Daily Archives: October 13, 2022

Politicians are often accused of giving robotic answers when facing questions - but politicians in the UK may just have been shown how its really done.

The android Ai-Da, which is claimed to be the worlds first ultra-realistic AI robot artist, was questioned by a committee in the British parliament on Tuesday.

The politicians from the Communications and Digital Committee in the House of Lords asked the robot - named after the 19th century computer pioneer Ada Lovelace - about the relationship between artificial intelligence, robots, and the arts.

"I do not have subjective experiences despite being able to talk about where I am and depend on computer programmes and algorithms who are very not alive. I can still create art," said the robot.

Ai-Da was created in collaboration with robotic creators Engineered Arts, with AI algorithms created by experts at the University of Oxford.

"The robot is providing evidence, but it is not a witness in its own right. And I don't want to offend the robot, but it does not occupy the same status as a human and that you as its creator, are ultimately responsible for the statements," said Tina Stowell, Baroness Stowell of Beeston, to Aidan Meller, Ai-Das creator.

Ai-Da can "see" with the help of two cameras, one in each eye, which is connected to a computer vision system that is then interrogated by an AI algorithm.

Meller said he learned a lot while developing the project.

"The biggest thing that I've seen, which absolutely takes me to my core, is actually not so much about how human-like Ai-Da is, but how robotic we are. The algorithms that run our systems are extremely able to be analysed, understood, and created," he said.

Thanks to her cameras, Ai-Da is able to do portraits of people that stand in front of her.

She can also draw the faces of people if engineers upload a picture for her.

"The role of technology in creating art will continue to grow as artists find new ways to use technology to express themselves and reflect and explore the relationship between technology, society, and culture," Ai-Da told the committee.

The team behind Ai-Da hopes that the robot will provoke discussions about the future of artificial intelligence and robotics.

Ai-Da is the first robot ever to appear before the UK's House of Lords, the upper house of the UK parliament.

In 2018, Pepper the robot gave evidence to a House of Commons education committee.

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Robot Ai-Da becomes first to give evidence to UK's House of Lords - Euronews

An interdisciplinary project has received funding to help ensure that if or more likely, when certain imaging tools that use artificial intelligence (AI) are put to clinical use, their inherent uncertainty is considered as part of any subsequent clinical decisions, including guiding treatment.

The project, led by Abhinav Jha, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis McKelvey School of Engineering, will be funded by a $314,807 grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The two-part project will involve first developing a technique by which to quantify the amount of uncertainty in AI-based tools used to measure quantitative parameters from patient images, such as tumor volume.

Jha then will work with a team including Anya Plutynski, professor of philosophy in Arts & Sciences. The two worked together previously to better understand patients attitudes toward AI. For this project, they also will work with radiation oncologist Clifford Robinson, MD,and nuclear medicine physician Tyler Fraum, MD, both at Washington University School of Medicine, to develop a questionnaire for patients that will determine how much risk someone is comfortable with if using an AI-based tool as part of the clinical decision-making process, given the certainty of the measurement the tool provides.

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NIH grant supports Jha's work on ethics of AI in imaging - The Source - Washington University in St. Louis

Sarah Guo isnt late to the AI party, but she did just raise a $101 million fund to bet on the appetizers.

Hello and welcome back toEquity, a podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single person, think about their work and unpack the rest. This week, Natasha and Alex interviewed Guo, who worked at Greylock for nearly a decade, and her launch of Conviction.

We spoke about the self-correcting venture market, what made her leave Greylock and even rewound to her last episode with us (recorded almost exactly three years ago).

There was also an especially fruitful conversation about the opportunity in artificial intelligence right now, and how shes defining Software 3.0. (Warning: We talk about SaaS!) We also dug into why she started a fund, the LP market and more. The conversation ran a bit long, but it felt reasonable to keep going given the sheer breadth of stuff that we wanted to get through.

Dont forget that Equity is going to be live at Disrupt next week, on Tuesday morning. Its going to be a blast. And before we go, two programming notes (that help your wallet, too):

Equity drops every Monday at 7 a.m. PT and Wednesday and Friday at 6 a.m. PT, so subscribe to us onApple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify andall the casts. TechCrunch also has agreat show on crypto, ashow that interviews founders, ashow that details how our stories come togetherand more!

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Sarah Guo isnt late to the AI party - TechCrunch

The recent years have witnessed immense technology adoption in the banking sector in the wake of the pandemic and during the race to economic recovery. Digitisation of banking services allowed institutional resilience and enabled banks to offer services and solutions online, reaching a broader customer base. The demand for a digital banking experience is transforming the entire banking industry, giving rise to innovative solutions and enhanced customer experience.

As banking embraces technology, hyperautomation technologies play a massive role in digitizing independent processes, improving the quality of services, and transforming operations. Beyond improving independent tasks, the connected technologies add efficiency to overall operations bringing together separate processes and departments to develop innovative solutions and industry-wide impact. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Low-code play a crucial role in transforming banking by providing flexibility and reduced turnaround time to deliver faster solutions and efficient process implementation at a minimal investment compared to infrastructural investments to attain similar results.

While AI enables the digital workforce to replicate human intelligence to complete tasks performed by humans or require human intelligence at a rapid pace, Low-code development simplifies coding and application building to provide easy drag and drop functionality, making application development more accessible and faster than ever before. The technologies play a significant role in building the foundations of the future of banking as they implement solutions within shorter turnaround times without compromising efficiency while improving the customer experience. Here are a few ways in which AI and Low-code can transform the future of banking.

During the pandemic, when it was necessary to ensure remote working and social distancing, the digital workforce powered by AI ensured business continuity and productivity without affecting existing functions. Access to digital banking and remote services shaped the future of banking by developing innovative solutions to meet customer demands. Further, the inclusion of the digital workforce enables handling high volumes of operations to support diverse customers and stakeholders while ensuring the job security of the humans.

Previously, the onboarding of new customers and creation of their accounts or the application for new loans could take customers and institutions multiple steps and time-consuming manual reviews. However, with the inclusion of just one, if not all of the following hyperautomation technologies: low-code business rule-driven processes, robotic process automation (RPA), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and artificial intelligence (AI), these time-consuming and manual processes have become, in some cases, real-time decision events. These improved customer experiences have allowed some institutions to prove the importance of the investment and set themselves apart from competitors by embracing the technologies.

Enhanced securityThe banking sector is constantly exploring ways to withstand cyberattacks, prevent data leaks, detect fraud, and ensure maximum security for operations. Technology implementation allows more control over data and access to live data to make informed decisions. Many organizations have turned to artificial intelligence processes to more accurately detect fraudulent activity and low-code processes to inform and receive feedback from customers in these instances.

Further, errors and omissions can be minimized, saving time and resources. Time-consuming audits and reviews can be automated, allowing round-the-clock monitoring and validating of records to ensure high levels of transparency, trust, and accountability.

User experience and customer supportLeveraging hyperautomation technologies have enhanced onboarding and backend functions improving customer experience. AI on the front end to smooth customer identification and authentication, mimic live employees through chatbots and voice assistants, deepen customer relationships, and provide personalized insights and recommendations. The digital workforce can handle customer support around the clock and position the human workforce to focus on relationship-building and cognitive roles.

Robotic process automation (RPA) may also be leveraged to help provide a streamlined audit trail of transactions and requests for increased reporting accuracy and transparency. Hyperautomation technologies allow institutions to support customers case-to-case basis with their highly flexible and customizable solutions.

Innovative solutions and complianceThe adoption of low-code and Artificial intelligence technologies has allowed a substantial increase in innovation within the financial services and banking industries. These technologies have allowed for increased integration of existing and secure customer data with new digital-first processes that can be created and introduced at exceptionally fast speeds, thanks to low-code options. As the industry transitions, many of these processes need to focus on increased compliance needs. Low-code platforms have allowed organizations to quickly implement business-rule-driven processes while enabling artificial intelligence to enforce them. They also encourage human intervention at any dispute or point where confidence in the AI decision may be required. These rules begin to work in concert, giving the organization increased processing speed and transparency into each customer transaction and improving customer experience.

As technology adoption shapes the digital transformation journeys of banks and financial institutions, it has also begun shaping customer experience and expectations. Remote banking, shortened transaction processing times, and increased security are all customer expectations stemming from the introduction of hyperautomation technologies in the industry. We do not foresee the pace of change reducing anytime soon.

(The writer is the Director of Services and Operations at Vuram)

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How AI and Low-code can transform the banking sector - Economic Times

The Alan Turing Institute has announced the formal launch of an AI Standards Hub that the government trialed in January 2022.

The institute has teamed up with the British Standards Institution (BSI) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to form the hub, which is also supported by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the governments office for artificial intelligence (AI).

The present government was formed on 6 September 2022, and so the launch of the hub is one of the first slew of initiatives that it publicly backs.

It is billed as part of the governments 10-year national AI strategy, launched in September 2021.

The minister for technology and the digital economy, Damian Collins, who took up his position in August 2022 as part of outgoing prime minister Boris Johnsons interim administration and supported Liz Truss to be leader of the Conservative Party in its leadership election, said: Our National AI Strategy builds on the UKs position at the forefront of artificial intelligence to fuel innovation and strengthen trust in this transformative technology.

The hubs launch sets the bar for the responsible creation, development and use of AI to unlock its full potential and drive growth across the country.

Also from the government, its chief scientific adviser and national technology adviser, Patrick Vallance, said:The UKs new AI Standards Hub should help create the conditions needed to develop a thriving AI industry and promote innovation.

Adrian Smith, director and chief executive of the Alan Turing Institute, said:As artificial intelligence technologies play an increasingly crucial role across all sectors, its vital that the development and use of these technologies adheres to commonly agreed and ethically sound standards. This is why our new initiative is so important it will support innovation and ensure that organisations and people are using AI responsibly.

The Hub has an online platform, with information about existing AI standardisation efforts and related policy developments, and some capacity to engage with other users through a range of community features.

The Hub will also, said the ATI in a statement, seek to build a community around AI trustworthiness and the role of standards within it. It will offer training in the skills needed to get involved in standardisation efforts, as well as publish research and analysis about the topic.

Scott Steedman, director-general of standards at BSI, added:As the UKs National Standards Body, BSI is delighted to be playing a central role in the AI Standards Hub, a world-leading initiative to increase understanding of the standards that are supporting the deployment of AI technologies, and to inform the development of new standards. One of the most important of these for businesses of all sizes will be the AI management standard ISO/IEC 42001, which we will championing as a British Standard in the UK, and which will help companies take advantage of AI technologies in a responsible way.

For the National Physical Laboratory, Sundeep Bhandari, strategy manager at the digital sector, said: The launch of the AI Standards Hub signifies a coordinated UK effort to strengthen the UKs contribution to the development of global AI technical standards. The hub provides an environment for our world-leading scientific researchers to take their work through from the lab to market and enables innovators to access, collaborate and create global standards.

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Turing launches government-backed AI standards information hub - ComputerWeekly.com

At its Ignite conference this week, Microsoft announced updates heading to Teams, its ever-evolving videoconferencing and workplace collaboration app. New avatars are available, and more details were announced around Teams Premium, a paid set of Teams features including AI-generated tasks and meeting guides, which is set to arrive in December in preview.

Teams Premium is an effort to simplify Teams pricing, which before was disparate across several tiers. Microsoft says it expects it to cost $10 per user per month, with official pricing to come once Teams Premium is generally available. Thats higher than the lowest-cost Google Workspace plan, which costs $6 per user per month, but less expensive than Zoom Pro ($15 per user per month).

The aforementioned avatars a part of Microsofts Mesh platform allow users to choose customized, animated versions of themselves to show up in Teams meetings, a bit like Zooms virtual avatars. Through the Avatars app in the Microsoft Teams app store, users can design up to three avatars to use in a Teams meeting with gestures to react to topics.

Microsofts CVP of modern work Jared Spataro pitches avatars as a way to take a break from the camera but still have a physical presence in Teams meetings. Our data shows that 51% of Gen Z envisions working in the metaverse in the next two years, he wrote in a blog post a percentage that seems optimistically high if were talking about VR and AR headsets, but depends on how one defines metaverse. He continued: You can create custom avatars to represent yourself.

Avatars are perhaps also a small play albeit an unspoken one at revitalizing a platform thats stagnated over the past year. Microsoft says that more than 270 million people actively use Teams monthly today, a number that hasnt budged since January as workers increasingly return to the office.

Avatars are available in the standard Teams for private preview customers, while organizations interested in trying them out can sign up for updates on the Teams website if theyre not already part of the Teams Technical Access Program, Microsoft says.

On the Teams Premium side, customers are getting meeting guides designed to help them pick the right meeting experience e.g. a client call, brainstorm meeting or help desk support with options that can be customized and managed by an IT team. Teams Premium users will also be able to brand the meeting experience with bespoke logos for the lobby and brand-specific backgrounds at the organization level.

The forthcoming Intelligent Recap feature in Microsoft Teams Premium, powered by machine learning. Image Credits: Microsoft

Among the more interesting new Teams Premium-specific additions leverage AI. For example, theres Intelligent Recap, which attempts to capture highlights from Teams meetings, and an Intelligent Playback feature that automatically generates chapters for Teams meeting recordings. Personalized Insights highlights key moments in recordings, like when a persons name was mentioned, while Intelligent Search aims to make searching transcripts easier with suggested speakers.

Beyond all this, Teams Premium will deliver real-time translations for 40 spoken languages and the above-mentioned AI-generated tasks, which are automatically assigned to meeting attendees.

AI aside, Teams Premium will soon offer what Microsofts calling Advanced Meeting Protection, a set of features to safeguard confidential meetings such as board meetings and undisclosed product launches. These span watermarking, limits to recording and sensitivity labels to automatically apply protections to meetings. Relatedly, new Advanced Webinars in Teams Premium provide options for a registration waitlist and manual approvals, automated reminder emails, a virtual green room for hosts and presenters and the ability to manage what attendees see.

Teams Premium will also introduce advanced virtual appointments, which are designed to help manage the end-to-end appointment experience for direct-to-consumer brands with pre-appointment text reminders, a branded lobby and post-appointment follow-ups. Organizations get both scheduled and on-demand appointments, a simplified view of all virtual appointments and pre-appointment chat capabilities to communicate with their customers.

On the backend, customers can view analytics like usage trends, a history of virtual appointments and no-shows and wait times with specific staff and departments.

Microsoft says that Teams Premium features will begin rolling out in December 2022 as part of a preview, with general availability coming in February 2023. The AI capabilities, including Intelligent Playback and Intelligence Recap, will hit the first half of 2023.

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Microsoft Teams gains animated avatars and AI-powered recaps - TechCrunch

A global autonomous driving technology company will open its first Arizona location in Tucson to test its vehicles.

Pony.ai, founded in Fremont, California in 2016, announced last month its partnership with Pima Community College. The company will base its operations at the college's new Automotive Technology and Innovation Center onits downtown campus.

Pony.ais decision to select Tucson for their new autonomous passenger vehicle testing operations is further validation that Southern Arizona is an emerging player in the autonomous vehicle industry, Joe Snell, president and CEO, of Sun Corridor Inc.said in a press release. Sun Corridor is an economic development agency in Tucson.

He also said Pony.ai joins a growing list of companies developing autonomous technologies that are looking to the region for expanding or basing their operations.

According to the press release, Pony.ai is the first company in Southern Arizona to launch passenger AVtesting.

The future is here: Autonomous semitrucks are rolling along Valley freeways

A spokesperson for Pony.ai told The Arizona Republic that people will see the company's cars driving around Tucson as part of its testing. Theon-road testing of autonomous vehicles in Tucson will always have trained safety drivers behind the wheel.

Pony.ai said it has driven over 9.3 million real-world autonomous milesand is proud of its safety record.

The company said Tucson was chosen for its operations because of its growing importancefor tech startups and smart city technology, and because the company already has strong partnerships with the City of Tucson and Pima Community Colleges new Automotive Technology & Innovation Center.

In the press release, Pima County Supervisor Sharon Bronson said that with Pony.ais vision, under-resourced populations will have access to more reliable transportation for persons with disabilities.

According to a 2017 report published by the Ruderman Family Foundation, self-driving carsofferpotential for reducing transportation obstacles for people with disabilities.

The report points to government transportation survey data from2003 that foundsix million peoplewith disabilities have difficulties getting the transportation they need.

A Pony.ai spokesperson said the companybelieves in a future where "autonomous vehicles not only make driving inherently safer, but also open up a world of safe and reliable transportation access and more mobility options for people with disabilities.

Coverage of southern Arizona onazcentral.comand inThe Arizona Republicis funded by the nonprofitReport for Americain association with The Republic.

Reach the reporter atsarah.lapidus@gannett.com.

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Pony.ai to test its autonomous vehicles in Tucson - The Arizona Republic