Siri – a total of 800 questions. The assistants understood almost every question, even if not all of the responses were correct/sufficient.

In terms of understanding the questions, these are the results:

Google Assistant – 100...

19 August 2019 | Amazon

CBI: UK tech dominance is ‘at risk’ due to public mistrust of AI

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Business industry group the CBI has warned that UK tech dominance is 'at risk' due to public mistrust of AI.

In a report today, the CBI warns artificial intelligence companies of the need to ensure they're approaching the technology in an ethical manner to help build trust.

Among the measures suggested to achieve trust include ensuring customers know how their data is being used by AI, what decisions are being taken, and challenging unfair biases.

Overall, the...

9 August 2019 | Ethics

Most UK adults fear that AI will replace their jobs, and it might

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Research from an AI think tank and development company has found the vast majority of UK adults fear their jobs will be replaced by AI, and they might.

Fountech.ai surveyed more than 2,000 people and found over two-thirds (67%) are concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence on their careers. Just one in three (31%) believe AI will not be able to replicate the cognitive abilities of humans.

In a recent interview on the Pocket-lint podcast, Dr Alex Allan, CTO...

7 August 2019 | Society