Category Archives: Artificial Intelligence

H

uman intelligence has long powered hospitals and health care. We rely on doctors, nurses, and a variety of other clinicians to solve problems and create new solutions. Advances in artificial intelligence are now making it possible to apply this form of computer-based thinking to health care.

As the chief technology officer for a new state-of-the-art advanced medical learning facility, I have been closely watching developments in artificial intelligence. Here are three areas training, surgical robots, and data mining in which I believe it will begin making a difference sooner rather than later.

Inside their operating rooms, surgeons are the captains of the ship. They possess extensive medical training and the skills to apply it. But they rely on the cooperation and contributions of the entire team to make the most of those skills. Unfortunately, few surgeons get training in how to effectively lead people with different educational and skill backgrounds.

advertisement

Creating environments in which all members of an operating room team can come together to learn and practice communication skills is a significant challenge. There are, of course, standard communication protocols for teamwork in health care. They have been gathered into in a national program known as TeamSTEPPS. However, the opportunity to really learn to communicate in the operating room seldom exists because different players on the team get their education and training via separate professional organizations and events.

New robot no substitute for humans in the operating room

To overcome this problem, my colleagues and I at the Florida Hospital Nicholson Center worked with a game development company called ARA/Virtual Heroes to create a virtual world in which a surgeon can practice team communication and leadership. This game runs on the same type of avatar intelligence underpinning teammates in the Call of Duty games. The automated avatars give audio feedback and guidance to help the surgeon make the right choices. A collection of rules, conditions, and scripts guide the surgeon through a scenario in the operating room and teach him or her which actions and decisions are correct and which ones arent. Game scenarios have decision branches that lead to favorable and unfavorable outcomes. As with most such games, there is just a single path through the scenario that leads to a successful conclusion and a corresponding score derived from making correct and incorrect decisions.

Major advances in robotic surgery let doctors perform many types of complex procedures with more precision, flexibility, and control than is possible with other conventional techniques. Robots like the da Vinci Surgical System provide a platform for translating a surgeons movements into precise actions with advanced instruments. Current robots, however, are not aware of the anatomy they show the surgeon, the procedures they are being used to perform, or what the surgeon intends to do. They are fantastic tools, but they arent yet intelligent assistants.

Future generations of robotic surgery platforms will be more aware of the procedure being performed and use that knowledge and perception to give the surgeon intelligent assistance. Companies like Verb Surgical, a collaboration between Google and Ethicon Endo-Surgery, have indicated that their robot will include machine learning and awareness. That would let it identify potential issues during a procedure. They also plan to link the robot to a cloud supercomputer service like IBMs Watson, so knowledge of thousands of similar procedures will be accessible to both the surgeon and the robot to improve the performance of each operation.

Watson goes to Asia: Hospitals use supercomputer for cancer treatment

Capabilities like those should greatly enhance the level of expertise brought into the operating room of the future, combining the skills and knowledge of the surgeon with the experience of thousands of his or her colleagues and the artificial intelligence of the worlds leading computer scientists.

Hospital systems collect data on thousands of patients each year. But each record slides into multiple disparate and disconnected databases. Hospitals know a great deal about individual patients, but very little about the aggregate health of their populations. Data mining and artificial intelligence have the potential to bring that information together into an integrated whole that can be analyzed to create a valuable picture of the health of any defined population while maintaining the anonymity of the individuals involved.

In 1854, Dr. John Snow proved that cholera was being spread through the water system of London by creating his now-famous death map, which showed the houses of those dying from the disease and which system was delivering their water. This big data analysis of an important health problem, carried out by a single human intelligence, saved countless lives.

The databases in modern hospital systems contain information that may identify the causes of disease for thousands of different issues on command. They can address questions like which medical services are best suited to which communities in the city, or where are new disease outbreaks originating, or which communities would benefit from which health education programs? Government is increasingly holding local health care providers responsible for the health of the populations they serve. They expect these providers to deliver clinics, vaccinations, and screenings. However, you cant know what to provide if you dont know the demographic and health makeup of your population.

We know so little about the aggregate health of communities because there arent enough minds and hours to collect and analyze massive datasets. Big data and artificial intelligence will bring computer minds to these problems and significantly improve our ability to offer effective health care to individuals and communities.

Roger Smith, PhD, is chief technology officer for the Florida Hospital Nicholson Center and a graduate faculty member at the University of Central Florida.

Roger Smith can be reached at FHNC.Info@flhosp.org Follow Roger on Twitter @@NCGlobal

View post:

Artificial intelligence: coming soon to a hospital near you - STAT

BBC News

Artificial intelligence: How to avoid racist algorithms BBC News There is growing concern that many of the algorithms that make decisions about our lives - from what we see on the internet to how likely we are to become victims or instigators of crime - are trained on data sets that do not include a diverse range of ... and more »

Continued here:

Artificial intelligence: How to avoid racist algorithms - BBC News

The first generation of police body cameras was introduced in 2005 in Great Britain. Their primary task was, and still is, to record police interactions with the public as well as to gather evidence at crime scenes. During a typical day, every police officer captures hours and hours of footage. To separate the irrelevant data from incriminating evidence, every recording needs to be reviewed and edited.

Now imagine sifting through hundreds of hours of police footage, looking for a specific piece of information, such as a verbal exchange between an officer and a suspect, a clear shot of license plates, or a suspect entering a particular building or meeting a particular person. Its a rather time-consuming task, so a lot of this footage ends up archived to be reviewed later, forfeiting potentially valuable or time-sensitive evidence.

The solution could be the use of artificial intelligence. Machine-learning algorithms within an AI system can be trained to differentiate between people and objects, recognize various events, such as car chases and shootings, and even identify people caught on tape through its facial-recognition abilities. It also can do some of the officers paperwork.

Once AI recognizes patterns, it tags them appropriately, enabling police officers to browse for a particular scene within a video using keywords, just like via online search engines.

It also can do some of paperwork that consumes a good chunk of police officers time. AI can transcribe verbal interactions as well as handle images and then enter both in reports. With AI working hard as officers personal secretary, he or she will have more time to concentrate on more important matters.

Axon Enterprise Inc. AAXN, -1.69% formerly Taser International and best known for its Taser electroshock weapon, has since diversified into technology products for police officers. Its Axon AI division is now working to create a system that will use enhanced image/video/audio processing and integrate AI and deep-learning capabilities.

As you can see, there are many reasons why using AI and body cameras in police work is a good idea.

However, theres another side to this story.

AIs facial-recognition ability raises privacy concerns, because it allows the police to track down any individual captured on the footage simply by running the video through the algorithm.

The Pentagon's Strategic Capabilities Office aims to "get the military ready to fight tomorrow's war." SCO Director William Roper talked to MarketWatch about how drones, innovation and big data will shape the future of warfare.

This footage be abused by police departments as well as other officials. In addition, hackers, criminals and others could get their hands on it since the data are stored in the cloud. Although faces can be redacted from the videos as its being uploaded, its only a matter of time before systems evolve enough to enable dynamic facial recognition, making these videos even more powerful tools in the hands of individuals or organizations that seek to establish mass surveillance a dream come true for any authoritarian regime.

Finally, some may ask what guarantee there is to prevent for-profit companies from acquiring and reselling police footage on the black market or on the dark web. Criminals can use that information to learn how police operate, for example.

Still I believe these cameras should exist since their benefits outweigh their disadvantages. Could the same be said in five, 10 or 15 years? Only time will tell. In the meantime, you could start wearing these while running errands to trick facial-recognition systems.

See the original post here:

Opinion: How artificial intelligence could transform police body cameras - MarketWatch

Thursday afternoon event free and open to public

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. A father and son team who have succeeded in technology entrepreneurship and who are both graduates of the University of Rhode Island will discuss artificial intelligence and robotics Thursday at 4:30 p.m. during an event that is free and open to the public, URI announced.

The annual innovation and entrepreneurship lecture features Thomas J. Chisholm, class of 1968, and 1994 graduate T. Brett Chisholm. Successful in other businesses, the two now are co-founders and heads of NeuraFlash, which provides intelligent, personalized and predictive capabilities to customers utilizing Artificial Intelligence, according to the university.

Thursdays discussion, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Bots, and the Evolution of Great Customer Service, will be moderated by Professor Nancy Forster-Holt. The event will be in the Galanti Lounge at of URIs Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons, 15 Lippitt Road on the Kingston Campus.

The annual Anthony J. Risica Lecture Series features prominent leaders in engineering and business [sharing] their knowledge with the campus community and public, according to URI. The series was established in 2003 with a generous gift from Anthony Risica, a University of Rhode Island engineering alumnus.

Read more here:

URI graduates to discuss Artificial Intelligence, robotics - The Providence Journal

Amazon.com Inc. is embracing artificial intelligence to deliver goods more quickly, enhance its voice-activated Alexa assistant and create new tools sold to others through its cloud-computing division, Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said in his annual shareholder letter.

Changes ushered in by artificial intelligence and machine learning will help the companies that embrace them and put up barriers for those who dont, the worlds second-richest man wrote in a 1,700-word letter released Wednesday.

Bezos repeated familiar themes, such as the need to operate a business like its always Day 1 to keep a startup mentality and the ability to act quickly on limited information to stay ahead, what he calls high-velocity decision making. His emphasis on artificial intelligence and machine learning was the most concrete indication of areas in which the e-commerce giant will continue to invest.

Machine learning is the science of getting computers to act without being programmed, and is used in autonomous cars, speech-recognition and internet search engines. The technology has influenced high-profile projects at Amazon such as drone delivery, its popular Echo voice-activated speaker and the new cashier-less Amazon Go convenience store unveiled late last year in Seattle, Bezos wrote.

Exclusive insights on technology around the world.

Get Fully Charged, from Bloomberg Technology.

But much of what we do with machine learning happens beneath the surface, he wrote. Machine learning drives our algorithms for demand forecasting, product search ranking, product and deals recommendations, merchandising placements, fraud detection, translations, and much more. Though less visible, much of the impact of machine learning will be of this type -- quietly but meaningfully improving core operations.

Amazon Web Services, the companys cloud-computing division, will offer affordable tools so clients can incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning into their own operations. Such tools have already been used by to detect diseases and increase crop yields, Bezos wrote.

Watch this space, Bezos said. Much more to come.

See more here:

Bezos Says Artificial Intelligence to Fuel Amazon's Success - Bloomberg

Forbes

The Chinese Tech Firms Pushing Boundaries Of Artificial Intelligence Forbes China is pouring resources into artificial intelligence to nurture world-class companies that can compete with the likes of Google and IBM in building intelligence ... and more »

Original post:

The Chinese Tech Firms Pushing Boundaries Of Artificial Intelligence - Forbes

With the exception of helping create Expedia,Microsoft has struggled to figure out travel. But it is hoping that artificial intelligence (AI) will be its route finally to leapfrog ahead of Google and Oracle, playing a larger role as middleman.

The example illustrates the companys current approach to the travel sector. The technology giant appears to be more interested in building middleware services that sit between customers and travel companies.

The company has a mixed past record of engaging with consumers on its own. For example, in 2008, it bought an airfare prediction website called Farecast for $115 million and integrated it with its flight search results on its Bing search engine. But that project, along with the MSN Travel mobile app, didnt gain traction with consumers.

The companys focus now is on the new AI and cognitive computing layers that it predicts are going to disrupt travel. By 2018 half of all consumers will interact with cognitive computing, thanks in part to the spread of AI-powered platforms like Amazons Alexa, Apples Siri, and of course Microsofts Cortana.

Microsoft says 145 million people use Cortana at least once a month. But that definition of use is fairly light, and the voice assistant is not yet ingrained in the habits of consumers enough to be a go-to when it comes to, say, travel search.

Stuart Greif, senior executive, Travel/Hospitality, QSR, and Transportation Industry Solutions at Microsoft, has been out on the industry circuit, sharing the companys predictions about where travel technology is headed. Most recently Greif spoke last week at a conference in San Francisco run by venture capital firm Thayer Ventures, where Skift saw his presentation first-hand.

Greif says, Were not looking to build the next great travel platform. Our message to the travel industry is that we want to partner on delivering solutions.

It has targeted several sectors of the industry, but its chances seem better in some than in others.

Mobile apps may be replaced by voice-activated internet, Greif says. We think the app world is going to go away. People can debate that, but why do you need to go in and out of a dozen different travel apps by touch if you run nearly everything on your device by voice command?

Greif argues bots are really the new apps. Lets say you often book hotels for business travel You dont want to have to re-enter your information at every new hotel site or travel agency you use.

Our view is, Im going to have a bot on a system like Skype or Cortana or Alexa or Siri, and Marriott is going to have its own bot, and Marriott is going basically ask me, would you like to check in? And my bots going say, Hey is it okay to provide these details? My bot is going to say, Yes Cortana, please give the information.

Greif says the rise of voice-activated search may upend the direct booking wars between suppliers and third-parties.

When you search for travel queries on a voice-powered platform, who owns that search? asks Greif. Is it Google? Is it Siri, Alexa? Is it Cortana? If artificial intelligence can look across the entire spectrum of everything thats available and choose what to bring it back as relevant, whose is it bringing back? Is it bringing back brand.com? Is it bringing back the OTAs?

Greif conceded he didnt have answers to the tantalizing questions he raised. And while the companys Cortana is often seen as superior technologically to voice assistants from Google, Apple, and Amazon, there is a marketing and commercialization effort that needs to go along with the technological work to enable Microsoft to become a vital part of travel distribution.

As of today, Cortana doesnt known many travel-specific commands.

Whats more, if it chooses to compete in the battle to funnel travelers to booking options, it needs to catch up to rivals by rapidly developing more third-party speakers that support Cortana. Its prevalence via the Windows platform has not, so far, seemed like enough. Otherwise, Google, Apple, and Amazon may outpace it in having physical platforms distributed worldwide, making the questions Greif poses about who owns search moot.

A year ago Microsoft invited travel companies to build bots on its Skype messaging service, to enable the brands to automate many parts of their customer interactions. But brands like Kayak, Expedia, Hipmunk, and Cheap Flights, have ignored it, focusing instead on Facebook Messengers platform.

Its not hard to wonder if a similar fate awaits Cortana unless Microsoft adjusts its ground game in travel.

Microsoft translator can translate speech across nine languages in real time in sixty languages, via text input. But it is still some years off from real-time translation happens via speech.

Speech recognition could, in theory, someday replace airline gate agents and hotel front desk clerks, by capturing and processing requests, reducing error rates. As of today, the speech recognition is possible, but not the ability to send commands into travel company systems, Greif says.

Visual recognition could, in theory, replace airline agents who need to match faces with photo identification for, say, allowing a bag to be checked in for a flight. Already Microsoft says its computers are better at matching faces than humans are, on average.

How long does Greif think it takes for AI to be able to actually have the business logic down thats required for people to do things like search and book an itinerary that might be complicated?

I think the search part is the easy part, he says. Its all the back-end integrations and business decision-making thats gonna take awhile.

As an example, an unnamed large hotel chain recently gave Microsoft links to five different frequently asked questions as part of a project to create a demonstration of how an automated, chat-based customer service interface might work.

It only took Microsofts developers and machines 10 minutes to read the content and come up with an interface that could provide those answers to a wide away of question phrasings.

But Greif says bookings are more complicated. He believes the industry will start putting these solutions into production within about five years time.

Despite Microsofts ambitions with Cortana, it has less experience in the quirks of travel marketing and distribution of its competitor Google.

It seems more likely to gain market share by providing truly business-to-business enterprise services to hotels for operations. Last year Microsoft began demonstrating its concept of the connected hotel that used next-generation guest experience management system iRiS and next-generation hotel operating system that acts as middleware for interpreting data in operations and finance.

Greif says the key issue for hotels is aligning all the systems in a guest room and the back office so that they are all participating in real-time. Right now the systems arent connected to know when water pressure is not working or the TV is not working and so the company cant get ahead of customer complaints with predictive maintenance.

But the companys active demonstrations with travel suppliers suggest that it poses a significant competitive threat to todays largest hospitality tech providers, such as Oracle, and airline providers, such as Amadeus in partnership with Accenture.

Whether Microsoft is a victor or not in the AI race, Greif seems persuasive on his larger point that the arrival of high-powered computing in the cloud, more sophisticated computer algorithms, and the popularization of mobile, internet-connected devices is finally ushering in the AI era.

Platforms that can support AI are truly being popularized now, which means that hotels, airports, and airlines are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence. So there is some merit to the buzz.

The platforms are getting better at recognizing spoken queries and at helping to categorize various types of knowledge so as to deliver relevant and intelligent responses within particular areas of focus for a specific task or sets of tasks.

For example, in speech recognition, Microsoft had a historic achievement last year. It achieved parity in speech recognition accuracy with humans. That doesnt mean its computers hear perfectly, but it hears just as well as humans do.

That said, the hype machine is on overdrive, Greif concedes. He notes that a few years ago every startup pitch described itself as a data analytics company, and today every startup claims to be in AI.

In the meantime, Microsoft is claiming it has a new company culture that will enable it to adapt to the new, fast-changing circumstances. Greif says, Its a whole new Microsoft. Its a much more open company now. I get to keep my iPhone, and thats always nice.

See full article

Photo Credit: Microsoft's Cortana voice assistant lets users search the web for answers via voice. A new Harman Karman device is expected to bring Cortana into more homes soon. Microsoft

Link:

Microsoft Bets on Artificial Intelligence to Help It Succeed Again in Travel - Skift

New technologies are rapidly changing how many of us live our lives. Advances in connectivity are allowing us to access and transmit information faster than ever before. From financial services to healthcare to education, the application of new technologies is simplifying long-existing processes and changing how consumers interact with businesses and service providers.

Although new technologies are undoubtedly changing our commercial interactions, the application and proliferation of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are having a much broader and positive impact on society. However, much of the focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been on how its commercialization will impact the global labor force. Without question, the development and design of systems, machines, and processes that will effectively carry out tasks previously reserved to humans, ranging from decision making to the manufacture of products, will have far reaching implications on our societies and deserves much discussion. Yet, what is equally as impactful and worthy of discussion is the role AI can play in improving the quality of life of everyday individuals.

As many would agree, self-driving cars or automated vehicles are one of the most exciting AI innovations of the 21st century. Powered by advanced AI technology that senses, processes, reacts and adapts to external factors in much the same way a human driver would, self-driving cars are expected to revolutionize human transportation. In terms of safety alone, AI not only predicts and anticipates responses, but can also prevent and mitigate the consequences of bad weather or collisions. Consequently, the future proliferation of automated vehicles is expected to reduce accidents, cut greenhouse emissions, and even increase human productivity.

Now imagine adapting the very same highly advanced AI technology that powers automated vehicles to applications that will improve the lives of the visually impaired. By applying technology that accurately senses its external environment and makes accurate, split second decisions to aid visually impaired individuals you could have a transformational impact on peoples lives.

Recognizing the life-changing implications AI could have for the visually impaired, Israel based OrCam has made it its mission to use AI technology and software to improve the lives of the worlds 285 million blind and visually impaired persons. As the brainchild of Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram, cofounders of pioneering collision avoidance technology company Mobileye, OrCams flagship product, MyEye, uses advanced AI technology to help the visually impaired recognize faces, read words and text, identify currency by its denomination, and even distinguish between products and brands.

I had the opportunity to interview, Gene Gurevich, the Director of Policy and Government Affairs of MobileEye Vision Technologies, Ltd. about OrCams business, artificial intelligence, and why Israel is a global innovation leader. Hope you enjoy!

CG: Tell me about OrCam. What does the company do and how was the idea for the company conceived?

GG: OrCams mission is to improve the lives of those who are blind, visually impaired, or have a reading disability through innovative artificial vision technology. OrCam was founded in 2010 by CTO Professor Amnon Shashua and CEO Ziv Aviram, who are also the cofounders of Mobileye, a global leader in collision avoidance and autonomous vehicle technology.

CG: Millions of people around the world suffer from blindness or are visually impaired. OrCams MyEye technology has the potential to impact many peoples lives. How does it work?

GG: OrCam MyEye is a small wearable device that has the ability to read printed text from any surface, including books, newspapers, restaurant menus, food labels, and street signs, as well digital text on smartphones, computers or television screens. The device also recognizes faces of individuals as well as identifies products and the denominations of currency notes.

The facial recognition functionality identifies faces of individuals who were previously entered in the devices memory. The name of the individual is announced to the OrCam user when that person is in OrCam MyEye's field of vision.

The device consists of two parts: a small camera and audio piece that can be attached to practically any pair of eyeglass frames, and a base unit the size of a smartphone which serves as the processing brain of the device. The user "reads" text by either clicking on OrCam's trigger button or by pointing to the text with his or her finger the only assistive technology device in existence which can be activated by a simple pointing gesture. The information is received through the camera, processed by the base unit and relayed discreetly to the user through personal audio.

CG: What are some examples of the types of activities with which OrCam MyEye can assist blind or visually impaired people?

GG: With OrCam, individuals who have difficulty reading may now read their own mail, any books of their choosing or their morning newspaper whenever and wherever they want. The facial recognition feature allows blind and visually impaired individuals to be more active and comfortable in social settings, enabling them to know when a family member, friend or colleague is nearby, as the device identifies them once they are in sight. For many users of OrCam, the device delivers a level of independence they either lost or never had. Based on user feedback, OrCam's functionality is incredibly empowering.

CG: How has OrCam MyEye been received by users?

GG: The reception has been tremendous. We receive a lot of positive feedback from users on how the device changed their lives. To work for a company that improves peoples lives and to hear their personal stories has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me. Each story is unique, as are the individuals along with their needs and goals. Whether its a mother who is now able to read a book to her young children, a veteran enabled to study or function more productively in a workplace, or an elderly person who wants to read their mail without relying on others these are all powerful and inspiring personal stories.

There are currently thousands of satisfied OrCam users in the U.S. and around the world. The device is available in multiple languages, including English, Hebrew, German, French, Spanish and Italian.

We regularly hear from OrCam users and their stories serve as motivation for our team to work even harder to constantly improve the technology and reach more people whose lives could be improved by the device.

CG: OrCam MyEye is a great example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can help provide solutions to some of the worlds most difficult issues. How do you believe AI will continue to impact our lives?

GG: We are seeing AI advance at a rapid pace and being applied to address some of the worlds biggest challenges. The transportation sector comes to mind as a key area where we are seeing significant and very rapid advancements. The implications of these innovations are likely to be vast.

For instance, in 2015 over 35,000 people died and over 2 million people were injured on U.S. roads as a result of vehicle collisions. Over 90 percent of those vehicle collisions were caused by human error. Collision avoidance technologies, such as those developed by Mobileye, are already saving lives and the shift toward autonomous vehicles has the potential to prevent the majority of vehicle collision deaths and injuries.

In addition to saving lives, there could be other benefits to autonomous vehicles, such as greater mobility to underserved communities, including the handicapped and elderly who have a difficult time getting around, as well as lowering the cost of transportation. Currently, transportation is the second biggest expense for Americans, after housing costs.

The level of AI and other technological innovation being developed in different fields is exciting and is likely to lead to great societal benefits. We at OrCam are proud to be one of the leaders in this wave of technological advancement and are focused on achieving further success in developing solutions that will help people live fuller and more productive lives.

CG: Israel is one of the most innovative countries in the world. As an Israeli company, to what do you attribute the countrys great success in advancing new technologies and building world-class startups and businesses?

GG: Israels history, size, relatively limited natural resources (or at least until very recently), and its security environment, has created a culture of innovators and entrepreneurs. To quote a well-known proverb, necessity is the mother of invention. It definitely appears to be the case with regard to Israel.

As an American, spending time in Israel and speaking with some of the folks behind the innovation boom, it is clear that there is a level of grit and determination that many Israelis have that is not commonly seen elsewhere.

Moreover, Israels universities and particularly the countrys military has provided the necessary education and training for many of the countrys innovators. As military service is mandatory and the defense sector has become increasingly technologically advanced, many young Israelis, upon finishing their military service, have had hands-on technical experience that allows them to thrive in the private sector.

GG: It is rewarding to work for a company that is a leader in innovation with technology that makes a significant difference in peoples lives. We have a very talented and hardworking team at OrCam and we look forward to continuing to develop innovative technologies that will help people live more actively and independently.

Go here to see the original:

How Artificial Intelligence is Helping the Visually Impaired - Huffington Post

A piece of digital art by Alexander Reben, an artist and roboticist interested in human-machine relationships. He ran an episode of Bob Ross' classic painting show through an artificial learning machine that tried to find images that are not there.

Alexander Reben is an artist and roboticist interested in the relationship between humans and machines. Recently, he ran an episode of Bob Ross classic public television painting show The Joy of Painting through an artificial learning system. The machine tried to find images that werent there. As Reben puts it:

This artwork represents what it would be like for an AI to watch Bob Ross on LSD (once someone invents digital drugs). It shows some of the unreasonable effectiveness and strange inner workings of deep learning systems. The unique characteristics of the human voice are learned and generated as well as hallucinations of a system trying to find images which are not there.

The results, overlaid over the original episode with clipped audio, are hypnotic and disturbing. The resulting five-minute video is on Vimeo as Deeply Artificial Trees.

Deeply Artificial Trees from artBoffin on Vimeo.

See original here:

Artificial intelligence watches Bob Ross paint and the results are disturbing - The Bozeman Daily Chronicle (blog)

Amazon Web Services and Merck announced a developer competition on Monday to that plans to harness artificial intelligence for diabetics.

Dubbed the Alexa Diabetes Challenge, and powered by Luminary Labs, the contest aims to incent upstarts and individual developers to create apps that harness Amazons Alexa voice-enabled technologies particularly for patients recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

Early adopters such as Penn Medicine and Commonwealth Care Alliance are already running proofs-of-concept or pilot programs with Amazon Alexa being the centerpiece of improving patient experience.

[Also:Hospitals forging patient experience of the future with voice AI technologies]

Whats more, a new Healthcare IT News and HIMSS Analytics HIT Market Indicator report found that half of hospitals intend to adopt some fashion of AI in five years and more than a third plan to do so within two years.

The Amazon and Merck contest enables innovators to use not only Alexa but also Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure.

Five entrants will be chosen in the first round. Those winners will collect $25,000 and 100,000 AWS credits apiece and move into the Virtual Accelerator to access mentors as they work to transform the initial concepts into real solutions, the companies said.

[Also:AI, machine learning will shatter Moore's Law in rapid-fire pace of innovation]

The accelerator work will culminate with the finalists presenting their apps to judges in a pop-up AWS loft in New York City, after which the winner will be awarded $125,000.

At the end of the Virtual Accelerator, finalists will present their solutions in-person to the judges at Demo Day at the AWS Pop-up loft in NYC.

Submissions take place at alexadiabeteschallenge.com and close on May 22, 2017.

Twitter: @SullyHIT

Here is the original post:

Artificial intelligence developer contest puts Alexa to the test - Healthcare IT News