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No one knows better than Sam Blakeslee that your elected officials operate in the shadows. No one is sure what they do or what they say.

He knows because he used to be one of them. As a Republican state senator and assemblyman in California, Blakeslee worked on negotiating the state budget and drafting bills around the energy sector and lobbying reform. And he did itas did his fellow legislatorsfar from the prying eyes of the very people he was representing.

Thats one reason why, when Blakeslee left government, he began working with students on a way to automate government accountability. Digital Democracy is like YouTube for local government hearings, bolstered with a splash of artificial intelligence. Bots create transcripts of lawmakers every official utterance at the state house and use face recognition software to keep track of whos speaking. Voters can search the transcripts by speaker and subject while at the same time getting a glimpse of legislators financial ties. The non-profit effort launched in California back in 2015, and today, its expanding to New York.

Were keenly aware that most legislators operate in the dark and with impunity, says Blakeslee, now founding director of the Institute for Advanced Technology & Public Policy at Cal Poly. Their constituencies dont know what they say or what they do behind closed doors.

Most legislators operate in the dark and with impunity.

The Digital Democracy platform, funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and the Rita Allen Foundation, is a collaboration between man and machine. Students at Cal Poly review each transcript for accuracy before it goes live. They also compile a profile page for each legislator, complete with an itemized list of gifts that person has received.

Government in the past has been, you vote, I decide,' says Gavin Newsom, the lieutenant governor of California, former mayor of San Francisco, and co-founder of Digital Democracy. That model is in peril, and Donald Trump exploited it brilliantly.

Not surprisingly, Newsom says California lawmakers were none too thrilled when the platform launched. We wax on about the importance of transparency in public forums but we dont always practice what we preach, he says.

The expansion of Digital Democracy comes at an opportune time. Not only is the public hungry for accountability both inside and outside of Washington, DC, but as Trump works to roll back federal legislation on everything from healthcare to environmental protections, the future of those policies will be in states hands.

The Trump administration is making a number of decisions that would push issues back to state houses across the country, says Blakeslee. This is a perfect moment if you want to make a difference to engage in the politics in your state.

That may be true, but in other crucial ways, the Digital Democracy platform couldnt be more of a mismatch for this particular time. Most people today will share a link without ever reading the story it references. Americans consume their news in bite-sized tweets and push alerts. In California, journalists with the patience and time to sift through transcripts have been Digital Democracys most frequent users. Even Newsom acknowledges its not exactly user-friendly.

Its a data dump, he says. But both Newsom, a Democrat, and Blakeslee, a Republican, worry that curation could threaten the platforms objectivity. Its harder to cry fake news about a video thats presented in full without commentary.

The founders are also joining up with other organizations that have become instrumental to holding politicians accountable. Cal Poly students will soon run their hearing transcripts through an AI tool called ClaimBuster, which automatically detects assertions of fact, and then feed those statements to PolitiFact for fact-checking.

The non-profit is also rolling out an enhanced version that will enable other organizations to embed the videos directly on their websites. Meanwhile, Digital Democracy has plans to expand to Florida and Texas, at which point the platform will reach one-third of the countrys citizens. In time, Newsom hopes that Digital Democracy will be a platform on which developers of politically minded tech build other apps.

That will take time. For now, putting these videos in citizens hands is simply a much needed step toward transparency at a time when so much policy-making is anything but. Its not a perfect system. Then again, neither is democracy.

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A Heroic AI Will Let You Spy on Your Lawmakers' Every Word - WIRED

By Doug Randall, CEO, Protagonist

At a recent meeting with U.S. governors, Elon Musk made some hefty criticisms of artificial intelligence. When an interviewer jokingly asked whether we should be afraid of robots taking our jobs, Musk, not jokingly, replied, AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization. Those are serious words, from a very influential thinker.

Narratives about AI are buzzing. Some, like Musk, have vocalized concerns over the regulation of AI and its impact on human jobs. The vast majority of industry leaders have been bombastic about the wonders of the technology, while dismissing the criticisms. Eric Schmidt of Alphabet said:

Youd have to convince yourself that a declining workforce and an ever-increasing idle force, the sum of that wont generate more demand. Thats roughly the argument that you have to make. Thats never been truein order to believe its different now, you have to believe that humans are not adaptable, that theyre not creative.

That confidence might not resonate with those who are warier of the threats of AI--a population significant population that is underrepresented in Silicon Valley leadership. Protagonist recently analyzed hundreds of thousands of conversations around AI using our Narrative Analytics platform. Most of what we found was positive techno-friendly Narratives, but there are also very real, deeply held beliefs about AI as a threat to humanity, human jobs and human privacy that need to be addressed.

Most companies in the AI space can readily allow that Narratives like robots will take our jobs or AI is a threat to humanity exist. What they dont know is how much that Narrative rests with their target audience or whether those Narratives are being applied to their own brand. Its often more than they think. Elon Musk is far from alone in his distrust.

As of last year, 10 percent of Americans considered AI a threat to humanity and six percent considered it a threat to jobs, though the former number was declining and the latter was rising. With that in mind, businesses should be aware of the very real risks of being labelled a job-killer. That Narrative might not be as broadly held as some others, but is one of the most emotionally evocative. Fear and anger over outsourced or inaccessible work opportunities played a major role in the last presidential election. Its clearly a topic that resonates with people on a deep level, and if it dictated their vote, it will dictate their feelings about a company.

Our analysis revealed a cautionary finding: the less tech-friendly Narratives about AI have significantly higher levels of engagement than the more positive tropes. That means theyre more likely to spread quickly once they are triggered.

In todays world it doesnt matter whether specific types of AI present a real threat to human jobs or privacy; if theyre perceived to be dangerous the businesses behind them could be in real trouble. Negative affiliations could result in anything from investor slowdown, to active boycotts to slowed adoption during critical growth periods.

In Silicon Valley and tech markets, growth rates are particularly important and AI companies often experience surges of enthusiastic early adopters. When AI companies are strategizing for continued growth and allocating resources, they also need to think about how adoption trends might change when their product reaches the broader market. Negative narratives could create significanteven damningheadwinds if they arent accounted for and addressed directly.

So what can businesses implementing AI do? First, understand the Narrative landscape, then take action by addressing negative beliefs head-on. Of the seven percent of Americans who fear AI is feeding the surveillance machine, most are in finance, marketing or healthcare. So businesses looking to sell into those fields should emphasize privacy in their marketing. Companies worried about being affiliated with job disenfranchisement should advocate ways they create opportunities.

Its okay to relish in the excitement of innovation; 69 percent of the the mentality around artificial intelligence is positive: its rich, its exciting, its transforming business as we know it. AI-using companies can and should participate in that shared glow. They just cant ignore or laugh off those other Narratives as they do so. Especially with people like Musk chiming in.

Dougis Founder & CEO ofProtagonistwhich is a high growth Narrative Analytics company.Protagonistmines beliefs in order to energize brands, win narrative battles, and understand target audiences.

Protagonistuses natural language processing, machine learning, and deep human expertise to identify, measure, and shape narratives.Doughas lectured on a number of topics at the Wharton School, Stanford University, and National Defense University; his articles on future technology trends have appeared in the Financial Times, Wired, and Business 2.0. He was previously a partner at Monitor, founder of Monitor 360 and co-head of the consulting practice at Global Business Network (GBN). Before that, he was a Vice President at Snapfish, a senior consultant at Decision Strategies, Inc., and a senior research fellow at the Wharton School.

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AI Vs. The Narrative of the Robot Job-Stealers - HuffPost

Research reveals the key actions leaders can take to accelerate AI outcomes

NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --

Key takeaways

Why this matters

The Deloitte AI Institute's fifth edition of the "State of AI in the Enterprise" survey, conducted between April and May 2022, provides organizations with a roadmap to navigate lagging AI outcomes. Twenty-nine percent more respondents surveyed classify as underachievers this year, yet 79% of respondents say they've fully deployed three or more types of AI. It is clear despite rapid advancement in the AI market that organizations are struggling to turn implementation into scalable transformation. This year's report digs deeper into the actions that lead to successful outcomes providing leaders with a guide to overcome roadblocks and drive business results with AI.

The report surveyed 2,620 executives from 13 countries across the globe, outlining detailed recommendations for leaders to cultivate an AI-ready enterprise and improve outcomes for their AI efforts. Similar to last year's report, Deloitte grouped responding organizations into four profiles Transformers, Pathseekers, Starters and Underachievers based on how many types of AI applications they have deployed full-scale and the number of outcomes achieved to a high degree. The findings in the report aim to help companies overcome deployment and adoption challenges to become AI-fueled organizations that realize value and drive transformational outcomes from AI.

Key quotes

"Amid unprecedented disruption in the global economy and society at large, it is clear today's AI race is no longer about just adopting AI but instead driving outcomes and unleashing the power of AI to transform business from the inside out. This year's report provides a clear roadmap for business leaders looking to apply next-level human cognition and drive value at scale across their enterprise."

Costi Perricos, Deloitte Global AI and Data leader

"Since 2017, we have been tracking the advancement of AI as industries navigate the "Age of With." The fifth edition of our annual report outlines how AI can propel businesses beyond automating processes for efficiency to redesigning work itself. While organizations face the challenge of middling results, it is clear successful AI transformation requires strong leadership and focused investment, a through-line consistently evident in our annual research."

Beena Ammanath, executive director of the Deloitte AI Institute, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Four key actions powering widespread value from AI

Based on Deloitte's analysis of the behaviors and responses of high- and low-outcome organizations, the report identifies four key actions leaders can take now to improve outcomes for their AI efforts.

Action 1: Invest in Leadership and Culture

When it comes to successful AI deployment and adoption, leadership and culture matter. The workforce is increasingly optimistic, and leaders should do more to harness that optimism for culture change, establishing new ways of working to drive greater business results with AI.

Action 2: Transform Operations

An organization's ability to build and deploy AI ethically and at scale depends on how well they have redesigned their operations to accommodate the unique demands of new technologies.

Action 3: Orchestrate Tech and Talent

Technology and talent acquisition are no longer separate. Organizations need to strategize their approach to AI based on the skillsets they have available, whether they derive from humans or pre-packaged solutions.

Action 4: Select Use Cases that Accelerate Outcomes

The report found that selecting the right use cases to fuel an organization's AI journey depends largely on the value-drivers for the business based on sector and industry. Starting with use cases that are easier to achieve or have a faster or higher return on investment can create momentum for further investment and make it easier to drive internal cultural and organizational changes that accelerate the benefits of AI.

Connect with us:@Deloitte, @DeloitteAI, @beena_ammanath

TheDeloitte AI Institutesupports the positive growth and development of AI through engaged conversations and innovative research. It also focuses on building ecosystem relationships that help advance human-machine collaboration in the "Age of With," a world where humans work side-by-side with machines.

About DeloitteDeloitte provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax and advisory services to many of the world's most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and more than 7,000 private companies.Our people come together for the greater good and work across the industry sectors that drive and shape today's marketplace delivering measurable and lasting results that help reinforce public trust in our capital markets, inspire clients to see challenges as opportunities to transform and thrive, and help lead the way toward a stronger economy and a healthier society. Deloitte is proud to be part of the largest global professional services network serving our clients in the markets that are most important to them.Building on more than 175 years of service, our network of member firms spans more than 150 countries and territories. Learn how Deloitte's approximately 415,000 people worldwide connect for impact at http://www.deloitte.com.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. In the United States, Deloitte refers to one or more of the US member firms of DTTL, their related entities that operate using the "Deloitte" name in the United States and their respective affiliates. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting. Please see http://www.deloitte.com/aboutto learn more about our global network of member firms.

SOURCE Deloitte Consulting LLP

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'State of AI in the Enterprise' Fifth Edition Uncovers Four Key Actions to Maximize AI Value - PR Newswire

Artificial intelligence, more commonly referred to AI, is changing the game for many industries. From healthcare to finance, AI is revolutionizing the way we go about our day-to-day lives.

However, it isn't just major industries that are influenced by the developments in artificial intelligence. With the direction things are moving, AI may also affect the everyday person more than we think.

While we struggle with an influx of fake news, AI could take that to an entirely different level. With the ability to make fake videos, audio messages and images, new types of fake content could make it even more difficult to tell what's real and what isn't.

Both business professionals and consumers need to be aware of how these new forms of AI could affect them. Let's take a look at the various ways this fake content could influence your life, both personally and professionally, and what you can do to protect yourself.

Identity fraud isn't anything new. When your information falls into the wrong hands, it can be incredibly damaging. Not only can they hack your bank accounts and open new lines of credit in your name, but they can also potentially tarnish your professional or personal image.

AI makes identity fraud even more of a problem by attempting to mimic your voice or image. Through mimicking your voice, the person behind the AI may try to convince your bank or other financial institutions you are on the phone. By pairing your information with your voice, the criminal could trick your bank into handing over sensitive data.

Because of these new developments in AI, there may be more requirements and hurdles you need to jump through to connect with your bank to prevent identity fraud. While this can be annoying to someone with the right to access certain accounts, additional protection may be necessary.

People in the public eye have always faced rumors about things they may or may not have done. Without proof, these accusations are simply a matter of he-said, she-said. While the rumors may spread, they eventually die out without adequate proof to back them up.

Unfortunately, this new AI can make it easier to fake images, videos and even audio messages. While applications like Photoshop have been around for a few years, they're becoming more advanced, making it even more difficult to tell what is real and what isn't. Video editors and audio recordings, which used to be extremely difficult to edit, are also becoming more advanced.

For the business professional or other individual in the spotlight, it may mean it is more difficult to protect yourself against public rumors. This means that it may take an incredibly trained eye to determine whether or not something is real, which could damage your professional image or make it more challenging to defend yourself if a rumor begins to spread. It can also mean video and audio recordings cannot be entirely trusted.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way we do just about everything. As computers become smarter and more developed, it's getting easier to replicate everything from images and videos to products or even high-end goods.

With AI continuing to advance, you should understand what is editable and what is not. If a video or audio recording comes across your desk, you'll want to take it with a grain of salt as it may be doctored. Likewise, you'll want to be aware of anything regarding you or your company that could be a fraud.

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AI Is Getting Scary Good At Mimicking Us - Inc.com

All of the people pictured above are real, but what you are seeing are synthetically generated versions of their real selves. And they can be programmed to say anything. Tech futurists have long warned about humans being replaced by life-like AI-driven figures, where it would be almost impossible to tell between machine and human. Indeed, theres even a new book on this subject of deep fakes.

But that future comes a step closer today with the news that Hour One, which creates AI-driven synthetic characters based on real humans, closes a $5 million seed funding led by Galaxy Interactive (via its Galaxy EOS VC Fund), Remagine Ventures and Kindred Ventures (with participation of Amaranthine).

Hour One will use the funds to scale its AI-driven cloud platform, onboard thousands of new characters and expand its commercial activities.

Founded in 2019, Hour One develops technologies for creating high-quality digital characters based on real people. The idea is to generate production-grade video-based characters in a highly scalable and cost-effective way.The upshot of this is that what appears to be a real human could talk about any product or subject at all, to the point of infinite scale.

This was showcased at its real or synthetic likeness test at CES 2020, challenging people to distinguish between real and synthetic characters generated by its AI.

Oren Aharon, Hour Ones founder and CEO, said in a statement: We believe that synthetic characters of real people will become a part of our everyday life. Our vision is that Hour One will drive the use of synthetic characters to improve the quality of communication between businesses and people across markets and use cases. By enabling each person to create their own character together with our scalable cloud platform, we will provide a variety of solutions for next-gen remote business-to-human interactions.

Hour One is currently working with companies in the e-commerce, education, automotive, communication, and enterprise sectors, with expanded industry applications expected throughout 2020.

The company also showcased its real or synthetic likeness test at CES 2020, challenging people to distinguish between real and synthetic characters generated by its AI.

The real issue, however, is how will this technology be deployed without it being abused.

Lior Hakim, co-founder and CTO, says this potential problem is dealt with via encryption technologies to secure the use and rights of the characters enabling anyone to identify our videos as well as mark them as altered to notify the viewers. The company also says it has an ethical policy code for how its technology is used.

Sam Englebardt, co-founder and managing director of Galaxy Interactive, says the startups ethics-driven approach to the creation of synthetic video is key and that given how challenging production with live actors has become as a result of COVID-19, now is the perfect time for businesses of all sizes to produce their content with Hour Ones synthetic characters.

Clearly this will reduce the cost of synthetic character creation, meaning any textual content could be automatically translated into a live-action video of a person that engages an audience by speaking the text, said Eze Vidra, co-founder and managing partner at Remagine Ventures .

Speaking to TechCrunch, Business strategy lead for Hour One Natalie Monbiot said the company has a unique ability to onboard basically any human being and turn them into a synthetic character thats a lifelike replica of that person. So its not an avatar or a version of that person. It really does look and behave like that person. You can then basically generate new content by uploading new texts. So, for example, in e-commerce, you can pick your characters and get them to present your product or do a product presentation. This means every single product SKU can have its own video presentation.

Excerpt from:

Hour One raises $5M Seed to generate AI-driven synthetic characters from real humans - TechCrunch

Earlier this month we told you about AI Dungeon, an AI-powered text adventure with near infinite possibilities. You can type what you want into the game, and the AI will generate a response on the fly, creating a freewheeling experience that encourages cooperation and imagination. Now, AI Dungeon is available on iOS and Android as well, making it much easier to explore fantasy and sci-fi realms with an AI game master.

We tested the iOS version briefly, and although there were a few game-breaking errors, its generally as easy to use as youd want. Responses to each input still take a few seconds to process, which rather slows the experience, but its definitely quicker than the web version was, and each interaction with the AI is as surprising (and frequently delightful) as before.

There are also helpful tips for newcomers, reminding you to start each of your text commands with a verb, or use quotation marks to indicate when someone is speaking.

AI Dungeons creator Nick Walton told The Verge that hes actually quit his job to go full time on the game, and has started a company around it with a few other people. Hes also running a Patreon to support development, and has attracted a healthy $10k a month.

Walton says hes still surprised by the enthusiastic reaction to AI Dungeon, which is lauded by users as they find new ways to interact with the AI. I thought people would enjoy it but Ive been really blown away by how much, he says, adding that reading users play-throughs never gets old, as each person works with or against the AI in a different way.

There was one where someone told the NPCs in the game that they were in a game, says Walton. The NPCs got really depressed and sad which made them feel surprisingly lifelike.

The first step in development is to make AI Dungeon faster and more stable, he says. After that he wants to add extra features like a multiplayer mode and a family-friendly version. (Right now, AI Dungeon works just fine as a fantasy porn role-playing game. Do with that information what you will.) And after that, Walton says he and his new colleagues have much bigger plans in the AI game world, but wont say what right now. Exploring the dungeon is only the beginning.

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Infinite text adventure AI Dungeon is now available on iOS and Android - The Verge

Inclusion isn't just a buzzword but a business mandate, says Tolonda Tolbert.

With two decades of hands-on experience in D&I and culture change, Tolonda Tolbert knows how to put data into action. The co-founder and head of strategy and culture at Eskalera, Tolbert previously served as senior director of the Inclusive Leadership Initiative for Catalyst, partnering with global organizations to build their capacity to create and sustain inclusive workplaces. She has led anti-bias projects at the Anti-Defamation Leagues A World of Difference Institute and GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) and has been a faculty member at New York Universitys Silver School of Social Work, teaching graduate and faculty courses on diversity, racism, oppression and privilege.

Tolbert was slated to speak at the Women in HR Technology Summit, part of the HR Technology Conference and Exposition, which recently was announced will be a virtual event, on unconscious bias. As a Black woman who identifies as LGBTQ with a multi-racial family, she has run up against walls and knows theyre not a figment of anyones imagination.

Related: Register now for the 2020 virtual HR Technology Conference

HRE:An inclusive culture requires fostering a sense of belonging so everyone thrives. What measures can leaders take to support all employeesespecially during these exceptional times?

Tolonda Tolbert

Tolbert: First, its important for leaders to understand the impact of a non-inclusive environment. Ultimately, when youre biased, youre processing talent out of the organization. The impact of that dynamic thwarts innovation and growth. If your employees dont feel safe and supported, they wont reach their maximum potential. On an individual level, neuroscience has established that being excluded registers as pain in the brain; we all are seeking acceptance and respect.

The most important measure a leader can take is to build trust with their people. Make employees feel safe to make mistakes without fear of retribution or being thrown under the bus. Create environments where feedback to employees respects different work styles and helps develop the employee rather than tear them down. And actively supporting those for whom the system wasnt created is important, as well as asking people to participate and being transparent about why inclusion is important.

Related: Are your WFH strategies biased?

HRE:Lets talk about how AI-based technology can drive diversity and inclusion. What early warning signs can be uncovered before valuable talent exits the workforce?

Tolbert: For early warning signs, technology can provide an ongoing, real-time feedback loop, rather than a once-a-year survey. Nurturing inclusion is a daily process and driving behavior changes can be done by giving people skills, tips and nudges that are integrated into their workday. D&I technology enables us to coach in the flow of work plus get feedback from employees without them having to raise their hand in an uncomfortable or whistle-blowing setting. The reality is that people are often more honest on technology with anonymityit can be more intimate. It enables you to identify hot spots in the organization to focus resources, while also highlighting which parts of your organization have strengths to model.

Theres another aspect that technology can identify and thats micro-moments. Micro-moments have a cumulative effectI call them death by 1,000 paper cutsthe actions and behaviors that erode a persons confidence and quality of relationships in the workplace. AI can give you insights into where there is an issue and how to solve the problem.

HRE:How pervasive do you think unconscious bias is, and what can women do about it?

Tolbert: Its real, and womenwomen of color even more sohave to navigate it daily. Women need to build influential relationships and strong networks. You need people who can help advise you, run cover for you, mentor you and mediate on your behalf. If a situation is unbearable, your network can help find a solution. By having a really strong networkand continually expanding that networkyou create a power dynamic that can mitigate the negative impact of unconscious bias.

In addition to building your network, you also need to develop skills of assertiveness. Part of that includes active listening and standing up for yourself in ways that are not going to exacerbate a situation negatively. Asking for specifics and data are well within reason; when you discuss your career path, demand clear job descriptions that clearly indicate what skills are needed. Put data into action; track your skills and experiences to qualify for leadership opportunities and inform your larger strategy.

Related: How AI is transforming talent management during COVID

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Using AI and data to drive diversity - Human Resource Executive

DEF CON Machine-learning tools can create custom malware that defeats antivirus software.

In a keynote demonstration at the DEF CON hacking convention Hyrum Anderson, technical director of data science at security shop Endgame, showed off research that his company had done in adapting Elon Musks OpenAI framework to the task of creating malware that security engines cant spot.

The system basically learns how to tweak malicious binaries so that they can slip past antivirus tools and continue to work once unpacked and executed. Changing small sequences of bytes can fool AV engines, even ones that are also powered by artificial intelligence, he said. Anderson cited research by Google and others to show how changing just a few pixels in an image can cause classification software to mistake a bus for an ostrich.

All machine learning models have blind spots, he said. Depending on how much knowledge a hacker has they can be convenient to exploit.

So the team built a fairly simple mechanism to develop weaponised code by making very small changes to malware and firing these variants at an antivirus file scanner. By monitoring the response from the engine they were able to make lots of tiny tweaks that proved very effective at crafting software nasties that could evade security sensors.

The malware-tweaking machine-learning software was trained over 15 hours and 100,000 iterations, and then lobbed some samples at an antivirus classifier. The attacking code was able to get 16 per cent of its customized samples past the security systems defenses, we're told.

This software-generation software will be online at the firms Github page and Anderson encouraged people to give it a try. No doubt security firms will also be taking a long look at how this affects their products in the future.

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AI quickly cooks malware that AV software can't spot The Register - The Register

As AI technologies multiply, how do you sort fact from fiction? Register now for our upcoming VB Live event and find out. Well be tackling the AI legends and the AI realities, breaking down the potential that AI has for your bottom line, and giving you a glimpse of the future of AI for business.

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Gartner has placed artificial intelligence right at the top of its 10 major strategic technology trends for 2017 because weve reached a tipping point. There are AI use cases in almost every industry, service, application, and more, and a feeling of urgency in the air as the technology becomes more sophisticated, more ubiquitous, and more available from the hundreds of vendors popping up to take advantage of your Fear of Missing Out.

IDC forecasts that worldwide revenues for cognitive and artificial intelligence systems will reach $12.5 billion in 2017 thats an astounding increase of 59.3 percent from 2016. And as companies jump faster and faster on board, the research firm says well see compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 54.4 percent through 2020, when revenues will be more than $46 billion.

Frankly, thats kind of nuts. In a good way. Cognitive computing, artificial intelligence, and deep learning are are completely transforming how consumers and enterprises work, learn, and play in a million different, fascinating ways.

Perhaps more importantly, cognitive and AI systems are also quickly becoming one of those differentiators that mean the difference between staying competitive and getting left completely behind. Its one of those watershed moments where youll invest, or youll spend the next five years kicking yourself.

So, you need to make it a key part of IT infrastructure. And thats where conviction ends, and confusion and complexity rises up to take its place. Cognitive and AI software platforms provide the tools and technologies to analyze, organize, access, and provide advisory services based on a range of structured and unstructured information. But how will that work for you? Where does it fit into your organization? Can you fire all your employees and replace them with chatbots?

The tech is omnipresent, but its still early-days enough that making that investment is very much taking a step into the unknown. Dont go it alone join this VB Live event where well dive into the myths and realities of artificial intelligence, figuring out what you need and where to start, and what the future holds for AI. Dont miss out!

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AI fact vs fiction: AI biz decisions that really work (VB Live) - VentureBeat

Benjamin Franklin allegedly once said that there were only two certainties in life death and taxes. In the modern era that might well be modified to include data/identity theft. Its a huge problem and an apparent unavoidable evil these days, but a group of Italian researchers think they might have a solution and it involves AI.

Online its tough to prove someone is who they say they are. In person, you can at least match someone to a photo ID, but online anyone could fill in boxes on an Amazon order. But what if an AI could read a users mouse movements and determine if they were being truthful? That was the question Giuseppe Sartori, a forensic neuroscientist and study author wanted to answer.

To test this, he asked a number of volunteers to either memorize a fake identity or be truthful about themselves. Subjects were then asked a series of yes-or-no questions on as computer test. The questions were simple like Were you born in [year]? But, mixed in with those simple ones, were slightly more complex ones Is [x] your zodiac sign?

The hope is to throw off would-be identity thieves just by catching them off guard. A fraud might memorize the basics name, birthdate, address but not connecting thoughts. If you were born in Oklahoma and youre pretending to be someone in California, and someone asks you the capital of your home state, youll have to stop to think for a moment. That hesitation was evident in cursor movements.

Experimenters found that when they fed their machine learning algorithms data on the subjects mouse paths, they were able to catch liars an incredible 95% of the time. Its a lot like Googles new I am not a robot button. Many bots tend to move in straight, clean lines, while humans are a lot more imprecise. By reading basic cursor data, its not hard to sort out the humans from the software. Similarly, if the team can get it just a bit more accurate, this could be a valuable new tool in the fight against identity theft. And, for once, I think I wont make the panicky case against allowing AI research to develop. Ill just let this be a relatively happy story. That is until this tech gets adapted for use in robo police, who will no doubt use it to oppress the populace by enforcing laws too strictly. Then well find ourselves in a dystopic police state rules by the mach oh shit, I did it again. Dammit, Im really sorry. Bots just freak me out.

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AI Can Now Tell If You're Lying - Geek

The importance of Latinx participation in the AI community and for the people of Latin America can not be underscored

I recently hosted a panel discussion with Laura Montoya and Benito Berretta during the AI Show Biz Summit to discuss this topic. Laura, who has roots in Colombia, is CEO of Accel.ai. Benito is the GM for Hyper Island and based out of Brasil.

Laura and Benito provided contrasting examples for why it is important to bring in diversity into AI, particularly from the perspective of the Latinx community.

If AI is science-based, why does diversity matter? Laura points out that there is in fact a problem with diversity in technology, the STEM industry, and the problem is an underrepresentation of women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community. The goal of Lauras organization, Accel.AI is to make the Latinx community more visible across the AI ecosystem and at industry conferences.

Benito defines diversity in two dimensions, ethical and one with return in investment. He argues that we need to embrace diversity in both to make a better world for all. The first step to this is for homogeneous groups to first come to an awareness that those gaps exist and then they can start their journey to find more diversity.

AI can be a tool to be a facilitator for this, especially in identifying who isnt being included in collaborative work. AI can monitor dialogue in real-time, model who is getting the most air time, and act as a facilitator to ensure that there is space for other voices to participate.

To improve diversity of thought in work settings, AI can play a role in making space for diverse voices, understanding who it is that gets to put content out in the world, and ultimately shining a light on the content that is missing.

There are universities and institutions throughout Latin America that have been leading work in machine learning, but in contrast to high profile US universities such as Stanford, are not associated with the AI industry and are often left without recognition.

Barriers to digitalization in Latin America include funding, changing institutional practices, and working with old languages or systems. Benito remarked, If you want to have an understanding, for example of the Amazon, then you need to go there and not lean on a statistical average. We need to be cautious in trusting data. In the Latin American context, generating data, as Laura outlined, may also include the risk of disrupting indigenous societies and structures.

The term Latinx is full of rich history in both South and Central America. Latinx people share similarities but are also from different countries, races, and indigenous histories. Regardless of how one may want to slice it, AI with the Latinx diversity is rich.

There were two main themes behind what the future holds for Latinx AI communities, predictive and behavioral change.

Media and AI is a representation of the community. There are social inequalities in how the media represents Latinx even within Latin America, often Afro-Latinx and Indigenous-Latinx characters are represented in jobs as a janitor or service industry. Having algorithms for facial recognition that pick up on some qualities and not others can cause damage in the future stated Laura.

On the other hand, Benito brought up the perspective of changing behavior for Latinx. Modeling efficiencies such as when you have the most productive time using AI can help people change behaviors, and while we share many similarities, the mates, coca teas, or cocoa consumption throughout the Latinx world vary.

Beyond fair representation, there is a business case for having Latinx at the decision tables of the AI industry. Latinx in AI is important for Latin America because we have our own knowledge bases, scientific practices, and languages, that only we can translate into automation that works for our communities.

The exchange of ideas is pivotal for innovation, and it is special occasions like this session that allow for the Latinx community to share perspectives and collaborate.TheHarvard Business Review recently found that diverse teams are able to solve problems faster than teams of cognitively similar people and that when diverse teams made a business decision, they outperformed individual decision-makers up to 87% of the time.

It is always a pleasure to faciliate these fascinating conversations, thank you to AI Show Biz for having me on as a host. The entire conversation can be found here.

Accel.ai is Bay Area based non-profit in the mission to lower the barriers to entry in engineering artificial intelligence. They focus on integrating AI and Social Impact through consulting, workshops, and research on ethical AI development and applied AI engineering.

Hyper Island designs learning experiences that challenge companies and individuals to grow and stay competitive in an increasingly digitized world. They have over 5000 alumni, online programming, and locations around the globe.

Link:

The Importance of Latinx Participation in the AI Community - Grit Daily

PHOTO:Shutterstock

Todays brands are producing an enormous amount of highly personalized content. The reason according to research by Adobe is that 67% of consumers want brands to tailor content to them, and 42% even get annoyed when content isnt personalized.

The sheer amount of content and the complexity of matching this content to various audiences, however, could be too much to handle manually for most brands. Does that mean artificial intelligence (AI) is the only realistic way forward?

We asked marketing experts why they need large scale personalization and how theyre scaling the personalization strategies at their companies.

It seems strange to talk about large-scale personalization, when the very idea of personalization is to narrowly focus on an individuals needs or desires, stated Geoff Webb, VP of strategy PROS, yet that is exactly the challenge that faces businesses now. Todays consumers want their individual needs met immediately, and dont want to be treated as just another member of a businesss broader target market.

Vendors must now be able to demonstrate a clear response to a specific need in a buyer, while doing so at scale, Webb explained, across many buyers, globally, through multiple purchasing channels. This need for personalization goes for B2B markets as well, which have buyers willing to pay more for solutions that meet their specific business needs. Failing to do so risks losing individual deals to a more nimble competitor, warned Webb, and ultimately the buyer themselves entirely.

Related Article: Why the Time Is Right for Personalization

When you consider the scale of many businesses the number of products, customers, configurations, options, sales channels, price points and so on, said Webb, it becomes clear that the volume of information that must be consumed and analyzed is simply too great for human methods. Even if companies do attempt to grind through the data manually, it often takes too long to offer the responsiveness consumers expect.

AI has therefore become one of the central pillars in delivering personalization at scale and speed, continued Webb. AI technologies paired with a good customer dataset can spot trends and make discoveries faster and better than humans in many cases. B2B business of the future will be masters of analytics and extracting insight from oceans of data, very, very quickly, Webb stated. For this, he believes AI will play a critical role.

Jeffrey MacIntyre, principal at Bucket Studio, however, believes the smartest teams know that information architecture (IA) is far more critical than AI. There is no scale without structure, he explained, you cannot afford to forego understanding the data around your customer journey and the contextual delivery of content. The reality is that content creation and design are prerequisites to algorithms that machines simply cannot deliver.

For Webb, personalization shouldnt be the end goal itself, but a means for supporting the companys overall sales and customer engagement strategy. We personalize so that we can achieve exactly the right outcome for the customer and the vendor together, he said. That means for brands to foster personalized interactions, they first need to listen to their customers and then engage with them.

The truly transformative part of this, Webb continued, is that the process of engaging with a customer enables us to learn more about their desires. Every interaction is an opportunity to learn more about the customer, which can be factored into the next interaction. It becomes a virtuous, reinforcing cycle in which the relationship moves from transactional to long-term, Webb explained. When this happens, both the buyer and the vendor derive more value from the relationship.

AI is not the sensible way forward for most organizations to scale personalization efforts. added MacIntyre. He believes personalization doesnt need to be launched on every platform at once, but should be slowly implemented over time. Incrementalism is not just smart scoping with personalization, its oftentimes the best way to generate learnings, momentum and a sponsor's confidence.

AI is able to deliver the right kind of advice, insight and information to shape how businesses deliver exactly what a customer wants, said Webb. But brands with the most successful personalization strategies need to know how to feed AI the right data.

See more here:

Personalization at Scale: Is AI the Most Realistic Way Forward? - CMSWire

In Brief

AI has been quietly invading our lives. From ouroperating roomsto our roads, and even our homes. Still, we never expected AI to infringe on onething in particular, our Super Smash Brothers. If you havent heard of Super Smash Brothers, do yourself a favor.

Super Smash Brothers is a popular video game series spanning multiple generations of gaming consoles. Unlike what we have seen AI do before with professional players inchess,poker, and the ancient game ofGo Super Smash Brothers is a particularly tricky game for AI.

In order to win, players must take full advantage of their environment, their character, and their enemys weaknesses. Players must be quick to weaken their enemies without taking too much damage so that they can knock their opponent off the stage, a feat demanding a proper strategy and a certain sense of ruthlessness.

So how did the AI do it? Software named Phillip was created by a Ph.D. student at MIT with the help of his friend from NYU. The pair constructed an AI that at first wasnt too great at the game, but eventually, after a week of consistent practice, the AI was able to react 6 times quicker than a normal human. Clocking in reaction times at 33 milliseconds compared to 200 milliseconds human reaction time, Phillip was in his own alternate reality in the game.

Phillip faced off against a tenured, five-year champion, named Gravy. In a harrowing match, Phillip bested him 8 5.

Original post:

AI System Finds Another Game to Dominate Humans - Futurism

The idea of artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for decades, and from movies to games, has now found a home in the mainstream. We are not yet at the point where computers are starting to plot the overthrow of humanity, but through AI, computers are beginning to understand our fellow human beings better than we may understand ourselves.

At least, advertising and marketing platforms that integrate AI into their processes are crunching numbers much faster than we ever could, and deriving insights that marketers use to better target and understand the end user and consumer.

Starting simple with AI technologies, there are recommendation engines: "Early low-hanging fruit for brands to harness the power of AI is in content discovery, Glenn Hower, senior analyst at Parks Associates, told attendees at the "A.I. Meets Media: Innovation Summit" presented by Ooyala.

Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube have all been tweaking their recommendation engines for years. Ingesting user data and predicting what each consumer is most likely to want to watch sounds relatively simple -- but getting it right is a different story.

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Moving further into AI capabilities, marketers can learn to connect disparate video ads based on themes, personalities and tone. This is where AI can really impress.

Microsoft Azures cloud computing product, which has been integrated into Ooyalas Flex platform, takes video content and boils it down to natural language -- covering people, colors, actions, logos, even the type of event on screen -- using the data to inform what paid media would be appropriate to serve against the content.

With near-immediate access to words spoken in any broadcast setting, marketers and advertisers can develop a deep understanding of themes present in a newscast, TV show or other video event, explained Martin Wahl, the principal product manager for Microsoft Azure. For example, Sinclair pays employees up to $85 an hour to transcribe all shows on its properties, said Wahl. AI can do the same job [and] link related words, making everything immediately searchable for a tenth or hundredth of the price it costs to have a human do it.

Even translations can be done in next to real time, opening up a completely new opportunity for international distribution of live content. Importantly, it can open up opportunities for national advertisers to expand into the international space more seamlessly.

These capabilities will save both time and money, providing marketers with immediate insights on what kinds of ad creatives are most appropriate to serve after a particular segment. With robust metadata, the AI can even suggest which ads to buy.

As Wahl put it, these capabilities are a strong start, but the real difference-maker will be how marketers decide to use the collected insights in novel ways that are yet to be discovered. That is when we will begin to see the true value of AI in marketing. Beyond artificial intelligence, human intelligence will continue to play a central role in harnessing AI.

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AI: The Future Of Digital Marketing (And Everything Else) - MediaPost Communications

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Originally posted here:

Humans Can't Expect AI to Just Fight Fake News for Them | WIRED - WIRED

AI, Artificial Intelligence concept,3d rendering,conceptual image.

As I covered in a recent post for Forbes.com, this year has seen notable breakthroughs in AI (Artificial Intelligence).They have included innovations about algorithmslike GANs or Generative Adversarial Networksas well as advances in categories like NLP (Natural Language Processing), just to name a few.

Then what can we expect in 2020?Well, it seems likely that the innovations will continue at a rapid pace.

So heres a look at what we may see:

Anand Rao, the Global and US Artificial Intelligence Leader at PwC:

2020 will be the year of practical AI: using cool technology to solve boring problems. Business leaders are recalibrating their ambitions, with just 4% intending to scale AI across the organization. Instead, many are focusing on functional areas like finance, compliance, HR, and tax and universal pain points like extracting data from forms. In our survey, executives ranked using AI to operate more efficiently and increase productivity as the top-two benefits they expect from AI in the coming year.

Sanjeev Katariya, the VP/Chief Architect of eBay AI & Platforms:

From an ecommerce lens, AI will continue to grow, building adaptive and highly personalized markets and bridging borders while extending itself to places on the planet that need to see explosive growthwho in 2020, will gladly join the ecommerce revolution.

Michael Kopp, the Head of Data Science at HERE Technologies:

Deep Learning goes industrial. Dedicated DL chipsets are accelerating trial and error opportunities across industries, allowing diverse fields to build critical new models and AI components that solve real-world data problems.

Bryan Friehauf, the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Software, ABB:

In 2020, AI will be the mainstream recommendation engine for the industrial sector. In energy management in particular, there is a huge opportunity. AI can provide facility managers with accurate power consumption predictions, which enables them to take timely action to reduce unplanned consumption spikes through rescheduling or switching off non-critical loads. AI will be the technology that takes simulations to the next level, helping to locate unstable areas of the grid and increase safety for workers in the field.

Steve Grobman, the Chief Technology Officer at McAfee:

In general, adversaries are going to use the best technology to accomplish their goals, so if we think about nation-state actors attempting to manipulate an election, using deepfake video to manipulate an audience makes a lot of sense. Adversaries will try to create wedges and divides in society.

Jake Saper, a Partner at Emergence Capital:

"In 2020, we will see the tech industry shift its focus away from using AI to drive automation and move it towards employing AI for augmentation. We'll realize that human-to-human jobs, which most often include dynamic input and feedback, are at their core still best performed by humans. In those cases, AI is ideally suited to augment, and not replace, human jobs."

Andy Ellis, the Chief Security Officer at Akamai:

What well see in many spaces is folks starting to understand the limitations of algorithmic solutions, especially where those create, amplify, or ossify bias in the world; and companies buying technologies will really need to start understanding how that bias impacts their operations.

Steve Wood, the Chief Product Officer at Boomi, a Dell Technologies business:

Overzealous data analyses have brought many companies face to face with privacy lawsuits from consumers and governments alike, which in turn has led to even stricter data governance laws. Understandably concerned about making similar mistakes, businesses will begin turning to metadata for insights in 2020, rather than analyzing actual data.

Jay Gurudevan, the Principal Product Manager of AI/ML at Twilio:

Well see more enterprises and businesses leverage AI tools and automated communication to better understand the entire customer journey. As consumers become more comfortable interacting with AI agents, Natural Language Processing will become more accurate and advanced and implementation will expand.

Avon Puri, the CIO of Rubrik:

An ecosystem of technologies will emerge that leverage intelligence, such as RPA technologies, and will provide new efficiencies in business processes that werent possible before. Next year is when new intelligent technologies will really take off, and RPA will lead automated intelligence in the enterprise.

Umesh Sachdev, the CEO and co-founder of Uniphore:

Speech analytics tools were an important bridge to support automation, and the same AI aiding humans behind the scenes will aid bots and enable the era of platforms. In 2020, heres where were going to see the most progress: anticipating intent by layering emotion and sincerity with historical data in real time. We'll be able to determine things like the likelihood of person paying their past-due bill.

Rama Sekhar, a partner at Norwest:

2020 will usher in the year of AI in the Enterprise. AI will get an upgrade from being an ingredient to a first class citizen as CIOs will introduce AI-first initiatives, just as they adopted cloud-first initiatives five years ago. Companies will have to justify why theyre not using AI in their own software, processes, and workflows in 2020.

Stefan Nandzik, the Vice President of Product & Brand Marketing at Signifyd:

In 2020, well see a spate of lawsuits filed by aggrieved consumers who have been wrongly barred from returning goods to retailers, or buying goods from ecommerce merchants, or renting home shares, or benefiting from Uber rides by algorithmically driven screening schemes. And well see the first significant pieces of legislation codifying consumers rights when it comes to AIcreating demand for liable machines.

Dr. Hossein Rahnama, the CEO of Flybits:

Startups are realizing that no matter how good their algorithm is, big companies aren't comfortable just handing over their sensitive datasets and core assets. So as the industry continues to mature over the next year, AI entrepreneurs will recognize that they have to shed their grad school mindset of give me the data and Ill do my work because that is no longer the case. This realization will force AI entrepreneurs to focus on more than just algorithms and shift their attention toward solidifying a data strategy that includes governance, management, encryption and tokenization. Because at the end of the day, without a strong data strategy, your AI strategy means nothing.

Chris Nicholson, the CEO of Pathmind:

One of the most promising areas of AI applications in 2020 will combine different, powerful forms of AI. Deep learning is used in a lot of perceptive tasks that answer the question: what am I looking at? For example, deep learning could recognize a grizzly bear in a photograph. Reinforcement learning is used in a lot of strategic tasks that answer the question: what should I do? For example, should I run away, stand in place or play dead? If you combine the two, then you get a powerful sequence of machine learning decisions you can combine. In this example: Given that I see a grizzly bear ahead of me, I should play dead. (Pro tip: grizzlies can run 35 miles per hour, but they do not eat carrion.) So those combinations of smart perceptions combined with smart actions vastly extend the value of AI. We move beyond simple classification into much higher ROI tasks that have implications for businesses, robotics, self-driving cars and video games.

Dr. Alex Liu, the Chief Data Scientist for IBM and the founder of RMDS Lab:

There will be more exploration of causality, which is the next generation of data analysis. It will be going from what to why. This will be crucial in improving the success rate of AI, which is still fairly low.

Tom (@ttaulli) is the author of the book,Artificial Intelligence Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction.

More here:

AI (Artificial Intelligence): What We Can Expect In The New Year - Forbes

Next year will bring more innovation in audience targeting, as artificial intelligence (AI) technology combined with first-party consumer data support programmatic buying among a wider variety of media channels. Advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning will make the technologies a more central part of reaching consumers among devices including smartphones, tablets and connected TVs.

Media buyers can expect to see the application of more advanced algorithms to optimize programmatic media much more holistically, George Manas, president and chief media officer at OMD USA, a unit of Omnicom Group, said in this interview with Beet.TV. Thats bringing a degree of precision, scale and automation that is truly new and unique in the programmatic marketplace.

Artificial intelligence describes a range of technologies that enable machines to handle more advanced problem-solving tasks, while machine learning refers to algorithms that improve automatically through experience. When applied to media buying, the technologies can help to analyze vast quantities of data and make quicker decisions on shifting budgets quickly, especially in an automated environment of programmatic ad placements.

With the convergence of digital and linear in this new streaming world, there are more opportunities in these streaming environments to execute programmatically, Manas said. That is going to open up tremendous opportunities for advertisers who historically may have been overly dependent on much more of a fixed, static video trading model. Programmatic is going to become the way that all media gets traded and transacted moving forward.

To hone their targeting and improve personalization of their messaging, advertisers are undertaking massive efforts to collect more first-party, deterministic data about consumers. The need for opt-in data has taken on a greater urgency as consumer privacy laws get stricter, exposing marketers, media channels and technology companies to the possibility of facing billion-dollar fines.

Apple, whose U.S. market share in smartphones and tablets is about 40%, next year will ask customers for permission to provide device identifiers to third parties, a necessary step in tracking viewing habits in apps for the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV streaming device. Because most consumers are likely to opt out of sharing their Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), tracking will become more difficult. Meanwhile, Google announced plans to end support for third-party cookies in its Chrome browser, a key way for millions of U.S. consumers to reach the internet, as early as 2022.

Source: MarketingCharts.com, Merkle

Weve got a little saying: Theres no party like first party. That is a foundational piece to this new reality, Manas said. In addition to first-party data, theres a wealth of other available data sources and signals that can help fill the holes and gaps that historically have been occupied by IDFA or cookie. Location data is a really great example of a data signal that is extremely valuable for advertisers, especially those that are operating both in an offline and online commerce approach.

Advertisers also have more ways to reach consumers through programmatic media buys as content providers offer a broader range of placements among premium quality content instead of remnant inventory thats deeply discounted.

Were seeing more top-tier publishers and inventory providers make more of their content available programmatically, Manas said.

You are watching Media In Transition: How AI is Powering Change, a Beet.TV leadership video series presented by IBM Watson Advertising. For more videos,please visit this page.

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First-Party Data, AI Technology Will Sharpen Programmatic Ad Targeting: OMD's George Manas - BeetTV

It wasnt long ago that personal computers were the height of technology. While significantly smaller than the industrial-sized mainframes of the past, modern desktop PCs are still bulky objects that take up a lot of space. Laptops and notebooks are considerably more portable, but even these are becoming a hassle for the on-the-go minimalist.

If youre in that crowd, you might want to take a look at some of the latest in wearable technology.

Smartwatches are quickly becoming the preferred option for those who want to enjoy the latest in IT without having to lug around a laptop computer. Industry analysts are predicting 18 percent growth in the smartwatch market by 2021. This amount of growth, according to the experts, is a result of increasing smartwatch functionality as well as lower prices across the board.

App developers are even starting to turn away from traditional smartphones in favor of smartwatches. Researchers with the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT recently engineered a Samsung smartwatch with next-gen AI, effectively giving it the ability to provide social coaching to those who suffer from severe anxiety or Asperger syndrome.

Although the utility is currently limited to a very specific model of watch, the MIT team hopes to make the app available on other popular market options.

Kiwi, a new tech startup that specializes in AI, recently developed an app known as Cue. Designed to help users quit smoking, the tool provides a program that works over the course of time. By sensing exactly when and where you engage in the habit, Cue makes it possible to set your own goals and keep track of your progress toward quitting smoking for good.

Although the number of cigarette smokers in the U.S. is at an all-time low, the marriage of wearable tech and highly useful apps can help reduce these figures even further.

And smartwatch apps arent just for consumers. The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport launched a trial to explore the usefulness of smartwatches within their day-to-day operations. Theyve outfitted their entire janitorial team with wearable tech that gives them instant alerts when an area needs cleaning or servicing.

The app being used, called TaskWatch, is coupled with Bluetooth sensors in the restrooms that count the overall number of guests. An automated alert is sent to the janitorial team after 150 customers have passed through. Janitors who respond to the alert will earn points that can supplement their income. The airport hopes for an official rollout of the technology in 2018.

Enterprises across the globe are forecasted to spend over $140 billion on cloud services by 2019. Representing a massive increase from the $70 billion spent in 2015, the top cloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are set to see substantial profits in the next few years.

As smartwatches and many other tech devices support cloud connectivity, were even seeing companies that are interested in moving entire data centers to the cloud. Not only would this make it easier for consumers to integrate wearable tech data into infrastructure like the cloud and the Internet of Things, but cloud-based data centers would also make it easier to automatically collect, track, and collate enterprise data. The collected data could be used to ensure the performance of individual staff members or entire teams, forecast timelines for future projects, and reward achievements to top-performing employees.

But there are some considerations to make before investing in the cloud, either as a business or an individual. With three different cloud platforms to choose from, including private, public, and shared options, its not always easy to find the one that best meets your needs.

Private cloud frameworks are often best suited for large-scale corporations and global enterprises. As the name implies, the files stored within the cloud are viewable only by you. The public cloud lives up to its label by making all of your files available to anybody on the cloud. Shared cloud servers let you control who has access to your data.

Youll also need to pick a cloud service provider. As mentioned earlier, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud are among the most popular options for enterprises and corporations. Services like Dropbox, iCloud, and Mega are included among the most popular providers for personal cloud storage.

Nobody can deny the progress that mobile technology has made, and its done so in a remarkably short amount of time. With smartwatches among the most popular options in wearable tech, other devices, including smart eyeglasses, are just on the horizon. Exactly what well see next in the form of wearable IT is anybodys guess, but the innovation is certainly here to stay.

Kayla Matthews is a technology and energy IT writer whose work has appeared on Motherboard, MakeUseOf and Triple Pundit.

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Wearable AI is the next hot tech trend - VentureBeat

South Korea announced a project 'New Deal' in June 2020 to revive the countrys economy by focusing on digitalization (iStock)

By GlobalData

South Korea announced a project New Deal in June 2020 to revive the countrys economy by focusing on digitalization. Technologies such as 5G network and artificial intelligence (AI) are set to become the key players in supporting Koreas economic recovery plan and placing the country among the leading technology countries post-COVID-19, says analytics company GlobalData.

For Urte Jakimaviciute MSc, Senior Director of Market Research,

South Koreas telecom operators were one of the first adopters of 5G launching the services more than a year ago in April 2019. The government-backed New Deal will give an additional boost to the expansion of the 5G. With the EU and North American countries turning away from Chinas Huawei, South Koreas Samsung may become an alternative.

While the development and expansion of 5G infrastructure are becoming a critical tool to facilitate the data collection, transmission and exchange, AI becomes a critical component in 5Gs evolution by creating network intelligence and automation, Jakimaviciute continues:

Koreas Samsung Medical Center became the worlds first hospital to use 5G technology for on-site medical procedures establishing itself as a 5G smart hospital powered by AI and other digital technologies.

Global concerns over the virus transmittance in public places, together with emerging safety regulations and social distancing norms are giving a surge to touch free economies with technologies starting to play more important role than ever. Technological advancement has made it possible to aggregate the data from various digital tools and technology networks such as wearables, virtual reality devices and mobile apps.

The convergence of 5G and AI has the potential to bring a lot of possibilities across various industries including transportation, defense and healthcare. For example, Koreas Samsung Medical Center became the worlds first hospital to use 5G technology for on-site medical procedures establishing itself as a 5G smart hospital powered by AI and other digital technologies.

Jakimaviciute concludes:

By announcing national strategy for AI at the end of 2019, Korea acknowledged AI as an important foundation to foster its future economic growth. While Korea still falls behind countries such as the US, the UK and China in AI competitiveness, its success in controlling COVID-19 outbreak may give it the confidence to accelerate the adoption of AI. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Koreas economy is set to contract by 2.1% in 2020. Nevertheless, South Korea is expected to do much better than the developed nations such as Japan, the UK and the US, which are expected to have far sharper declines.

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South Korea Turns to AI and 5G to Revive Economy From COVID-19 Induced Slump - DirectIndustry e-Magazine

If AI and robots are going to take our jobs, at least they can do it in the most relaxing way possible. Just like Shimon here a four-armed marimba-playing robot designed by George Techs music technology center. Sure, Shimon is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to AI making music, but just listen to those jazz-fusion vibes.

Like many AI music experiments, the music Shimon is playing is generated by a method called deep learning. This essentially means mining a large amount of information (in this case, a dataset of some 5,000 songs) and looking for common patterns in the music. For example, if you have a sequence of notes F, G, A, what note will follow next? Deep learning will give you a good answer.

Shimon the robot has been around for a while now, playing alongside human musicians using preprogrammed songs. But now, its being used to play original compositions. The video above shows the first melody Shimon ever created, while the one below is melody number two a slightly faster number:

As weve seen with previous experiments, the actual musical output is a bit avant-garde. Researchers working in this field say this is because the deep learning systems we use to analyze music tend not to be so good at thinking about long-term structure. They analyze the music in short bursts, and the resulting melodies sound quite abstract. It is possible to program in artificial constraints so the programs will produce songs with traditional verse-chorus structures, but at that point its not really AI-created music, but AI-human collaboration.

So, although the marimba is a particularly non-threatening instrument, the melody itself is proof that machines have a way to go. For more information on Shimon, check out this interview with its teachers, Gil Weinberg and Mason Bretan, over at IEEE Spectrum.

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This AI-powered robot can play the marimba, the least threatening of instruments - The Verge