Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most exciting field in robotics. It's certainly the most controversial: Everybody agrees that a robot can work in an assembly line, but there's no consensus on whether a robot can ever be intelligent.

Like the term "robot" itself, artificial intelligence is hard to define. Ultimate AI would be a recreation of the human thought process -- a man-made machine with our intellectual abilities. This would include the ability to learn just about anything, the ability to reason, the ability to use language and the ability to formulate original ideas. Roboticists are nowhere near achieving this level of artificial intelligence, but they have made a lot of progress with more limited AI. Today's AI machines can replicate some specific elements of intellectual ability.

Computers can already solve problems in limited realms. The basic idea of AI problem-solving is very simple, though its execution is complicated. First, the AI robot or computer gathers facts about a situation through sensors or human input. The computer compares this information to stored data and decides what the information signifies. The computer runs through various possible actions and predicts which action will be most successful based on the collected information. Of course, the computer can only solve problems it's programmed to solve -- it doesn't have any generalized analytical ability. Chess computers are one example of this sort of machine.

Some modern robots also have the ability to learn in a limited capacity. Learning robots recognize if a certain action (moving its legs in a certain way, for instance) achieved a desired result (navigating an obstacle). The robot stores this information and attempts the successful action the next time it encounters the same situation. Again, modern computers can only do this in very limited situations. They can't absorb any sort of information like a human can. Some robots can learn by mimicking human actions. In Japan, roboticists have taught a robot to dance by demonstrating the moves themselves.

Some robots can interact socially. Kismet, a robot at M.I.T's Artificial Intelligence Lab, recognizes human body language and voice inflection and responds appropriately. Kismet's creators are interested in how humans and babies interact, based only on tone of speech and visual cue. This low-level interaction could be the foundation of a human-like learning system.

Kismet and other humanoid robots at the M.I.T. AI Lab operate using an unconventional control structure. Instead of directing every action using a central computer, the robots control lower-level actions with lower-level computers. The program's director, Rodney Brooks, believes this is a more accurate model of human intelligence. We do most things automatically; we don't decide to do them at the highest level of consciousness.

The real challenge of AI is to understand how natural intelligence works. Developing AI isn't like building an artificial heart -- scientists don't have a simple, concrete model to work from. We do know that the brain contains billions and billions of neurons, and that we think and learn by establishing electrical connections between different neurons. But we don't know exactly how all of these connections add up to higher reasoning, or even low-level operations. The complex circuitry seems incomprehensible.

Because of this, AI research is largely theoretical. Scientists hypothesize on how and why we learn and think, and they experiment with their ideas using robots. Brooks and his team focus on humanoid robots because they feel that being able to experience the world like a human is essential to developing human-like intelligence. It also makes it easier for people to interact with the robots, which potentially makes it easier for the robot to learn.

Just as physical robotic design is a handy tool for understanding animal and human anatomy, AI research is useful for understanding how natural intelligence works. For some roboticists, this insight is the ultimate goal of designing robots. Others envision a world where we live side by side with intelligent machines and use a variety of lesser robots for manual labor, health care and communication. A number of robotics experts predict that robotic evolution will ultimately turn us into cyborgs -- humans integrated with machines. Conceivably, people in the future could load their minds into a sturdy robot and live for thousands of years!

In any case, robots will certainly play a larger role in our daily lives in the future. In the coming decades, robots will gradually move out of the industrial and scientific worlds and into daily life, in the same way that computers spread to the home in the 1980s.

The best way to understand robots is to look at specific designs. The links below will show you a variety of robot projects around the world.

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Robots and Artificial Intelligence | HowStuffWorks

Theres no question that Artificially Intelligence (AI) and Automation will change the way we live; the question isnt if, its how and when. In this post, Ill be exploring both optimistic and pessimistic views of how artificial intelligence and automation will impact our future workforce.

Technology-driven societal changes, like what were experiencing with AI and automation, always engender concern and fearand for good reason. A two-year study from McKinsey Global Institute suggests that by 2030, intelligent agents and robots could replace as much as 30 percent of the worlds current human labor. McKinsey suggests that, in terms of scale, the automation revolution could rival the move away from agricultural labor during the 1900s in the United States and Europe, and more recently, the explosion of the Chinese labor economy.

McKinsey reckons that, depending upon various adoption scenarios,automation will displace between 400 and 800 million jobs by 2030, requiring as many as 375 million people to switch job categories entirely. How could such a shift not cause fear and concern, especially for the worlds vulnerable countries and populations?

The Brookings Institution suggests that even if automation only reaches the 38 percent means of most forecasts, some Western democracies are likely to resort to authoritarian policies to stave off civil chaos, much like they did during the Great Depression. Brookings writes, The United States would look like Syria or Iraq, with armed bands of young men with few employment prospects other than war, violence, or theft. With frightening yet authoritative predictions like those, its no wonder AI and automation keeps many of us up at night.

The Luddites were textiles workers who protested against automation, eventually attacking and burning factories because, they feared that unskilled machine operators were robbing them of their livelihood. The Luddite movement occurred all the way back in 1811, so concerns about job losses or job displacements due to automation are far from new.

When fear or concern is raised about the potential impact of artificial intelligence and automation on our workforce, a typical response is thus to point to the past; the same concerns are raised time and again and prove unfounded.

In 1961, President Kennedy said, the major challenge of the sixties is to maintain full employment at a time when automation is replacing men. In the 1980s, the advent of personal computers spurred computerphobia with many fearing computers would replace them.

So what happened?

Despite these fears and concerns, every technological shift has ended up creating more jobs than were destroyed. When particular tasks are automated, becoming cheaper and faster, you need more human workers to do the other functions in the process that havent been automated.

During the Industrial Revolution more and more tasks in the weaving process were automated, prompting workers to focus on the things machines could not do, such as operating a machine, and then tending multiple machines to keep them running smoothly. This caused output to grow explosively. In America during the 19th century the amount of coarse cloth a single weaver could produce in an hour increased by a factor of 50, and the amount of labour required per yard of cloth fell by 98%. This made cloth cheaper and increased demand for it, which in turn created more jobs for weavers: their numbers quadrupled between 1830 and 1900. In other words, technology gradually changed the nature of the weavers job, and the skills required to do it, rather than replacing it altogether. The Economist, Automation and Anxiety

Looking back on history, it seems reasonable to conclude that fears and concerns regarding AI and automation are understandable but ultimately unwarranted. Technological change may eliminate specific jobs, but it has always created more in the process.

Beyond net job creation, there are other reasons to be optimistic about the impact of artificial intelligence and automation.

Simply put, jobs that robots can replace are not good jobs in the first place. As humans, we climb up the rungs of drudgery physically tasking or mind-numbing jobs to jobs that use what got us to the top of the food chain, our brains. The Wall Street Journal, The Robots Are Coming. Welcome Them.

By eliminating the tedium, AI and automation can free us to pursue careers that give us a greater sense of meaning and well-being. Careers that challenge us, instill a sense of progress, provide us with autonomy, and make us feel like we belong; all research-backed attributes of a satisfying job.

And at a higher level, AI and automation will also help to eliminate disease and world poverty. Already, AI is driving great advances in medicine and healthcare with better disease prevention, higher accuracy diagnosis, and more effective treatment and cures. When it comes to eliminating world poverty, one of the biggest barriers is identifying where help is needed most. By applying AI analysis to data from satellite images, this barrier can be surmounted, focusing aid most effectively.

I am all for optimism. But as much as Id like to believe all of the above, this bright outlook on the future relies on seemingly shaky premises. Namely:

As explored earlier, a common response to fears and concerns over the impact of artificial intelligence and automation is to point to the past. However, this approach only works if the future behaves similarly. There are many things that are different now than in the past, and these factors give us good reason to believe that the future will play out differently.

In the past, technological disruption of one industry didnt necessarily mean the disruption of another. Lets take car manufacturing as an example; a robot in automobile manufacturing can drive big gains in productivity and efficiency, but that same robot would be useless trying to manufacture anything other than a car. The underlying technology of the robot might be adapted, but at best that still only addresses manufacturing

AI is different because it can be applied to virtually any industry. When you develop AI that can understand language, recognize patterns, and problem solve, disruption isnt contained. Imagine creating an AI that can diagnose disease and handle medications, address lawsuits, and write articles like this one. No need to imagine:AI is already doing those exact things.

Another important distinction between now and the past is the speed of technological progress. Technological progress doesnt advance linearly, it advances exponentially. Consider Moores Law: the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles roughly every two years.

In the words of University of Colorado physics professor Albert Allen Bartlett, The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function. We drastically underestimate what happens when a value keeps doubling.

What do you get when technological progress is accelerating and AI can do jobs across a range of industries? An accelerating pace of job destruction.

Theres no economic law that says You will always create enough jobs or the balance will always be even, its possible for a technology to dramatically favour one group and to hurt another group, and the net of that might be that you have fewer jobs Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy

In the past, yes, more jobs were created than were destroyed by technology. Workers were able to reskill and move laterally into other industries instead. But the past isnt always an accurate predictor of the future. We cant complacently sit back and think that everything is going to be ok.

Which brings us to another critical issue

Lets pretend for a second that the past actually will be a good predictor of the future; jobs will be eliminated but more jobs will be created to replace them. This brings up an absolutely critical question, what kinds of jobs are being created and what kinds of jobs are being destroyed?

Low- and high-skilled jobs have so far been less vulnerable to automation. The low-skilled jobs categories that are considered to have the best prospects over the next decade including food service, janitorial work, gardening, home health, childcare, and security are generally physical jobs, and require face-to-face interaction. At some point robots will be able to fulfill these roles, but theres little incentive to roboticize these tasks at the moment, as theres a large supply of humans who are willing to do them for low wages. Slate, Will robots steal your job?

Blue-collar and white-collar jobs will be eliminatedbasically, anything that requires middle-skills (meaning that it requires some training, but not much). This leaves low-skill jobs, as described above, and high-skill jobs that require high levels of training and education.

There will assuredly be an increasing number of jobs related to programming, robotics, engineering, etc.. After all, these skills will be needed to improve and maintain the AI and automation being used around us.

But will the people who lost their middle-skilled jobs be able to move into these high-skill roles instead? Certainly not without significant training and education. What about moving into low-skill jobs? Well, the number of these jobs is unlikely to increase, particularly because the middle-class loses jobs and stops spending money on food service, gardening, home health, etc.

The transition could be very painful. Its no secret that rising unemployment has a negative impact on society; less volunteerism, higher crime, and drug abuse are all correlated. A period of high unemployment, in which tens of millions of people are incapable of getting a job because they simply dont have the necessary skills, will be our reality if we dont adequately prepare.

So how do we prepare? At the minimum, by overhauling our entire education system and providing means for people to re-skill.

To transition from 90% of the American population farming to just 2% during the first industrial revolution, it took the mass introduction of primary education to equip people with the necessary skills to work. The problem is that were still using an education system that is geared for the industrial age. The three Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic) were once the important skills to learn to succeed in the workforce. Now, those are the skills quickly being overtaken by AI.

For a fascinating look at our current education system and its faults, check out this video from Sir Ken Robinson:

In addition to transforming our whole education system, we should also accept that learning doesnt end with formal schooling. The exponential acceleration ofdigital transformation means that learning must be a lifelong pursuit, constantly re-skilling to meet an ever-changing world.

Making huge changes to our education system, providing means for people to re-skill, and encouraging lifelong learning can help mitigate the pain of the transition, but is that enough?

When I originally wrote this article a couple of years ago, I believed firmly that 99% of all jobs would be eliminated. Now, Im not so sure. Here was my argument at the time:

[The claim that 99% of all jobs will be eliminated] may seem bold, and yet its all but certain. All you need are two premises:

The first premise shouldnt be at all controversial. The only reason to think that we would permanently stop progress, of any kind, is some extinction-level event that wipes out humanity, in which case this debate is irrelevant. Excluding such a disaster, technological progress will continue on an exponential curve. And it doesnt matter how fast that progress is; all that matters is that it will continue.The incentives for people, companies, and governments are too great to think otherwise.

The second premise will be controversial, but notice that I said human intelligence. I didnt say consciousness or what it means to be human. That human intelligence arises from physical processes seems easy to demonstrate: if we affect the physical processes of the brain we can observe clear changes in intelligence. Though a gloomy example, its clear that poking holes in a persons brain results in changes to their intelligence. A well-placed poke in someones Brocas area and voilthat person cant process speech.

With these two premises in hand, we can conclude the following: we will build machines that have human-level intelligence and higher. Its inevitable.

We already know that machines are better than humans at physical tasks, they can move faster, more precisely, and lift greater loads. When these machines are also as intelligent as us, there will be almost nothing they cant door cant learn to do quickly. Therefore, 99% of jobs will eventually be eliminated.

But that doesnt mean well be redundant. Well still need leaders (unless we give ourselves over to robot overlords) and our arts, music, etc., may remain solely human pursuits too. As for just about everything else? Machines will do itand do it better.

But whos going to maintain the machines? The machines.But whos going to improve the machines? The machines.

Assuming they could eventually learn 99% of what we do, surely theyll be capable of maintaining and improving themselves more precisely and efficiently than we ever could.

The above argument is sound, but the conclusion that 99% of all jobs will be eliminated I believe over-focused on our current conception of a job. As I pointed out above, theres no guarantee that the future will play out like the past. After continuing to reflect and learn over the past few years, I now think theres good reason to believe that while 99% of all current jobs might be eliminated, there will still be plenty for humans to do (which is really what we care about, isnt it?).

The one thing that humans can do that robots cant (at least for a long while) is to decide what it is that humans want to do. This is not a trivial semantic trick; our desires are inspired by our previous inventions, making this a circular question. The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, by Kevin Kelly

Perhaps another way of looking at the above quote is this: a few years ago I read the book Emotional Intelligence, and was shocked to discover just how essential emotions are to decision making. Not just important, essential. People who had experienced brain damage to the emotional centers of their brains were absolutely incapable of making even the smallest decisions. This is because, when faced with a number of choices, they could think of logical reasons for doing or not doing any of them but had no emotional push/pull to choose.

So while AI and automation may eliminate the need for humans to do any of thedoing, we will still need humans to determine what to do. And because everything that we do and everything that we build sparks new desires and shows us new possibilities, this job will never be eliminated.

If you had predicted in the early 19th century that almost all jobs would be eliminated, and you defined jobs as agricultural work, you would have been right. In the same way, I believe that what we think of as jobs today will almost certainly be eliminated too. But this does not mean that there will be no jobs at all, the job will instead shift to determining, what do we want to do? And then working with our AI and machines to make our desires a reality.

Is this overly optimistic? I dont think so. Either way, theres no question that the impact of artificial intelligence will be great and its critical that we invest in the education and infrastructure needed to support people as many current jobs are eliminated and we transition to this new future.

Originally published on April 1, 2017. Updated on January 29, 2020.

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The Impact of Artificial Intelligence - Widespread Job Losses

The "Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Partnering Terms and Agreements (2014-2020)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides an understanding and access to the artificial intelligence partnering deals and agreements entered into by the world's leading healthcare companies.

Global Artificial Intelligence Partnering Terms and Agreements includes:

The report provides a detailed understanding and analysis of how and why companies enter artificial intelligence partnering deals. The majority of deals are early development stage whereby the licensee obtains a right or an option right to license the licensors artificial intelligence technology or product candidates. These deals tend to be multicomponent, starting with collaborative R&D, and commercialization of outcomes.

Understanding the flexibility of a prospective partner's negotiated deals terms provides critical insight into the negotiation process in terms of what you can expect to achieve during the negotiation of terms. Whilst many smaller companies will be seeking details of the payments clauses, the devil is in the detail in terms of how payments are triggered - contract documents provide this insight where press releases and databases do not.

This report contains a comprehensive listing of all artificial intelligence partnering deals announced since 2014 including financial terms where available including over 350 links to online deal records of actual artificial intelligence partnering deals as disclosed by the deal parties. In addition, where available, records include contract documents as submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission by companies and their partners.

Contract documents provide the answers to numerous questions about a prospective partner's flexibility on a wide range of important issues, many of which will have a significant impact on each party's ability to derive value from the deal.

For example, analyzing actual company deals and agreements allows assessment of the following:

The initial chapters of this report provide an orientation of artificial intelligence dealmaking and business activities.

Companies Mentioned

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/oseg3y

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200515005346/en/

Contacts

ResearchAndMarkets.comLaura Wood, Senior Press Managerpress@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) Partnering Deals Collection 2014-2020: Access to Over 350 AI Deal Records - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Yahoo Finance

A doctor collects a throat swab specimen for the test of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, at Kurla in Mumbai.

As the novel coronavirus pandemic COVID-19 continues to spread across the globe, researchers are racing against time to find possible preventive measures, tests and cures to arrest the spread. While the pandemic enters the stage of community spread in many parts of the world, countries are running short of essential medical kits to test sufficient numbers of people.

Testing is the need of the hour, and to catalyse the pace of testing, scientists have now developed an artificial intelligence-based diagnostic tool. The incredible new tool can help predict if an individual is likely to have COVID-19 disease, based on the symptoms they display. The discovery was recently published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Researchers developed the artificial intelligence-based model using data from an app called COVID Symptom Study. So far, the app is said to be downloaded by about 33 lakh people globally. The users report their health status daily on the apps, and according to the paper, the app collects data from both asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals. Besides, it tracks in real-time the disease progression by recording self-reported health information daily.

To develop the AI-based prediction system, researchers examined the data collected from about 25 lakh people in the United Kingdom and the United States between March 24 and April 21. These users actively used the app regularly to add their health status.

Based on the user data on symptoms and health status of users, the AI-based models predict who might have COVID-19. The model also uses the actual test results of the people who have been tested positive. The tool also looked into information such as test outcomes, demographics, and pre-existing medical conditions.

The research team analysed several symptoms of COVID-19, which are most likely to give positive results. These key symptoms include cold, flu, fever, cough, fatigue. Moreover, they also found loss of taste and smell, as a common characteristic of COVID-19 disease.

When the AI-based model was applied to over 800,000 app users who displayed exact symptomsrevealed about 17.42% of these people were likely to have coronavirus. Also, the tool has been proven beneficial in recognising patients who have developed mild symptoms. This could help stop the spread of the virus by making the people aware that they might be potential carriers.

The most valuable feature of this AI model is that it can predict the COVID-19 symptoms without patients getting the actual test. Particularly at the time of a pandemicthe app could prove to be of significant value for highly populated countries like India.

The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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Artificial Intelligence to Detect Coronavirus Infection Among Individuals Without Actual Test - The Weather Channel

While weve long been enjoying some weird and wonderful mash-ups courtesy of the internets most hilarious and creative YouTubers, clearly its too much effort to be letting humans do all the work these days. As such, satirist Funk Turkey has handed the task of creating new material over to artificial intelligence, using robots to make a pretty ace AC/DCsong.

The track in question, Great Balls, came about use lyrics.rip to generate the words, before Funk channeled his best Brian Johnson to sing this hilarious mish-mash of lyrics (Wasnt the dog a touch too young to thrill? sorry, what?), and then backed it all with suitably AC/DC-esqueinstrumentation.

Read this next: Classic album covers redesigned for socialdistancing

Of course, theres hopefully real AC/DC material on the way at some point soon, with Twisted Sister vocalist Dee Snider revealing in December 2019 that all four surviving members have reunited for a new record, and, Its as close as you can get to the originalband.

Until then, though, heres Great Balls to tide usover:

In fairness, lyrics.rip is actually a pretty great little tool. We tried the same thing for Green Day to see what fine words would come out now, to get Billie Joe Armstrong to performthem:

An ambulance thats turning on the way across towncause you feeling sorry for that your whining eyesWhen September endsHere comes the waitingJust roamin for yourselfAre we are the silence with the brick of my way to search the story of my memory rests,but never forgets what I bleeding from the brick of my heads above the starsAre the waitingMy heads above the brick of self-controlTo live?My heads above the innocent can never lastTo searchthe

Okaythen.

Read this next: An exhaustive look at the phenomenon of celebrity cameos in musicvideos

Posted on May 15th 2020, 1:29pm

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This Man Created A Perfect AC/DC Song By Using Artificial Intelligence - Kerrang!

Groundbreaking artificial intelligence is helping couples to become parents.

A trial is currently taking place in Australia using technology to increase the chances of having a baby through IVF, 9news.com.au reports.

During the study, led by fertility provider Virtus Health, embryos are being grown in incubators with tiny cameras.

By taking 115,000 pictures over five days, these cameras then help to predict fetal heart outcomes and identify the healthiest embryos before they are implanted.

The incredible trial - which is taking place at seven different fertility clinics - has so far led to 90% of couples having a child through IVF.

Among those taking part are Sarah and Tim Keys, from Queensland, who have been trying to have a baby for a number of years.

The couple decided to turn to IVF after suffering a number of miscarriages.

Ms Keys, who is now 26 weeks pregnant, explained: "It's really hard to go through those miscarriages so anything that could decrease the chances, let's go with that."

She adds that the couple are now "very excited" to be expecting a little girl.

"I think we'll still be a bit stressed until we're holding her, but where we're at, at the moment is really awesome," she continued.

It is hoped that a total of 1,000 patients will take part in the study, which is also being carried out in clinics in Ireland and Denmark.

If successful, doctors claim that AI could be one of the biggest advances to IVF in decades, and hope it can be used globally.

Associate Professor Anusch Yazdani from the Queensland Fertility Group said: "It's completely new, completely different and it's all to do with the evolution of computer technology."

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Couple uses artificial intelligence to have baby in major breakthrough trial - Mirror Online