For more than 100 years Nobel Prizes have been given out annually to recognize breakthrough achievements in chemistry, literature, medicine, peace, and physics. As these disciplines undoubtedly continue to impact society, newer fields like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics have also begun to profoundly reshape the world.

In recognition of this, the worlds largest AI society the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) announced today the winner of their new Squirrel AI Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity, a$1 million award given to honor individuals whose work in the field has had a transformative impact on society.

The recipient, Regina Barzilay, the Delta Electronics Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and a member of MITs Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), is being recognized for her work developing machine learning models to develop antibiotics and other drugs, and to detect and diagnose breast cancer at early stages.

In February, AAAI will officially present Barzilay with the award, which comes with an associated prize of $1 million provided by the online education company Squirrel AI.

Only world-renowned recognitions, such as the Association of Computing Machinerys A.M. Turing Award and the Nobel Prize, carry monetary rewards at the million-dollar level, says AAAI awards committee chair Yolanda Gil. This award aims to be unique in recognizing the positive impact of artificial intelligence for humanity.

Barzilay has conducted research on a range of topics in computer science, ranging from explainable machine learning to deciphering dead languages. Since surviving breast cancer in 2014, she has increasingly focused her efforts on health care. She created algorithms for early breast cancer diagnosis and risk assessment that have been tested at multiple hospitals around the globe, including in Sweden, Taiwan, and at Bostons Massachusetts General Hospital. She is now working with breast cancer organizations such as Institute Protea in Brazil to make her diagnostic tools available for underprivileged populations around the world. (She realized from doing her work that, if a system like hers had existed at the time, her doctors actually could have detected her cancer two or three years earlier.)

In parallel, she has been working on developing machine learning models for drug discovery: with collaborators shes created models for selecting molecule candidates for therapeutics that have been able to speed up drug development, and last year helped discover a new antibiotic called Halicin that was shown to be able to kill many species of disease-causing bacteria that are antibiotic-resistant, including Acinetobacter baumannii and clostridium difficile (c-diff).

Through my own life experience, I came to realize that we can create technology that can alleviate human suffering and change our understanding of diseases, says Barzilay, who is also a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. I feel lucky to have found collaborators who share my passion and who have helped me realize this vision.

Barzilay also serves as a member of MITs Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and as faculty co-lead for MITs Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health. One of the Jameel Clinics most recent efforts is AI Cures, a cross-institutional initiative focused on developing affordable Covid-19 antivirals.

Regina has made truly-changing breakthroughs in imaging breast cancer and predicting the medicinal activity of novel chemicals, says MIT professor of biology Phillip Sharp, a Nobel laureate who has served as director of both the McGovern Institute for Brain Research and the MIT Center for Cancer Research, predecessor to the Koch Institute. I am honored to have as a colleague someone who is such a pioneer in using deeply creative machine learning methods to transform the fields of health care and biological science.

Barzilay joined the MIT faculty in 2003 after earning her undergraduate at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and her PhD at Columbia University. She is also the recipient of a MacArthur genius grant, the National Science Foundation Career Award, a Microsoft Faculty Fellowship, multiple best paper awards in her field, and MITs Jamieson Award for excellence in teaching.

"We believe AI advances will benefit a great many fields, from health care and education to smart cities and the environment," says Derek Li, founder and chairman of Squirrel AI. We believe that Dr. Barzilay and other future awardees will inspire the AI community to continue to contribute to and advance AIs impact on the world.

AAAIs Gil says the organization was very excited to partner with Squirrel AI for this new award to recognize the positive impacts of artificial intelligence to protect, enhance, and improve human life in meaningful ways. With more than 300 elected fellows and 6,000 members from 50 countries across the globe, AAAI is the worlds largest scientific society devoted to artificial intelligence. Its officers have included many AI pioneers, including Allen Newell and John McCarthy. AAAI confers several influential AI awards including the Feigenbaum Prize, the Newell Award (jointly with ACM), and the Engelmore Award.

Regina has been a trailblazer in the field of health care AI by asking the important questions about how we can use machine learning to treat and diagnose diseases, says Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL and the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She has been both a brilliant researcher and a devoted educator, and all of us at CSAIL are so inspired by her work and proud to have her as a colleague.

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Regina Barzilay wins $1M Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence Squirrel AI award - MIT News

A tourist in Singapore taking in the iconic skyline with Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer in view.

IronHeart | Moment | Getty Images

Singapore is gradually reopening its borders again after months of coronavirus travel restrictions.

As the city-state looks to salvage its battered tourism industry which contributes around 4% to its economy it's hoped that artificial intelligence (AI) can help the sector bring back visitors safely.

Official datashowsmonthlyvisitor arrivals were down by 76% between January to July, compared to a year ago. Visitor arrivals in July alone were down more than 99% year-on-year.

Even though the Southeast Asian nation remains closed off to most foreigners, officials are now considering lifting restrictions for select groups of visitors.

Local start-ups like Vouch and Travelstop are betting on their AI-powered systems as the country navigates new security measures.

Launched in 2017, Vouch sells an AI-enabled digital concierge that's designed to answer guest inquiries, make bookings and take room service orders. The company says its chatbots used by hotels including Andaz Singapore and the Pan Pacificin Singapore can conduct health declarations, facilitate contactless ordering for dine-in services and manage crowd control.

The Vouch app being used on a mobile phone.

Handout from Vouch

"Interestingly, Covid-19 has actually helped our business significantly," Vouch co-founder Joseph Ling told CNBC.

The company had to initially modify its in-room dining ordering system to allow for takeaways and deliveries a feature that it gave to hotels for free during Singapore's partial lockdown.

"Thanks to this, we were able to build great relationships," Ling said. "When hotels began to plan for the future around June and July, we signed up many of them." He said Vouch is now growing rapidly with "15 percent of the total Singapore hotel room stock on board."

Other AI-backed firms also say they're optimistic about the long-term outlook.

Two-year-old Travelstop aims to simplify business travel with the help of its serverless SaaS platform, that's designed to speed up the booking process, automate expense reporting and provide cost-saving insights.

"For the past few months, even though corporate travel revenues have been down, we are seeing significant traction on our expense management platform as companies are now accelerating digitizing the workflows and processes to support the work from home culture," said Travelstop's co-founder Prashant Kirtane.

Ongoing border restrictions and lower consumer appetite for international flights have changed travel as an industry. The two entrepreneurs said they believe machine learning and AI will change travel as an experience.

"The business models of traditional corporate travel management companies have not evolved for decades," Kirtane stated. "Existing tools have not kept pace with the modern business traveler, and are generally not affordable by smaller and mid-sized businesses."

"Hotels used to feel more technologically advanced than our homes but as IoT (Internet of Things), AI and consumer tech companies take the lead, the tech gradient has reversed hotels now feel lower tech than our own homes," said Ling of Vouch. The Internet of Things is the idea of a network of devices thatare all connected to the internet and, conceptually at least, can work together.

Before the pandemic, AI and other forms of machine learning were just beginning to infiltrate the travel sector. Their biggest advantage is the ability to personalize experiences and streamline services based on customer data.

Singaporean start-up Fooyo, for example, creates customized itinerary planners that include real-time crowd monitoring for attractions and events. The app it created for the Chinese city of Chongqing also includes an AI audio guide, which gives visitors information based on their GPS location.

As the economy begins to recover from the pandemic,AI-backed systemscouldbecome especially useful.

For example, "with people being more cautious about being in long queues and waiting in crowded spaces, more AI processes would be beneficial to safe distancing," said James Walton, the transportation, hospitality and services sector leader at Deloitte Singapore. He cited the example of remote check-ins and check-outs in hotels.

Investors are paying attention to this rapidly growing sector. Travelstop raised $3 million in pre-Series A funding led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Accel last year, on top of the $1.2 million it obtained in a 2019 seed round led by Singapore's SeedPlus.

Kirtane said the company aims to complete a new fundraising round in 2021. Vouch, meanwhile, has raised about $250,000 of angel investment to-date and will be seeking more funds as it looks to expand in Thailand and Malaysia.

And investments in new technology continue. In 2017, the country's tourism body and the Singapore Hotel Association launched a program to crowdsource technologies for hotels. Among the winners was a wireless system that automatically adjusts air-conditioning units for energy efficiency.

Officials announced an accelerator program for tourism-oriented tech start-ups late last year.

Technological innovation "can also strengthen investor perception, and thus encourage investments in the country," Walton said.

Singapore has long faced a severe labor crunch amid state-imposed foreign worker levies and quotas factors that have contributed to wage increases. For employers, "the use of tech and AI in areas such as hotel operations will go some way to alleviate this pressure," Walton said.

Ling of Vouch echoed those sentiments. Hiring is difficult for Singapore hotels since most locals don't want to work in hospitality, he explained. As a result, back-office staff are predominantly foreigners and due to quotas on foreign manpower, hotels often lack sufficient front-end personnel, Ling continued. With many establishments reducing staff count in the aftermath of Covid-19, labor issues are as critical as ever, he said.

Whilst AI can improve overall efficiency with less manpower, it can also lead to job losses an unwanted development at a time when people are already concerned about job security.

"Would this mean reducing foreign manpower numbers, and saving the jobs for Singaporeans? Does adopting [AI] replace the jobs, or would it enable more high-level jobs for Singaporeans?" Walton asked.

It remains to be seen, he said, how the government can balance that situation.

Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect the designation ofDeloitte's James Walton.

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Singapore hopes artificial intelligence will help boost its tourism industry - CNBC

CHICAGO Artificial intelligence (AI) is another important component of modern loyalty, says Sastry Penumarthy, co-founder and vice president of strategy for Punchh, a loyalty firm based in San Mateo, Calif. Humans do not have the time or ability to sift through waves of data to know when and how to communicate and incentivize specific customers, and AI can make that process more seamless, and more personalized.

AI will basically let me predict the customers that will be of the highest value to me over the next three months, let me look at all the offers and let me find the right offer for each of these customers, says Penumarthy. He says Punchh is launching an AI-driven program like that with select customers over the next few months.

AI also helps companies identify and craft offers for customers who are visiting or purchasing less vs. the highest-value customers. It can identify the best time of day or day of the week to send an offer or a message to a loyalty member. So, for example, if you are in the habit of checking email at lunchtime, its useful to know that information, But I shouldnt ask you what you prefer; I learn from your behavior, he says.

Related: Loyalty, This Time Its Personal

But the most important reason to lean on AI, says Penumarthy, is its ability to connect consumer data collected through the loyalty program to other systems, such as marketing.

Penumarthy says Punchh is working on a way to extend and automate relationships between retailers, consumers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands.

Today, when retailers partner with CPG brands for loyalty promotions, it can take two to three months for the retailer to understand the effectiveness of the program and report back to the CPG company. With AI, both the CPG company and the retailer have a better idea of how much money and time to invest into the program.

Penumarthy says loyalty used to be much more conventional, but times have changed. People no longer use the same land line phone numbers they used to sign onto these programs years ago. Many customers no longer carry newspaper coupon clippings when shopping at the grocery store. I want the offers to be right there on the phone when Im placing the order. And they cant do that unless its personalized, says Penumarthy.

Jones of Caseys, which has partnered with Punchh, says understanding customer shopping patterns using data mining and AI is important, and that such tools will be a part of Caseys offer creation and targeting capabilities in the future.

More: 3 Loyalty Developments Driven by the Pandemic

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Artificial Intelligence in the C-Store - CSPDailyNews.com

U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios and Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette shed a little light on how the Energy Department and Trump administration are thinking about ethics, regulatory approaches, and broader societal implications as they push the rollout of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

During a fireside chat in Pittsburgh Tuesday, Brouillette reflected on similar-but-as-serious considerations previously made when the agency was developing nuclear technologies many years ago. He noted that now, when focusing on ethics, his mind tends to hone in on negative aspects and bad results that could arise with tech adoption.

I haven't thought this through with great depth, but there seems to be some positive aspects of AI, too, on the ethics front that we need to explore, Brouillette told the chats moderator Carnegie Mellon University Vice President of Research Michael McQuade. And perhaps through that process we can speed the adoption of some of these technologies, he said, adding that hed like to give it all more thought.

Piggybacking off the point, Kratsios noted that while there's often a tendency to immediately start looking at the lenses of the negative, government officials should conduct a trade-off analysis in their tech-driven pursuits. President Trump signed an executive order on the American AI Initiative earlier in his term, he said, which called for a set of regulatory guidelines for agencies to lean on when implementing or overseeing the use of AI-powered technologies.

So, think about the [Food and Drug Administration] approving an AI medical diagnostic, or think about [the Federal Aviation Administration] approving a droneand what they should be considering in their regulatory approach, Kratsios explained.

A draft of the first set of regulatory guidelines was released earlier this year, which at the time were deemed by administration officials to make up a light-touch regulatory approach.

I think one of the core underpinnings of the way that the White House is directing agencies to think about this is to do that actual cost-benefit analysis, Kratsios said. The same cost-benefit analysis that is required by statute for any other regulation should also be done in the context of AI.

Noting that its something that is very hard to do, the CTO articulated that the guidelines would help provide clarity on how to see the benefits that these technologies can provide, weighed against some of the potential risks to ultimately create better regulatory solutions to providing the technology to the American public.

Brouillette also pointed out that other agencies such as the Homeland Security and Health and Human Services departments are already applying AI technologies to help find redundancies and duplications, and address other issues within their own regulatory processes. Now, the Energy Department aims to follow suit.

One of the questions that my predecessor asked me, Secretary Rick Perry, was are we going to apply this to ourselves? he said. And I think that's a very important common sense, fundamental first stepbut it's important that we do it as a regulatory agency.

The federal officials also touched on a range of other topics during the conversation, which was one part of several events Energy led in Pennsylvania this week.

Excerpt from:
Agencies Should Consider the Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence - Nextgov

Fitness routines have changed a lot during the pandemic. More people are opting to take their workout outside or choosing an indoor setting with minimal people.

Owner of The Exercise Coach in Brookfield Kristine Staral says their business model relies on smart technology that allows individuals to get the optimum workout in the shortest amount of time.

Our focus is on muscle quality over movement quantity- so its a safe, effective, and efficient workout and by that I mean our clients only need to commit to 2- 20 minute workouts a week. We do use smart technology along with certified coaches, said Staral.

Staral believes workout routines- married with smart technology- are the wave of the future.

We are definitely keeping up with the trend with todays smart technology. The equipment itself is built basically using artificial intelligence giving real time feedback thats unique to each individual.

To hear the entire conversation click on the link above.

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Artificial Intelligence revamping exercise routines in the age of COVID-19 - WTMJ

Rokt's advanced machine learning technology enables users to deliver the next best action and experience for each customer in the Transaction Moment. The Rokt algorithms analyze over 1 billion transactions per year, getting smarter with each customer interaction. Clients can then optimize and personalize their offers in real time as the AI manages the tradeoffs between objectives, choosing the offers that will drive the most value per transaction. Customers receive the most relevant offers that they are likely to engage with, and companies forge deeper relationships with their clients, acquire new buyers, and generate new revenue opportunities.

"We are constantly looking to improve the accuracy of our models through the addition of new features from internal and third-party sources," said Rokt CEO, Bruce Buchanan. "Our machine learning takes features into account to predict and deliver the most value to both our clients, and their customers. This technology allows non-tech savvy teams the ability to utilize advanced machine learning algorithms, analyze results, and make simple updates to optimize their campaign success. It ensures customers are receiving relevant offers, and a personalized experience, and that brands are not wasting marketing spend by showing offers to users unlikely to convert."

Rokt's Machine Learning includes 12 unique proprietary models that cover both classification problems, where the outcome is yes or no, and regression problems, where the outcome has a continuous value. Multiple data inputs are collected to understand each customer on an individual level so AI can determine their most relevant offer and experience. These data points include customer data such as age, gender, device, and more, as well as transaction data and Interaction data. With this, Rokt then optimizes to serve the most relevant offers. Customization features include placements, design, messaging, creative, offer position, and more.

The mission of the MarTech Breakthrough Awards is to honor excellence and recognize the innovation, hard work and success in a range of marketing, sales and advertising technology-related categories, including marketing automation, market research and customer experience, AdTech, SalesTech, marketing analytics, content and social marketing, mobile marketing and many more. This year's program attracted more than 2,750 nominations from over 15 different countries throughout the world.

"Customers expect personalized and relevant experiences when they shop online, Rokt's AI brings them this customized experience," said James Johnson, Managing Director at MarTech Breakthrough. "Rokt certainly breaks through the MarTech space with their advanced machine learning technology that has been used across more than 4 billion e-commerce transactions to date, and we want to congratulate them on winning our 'Best Use of AI in MarTech' award for 2020."

About Rokt

Rokt makes e-commerce smarter, faster and better. When customers are buying online, they increasingly expect more personalized and relevant experiences. Rokt uses real-time data and decisioning to deliver the next best action for each person in each Transaction Moment.

Founded in Sydney, Rokt now operates in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, The Netherlands, Spain, Japan, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Our clients include Live Nation, Staples, Groupon, GoDaddy, Expedia, Vistaprint and HelloFresh. Rokt unlocks the hidden potential in every single Transaction Moment.

About MarTech Breakthrough

Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the MarTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in marketing, ad and sales technology companies, products and people. The MarTech Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough marketing technology companies and products in categories including marketing automation, AdTech, SalesTech, marketing analytics, CRM, content and social marketing, website, SEM, mobile marketing and more. For more information, visitMarTechBreakthrough.com.

SOURCE Rokt

https://rokt.com/

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Rokt Recognized for Innovation in Artificial Intelligence with 2020 MarTech Breakthrough Award - PRNewswire

Tackling carbon emissions is one of the biggest challenges faced by the world today. For big business, this means making a strategic and managed move towards increasing the use of renewable energy sources, as well as creating efficiencies across all aspects of their operations.

Microsoft And Shell Announce New Partnership To Use Artificial Intelligence And Tech To Reduce ... [+] Carbon Emissions

Its a difficult task to manage alone, even for an enterprise on the scale of tech giant Microsoft or energy titan Shell. But working together creates new possibilities that go further than what it is likely they could accomplish individually. Beyond meeting their own zero-carbon commitments, there's the opportunity to help other companies within their vast ecosystems of customers and suppliers to meet their environmental and safety goals, too.

This was the topic of a conversation I had this week with Judson Althoff, Microsofts executive vice president for worldwide commercial business, and Huibert Vigeveno, downstream director at Shell.

We spoke to mark the announcement of a major partnership between the two companies, with the aim of combining Shells expertise in clean and efficient energy creation with Microsofts expertise in cutting-edge technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and the internet of things (IoT).

This has resulted in a number of initiatives to reduce carbon footprints - including helping Microsoft to meet its commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2025, as well as to develop safer and cleaner working environments.

Althoff told me, "When we made those commitments, it was pretty clear that we wouldn't be able to do it by ourselves, and quite frankly, we were reliant on technology that didn't exist at the time.

What were excited about with this announcement is that the tech and innovation partnership with Shell will help us get there.

Projects so far launched have involved Microsoft AI specialists teaming with Shell data scientists to probe areas of operation where cooperation is likely to have the deepest impact. This has led to the development of 47 separate applications designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the business of energy production. The data storage and compute workload is handled through Microsofts Azure platform, so insights and efficiencies gained in one area of operation can be put to work to benefit any other area. This has included building digital twin functionality to create a simulated, virtual model of the entire energy generation process. As well as optimizing their own operations, the solutions will also be offered as a service to any other organization they work with that might benefit from them.

Althoff describes the concept of building the digital twin in terms of putting a sensor fabric across all areas of Shells operations a fabric that has so far collected over 10 billion rows of measurements and observations. One operation approached in this manner was Shells production and distribution of liquified natural gas. Real-time models are created that allow AI algorithms to accurately compute the most efficient adjustments that can be made to operating parameters in order to reduce the amount of CO2 emitted during the process. This allows research and experimentation that would take years to be carried out at a vastly accelerated pace in the digital world.

Another application monitors and records the corrosion rate of protective equipment used by workers involved with hazardous environments and materials, allowing them to be replaced in an efficient manner and improving on-site safety. As with the applications driving efficiency in liquified natural gas production, this leverages machine learning and cognitive computing technology.

As Vigeveno put it to me, "I think it's fair to say that both of our organizations have very bold climate ambitions. We both want to be net-zero, but collectively we believe we can really play a role in the energy transition.

"This is not something you can do alone, but you really need to do with partners and going sector by sector. So, this [partnership] will not just bring value to our own organizations but to our customers around the world.

Even within their own operations, though, the scope for driving positive change is immense, with Shell operating 45,000 retail points across the world servicing 30 million customers each day, and Microsoft's Windows 10 software installed on over a billion devices.

But it is by expanding the use of these applications to suppliers, customers, and other partners that the biggest benefits are likely to be seen.

Vigeveno told me, "The ambition at both of our companies is really to help the world decarbonize, and we both realize that it's really the decarbonization of our customers that will let us fulfill those ambitions."

The aim is to roll out the technology on a sector-by-sector basis, recognizing that while it may serve customers in industries from aviation to zoos, the needs of specific industries will be very different, as will the opportunities for creating change, efficiency, and safety improvements.

Clearly, Shell has been a technology-driven company from day one. Breakthroughs in exploration and drilling were the foundation of its business over a hundred years back. But partnering with a business whose whole core function is the provision of technology, like Microsoft, gives it access to expertise and world-class infrastructure across all fields of information technology. Its ability to leverage AI, cloud computing, and the sensor-rich environment created by IoT, in particular, is of huge value to the energy giant.

Likewise, Microsoft will help meet its own emission targets as well as lower the operating costs of its global network of data centers and processing facilities, by collaborating with Shell on implementing renewables other efficiency-driving changes into its operations.

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Microsoft And Shell Announce New Partnership To Use Artificial Intelligence And Tech To Reduce Carbon Emissions - Forbes

Finally, AI is ready for the mainstream.

When your enterprise is handling transactions between millions of sellers and 182 millionbuyers, supporting 1.5 billion listings, manual decision-making processes just wont cut. Such is the case with eBay, the mega commerce site, that has been employing artificial intelligence for more than a decade. As Forbes contributor Bernard Marr points out, eBay employs AI across a broad range of functions, in personalization, search, insights, discovery and its recommendation systems along with computer vision, translation, natural language processing and more.

As part of a massive operation with so much experience with AI, Mazen Rawashdeh, CTO of eBay, has plenty to say about the current state of enterprise AI. He recently shared his views on AIs progress across the business landscape, and where work is still needed.

How far has AI moved beyond proofs of concept?

Rawashdeh: The technology behind AI has progressed way beyond proofs of concept in many organizations. AI is at the front and center of technology strategy and execution, driving compelling customer experiences, improving business growth, and managing and reducing risk across almost every industry finance, healthcare, transportation, security, e-commerce. In a way, it is beginning to touch several aspects of human life in a practical manner. Computer vision, natural language processing, recommender systems, and anomaly detection capabilities, for example, are fundamentally shaping the future of commerce in general, and e-commerce in particular.

Is AI being narrowly applied to specific tasks, or are there broader applications underway?

Rawashdeh: AI is currently being applied both wide and deep across industries. For example, solutions are deployed in production at scale for specific tasks such as language translations, intelligent searches, personalized experiences, fraud detections, recommender systems, across e-commerce industries.

These are foundational capabilities and quickly becoming table stakes; however, AI is emerging and aspiring to have broader applications when it is leveraged to augment human tasks. For example, a combination of AI and human evaluation is being used for fraud detection of prohibited and counterfeit items in the e-commerce industry. As AI is deployed to manage more human tasks, it raises the critical policy, regulatory and ethical considerations that need to evolve as well.

What are the structural roadblocks that inhibit AI efforts and utilization?

Rawashdeh: In order to democratize AI in an enterprise, there has to be an effective and efficient enterprise-to-enterprise machine learning platform that helps the full machine learning lifecycle along with providing higher level AI services, including computer vision, natural language processing and personalization, in easy-to-use modalities. Building these capabilities and services is not an easy undertaking and requires a strong commitment of support from executive leadership, along with an internal open source engineering model and the mindset to develop it collaboratively.

The fundamental roadblocks to successful adoption of AI at the enterprise level is as much about culture as it is about technology. Companies that establish a culture where AI is blended as part of the unified strategy, design and development process, have a higher chance of successful adoption of AI, and in turn, a greater return from that AI. When AI is thought of an ecosystem across the organization business, policy, product, technology, experience then the ROI can be maximized.

What kind of infrastructure is providing the best support for broader AI initiatives at the enterprise level?

Rawashdeh: There are three key pillars to build successful AI initiatives in any enterprise from a hardware and software infrastructure perspective.

First is to have an easy discoverability, transformation and cleaning framework for data;

second is to have an extensive high-performance compute, storage, network to train, validate, and deploy complex machine learning and deep learning AI models; and

third is the availability of a control plane for AI that includes various software frameworks and utilities for end-to-end management of AI modeling lifecycle from exploration, training, experimentation, learning and iteration.

What changes are required within the data infrastructure to support scaling AI?

Rawashdeh: Data infrastructure and the teams and processes behind scaling AI need to provide a data as service type capability for any successful deployment. This enables data scientists and developers in an enterprise to discover, create, manage, deploy and share best-of-breed data features in a quick and seamless self-service manner.

To support AI scaling, the data infrastructure should look beyond traditional data warehouses or extract transform load, to provide simplistic and appropriate AI specific abstractions for data discovery, data preparation, model training and serving. For AI to be effective, the infrastructure should provide data for models in batch as well as real-time.

Most importantly, AI is an iterative, continuous learning process, requiring automated and continuous feedback data for model iterations. The data infrastructure should evolve to support such a continuous feedback cycle from AI systems and human-in-the-loop.

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Artificial Intelligence Is Ready For Prime Time, But Needs Full Executive Support - Forbes

Easter, Passover, Holi, and Ramadan were just a few of the religious milestones that used virtual tools during the pandemic to replace traditional observation. But what about robot priests, artificial intelligence and online houses of worship?

The intersection of technology and spirituality is coming much faster than many expected.

In the 1983 Star Wars film Return of the Jedi, artificially intelligent android C3P0 finds out what its like to become the subject of worship.

They think Im some sort of God, he said, as fuzzy creatures hover around him chanting in prayer.

But the intersection of machines and religion is happening in real life.

In Japan, monks at an ancient temple hear sermons from a robot avatar of the Buddhist goddess of mercy. In India, an automaton performs one of Hinduisms most sacred rituals, and in Germany, a robot gives blessings to thousands of protestants.

You could punch in the language, for example, in which you would request the blessing, said Teresa Berger, a professor of Catholic theology at the Yale University Divinity School.

Some are now asking whether the next step is an artificially intelligent spiritual leader and whether counsel from A.I. could ever replace the guidance of a cleric.

I think that's a really important question that we need to wrestle with just as we're also wrestling with the hypothetical possibility of encountering intelligent life from other planets, said Jennifer Herdt, stark professor of Christian ethics at Yale University Divinity.

The pandemic has forced millions around the world out of their churches, temples, synagogues and mosques into virtual congregations.

We've been recording our sermons. We've been posting them online, Facebook and YouTube and Instagram, said Hisham Al Qaisi, Imam of the Islamic Foundation in Villa Park, IL. A lot of other Islamic centers are doing the same, trying to keep the community engaged digitally.

Professor Berger argues that whether virtually or in-person the physicality of being present remains. And rather than being disembodied, the technology actually allows more connectivity in some cases. She found that to be true during a recent church experience where parishioners used the chat feature during a sermon.

In this particular digitally-mediated community, people talked to each other throughout the service much more than we might do in a brick and mortar sanctuary, said Berger.

In recent years, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has suggested the social network could address declining church attendance, offering the same sense of community traditionally found in brick and mortar houses of worship. It's something Herdt says may be challenging.

Is this about creating profit for Facebook or is this about truly ministering to the spiritual needs of people trying to keep those things separate would be very difficult, she said.

Still, just how exactly technology will alter manners of worship will undoubtedly continue to evolve, say experts like Herdt.

I'm sure we're going to see some dramatic transformations in the future.

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Will the future of spirituality include artificial intelligence and virtual worship? - WGBA-TV

This is an excellent fully-funded PhD opportunity in the area of autonomy, navigation, and artificial intelligence, aiming to pave a way to wider implementation of autonomous systems, such as drones or self-driving cars into our everyday life.

Although these systems are in use for some years, robustness of their autonomous operations, including the ability to navigate safely in complex urban environments, is still an open challenge.This project will focus on the development of assured AI-based navigation solution for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which allows for reliable operation in safety-critical missions when satellite navigation, such as GPS or GNSS is not available or severely degraded in quality.

Assured navigation is one of the key enabling technologies for new emerging applications of autonomous systems such as drones and cars within the Smart City and Urban Aerial Mobility ecosystems. In addition to economical and societal benefits, autonomous systems in these emerging areas should be able to provide resilience in cases of disasters and pandemics, for example, by enabling autonomous deliveries in conditions of viral threats (such as COVID 19) without essential risks for couriers or delivery recipients.

Current solutions do not provide the required level of accuracy and resilience when satellite navigation is challenging, e.g. in urban canyons. There is a growing and urgent need worldwide in high precision hybrid navigation technologies, able to provide the assured performance of unmanned vehicles in autonomous safety-critical operations.Therefore, this project aims to develop a cost-effective assured navigation solution for autonomous systems, suitable for safety-critical missions in environments where satellite-based navigation is either performance-degraded or denied.Cranfield is an exclusively postgraduate university in technology and management, widely recognised for delivering outstanding transformational research that meets the needs of business, government, and the wider society.

EPSRC through their funding program offers this collaboration research opportunity between Cranfield and Spirent Communications, who is the leading global provider of automated test and assurance solutions for networks, cybersecurity, and positioning.This project will offer high accuracy robust hybrid navigation and positioning solution that utilizes multiple localization and navigation information sources in an efficient framework based on deep learning techniques.The project also offers extensive training at both Spirent Communications and Cranfield, covering essential skills in artificial intelligence, sensor fusion, positioning, corresponding simulation software, and hardware.

At Cranfield, you will have access to the Universitys core skills training programmes for PhD students, while Spirent facilitates the development of industry-specific transferrable skills through involvement in teamwork, preparation, and participation in workshops, and showcasing to customers. As a part of this project, you will also benefit from multiple opportunities to present your work at major international conferences and industrial events.In this exciting project, you will be exposed to the latest technological developments and learn from both academic and industrial experts in this area.

Being supported by extensive training options for both technical and transferrable skills will help you to become well prepared for your future success in either industry or academia.

1stSupervisor: Dr. Ivan Petrunin

2ndSupervisor: Prof. Weisi Guo

Applicants should have a first or second class UK honors degree or equivalent in a related discipline.

This project would suit someone with:

To be eligible for this funding, applicants should have no restrictions regarding how long they can stay in the UK, i.e.:

Due to funding restrictions, all EU nationals are eligible to receive a fees-only award if they do not have settled status in the UK.

Sponsored by EPSRC, Cranfield University, and Spirent Communication, this studentship will provide a selected eligible candidate bursary up to 20,000 (tax-free) plus fees for three years. You will have an opportunity to travel to international conferences and meet industrial collaborators for training, guidance, and experimentation.

Research students at Cranfield benefit from being part of a dynamic, focused and professional study environment and all become valued members of theCranfield Doctoral Network.This network brings together both research students and staff, providing a platform for our researchers to share ideas and collaborate in a multi-disciplinary environment. It aims to encourage an effective and vibrant research culture, founded upon the diversity of activities and knowledge. A tailored programme of seminars and events, alongside our Doctoral Researchers Core Development programme (transferable skills training), provide those studying a research degree with a wealth of social and networking opportunities.

For further information please contact:

For further information please contact:Name:Dr. Ivan PetruninEmail:[emailprotected]T:(0) 1234 750111 Ext: 8262

If you are eligible to apply for this studentship, please complete the online application form.

Originally posted here:
Robust Autonomous Navigation Based on Artificial Intelligence Approaches PhD - sUAS News