Category Archives: Artificial Intelligence

By Debkumar Mitra

In 2016, a driverless Tesla car crashed killing the test driver. It was not the first vehicle to be involved in a fatal crash, but was the first of its kind and the tragedy opened a can of ethical dilemmas.

With autonomous systems such as driverless vehicles there are two main grey areas: responsibility and ethics. Widely discussed at various forums is a dilemma where a driverless car must choose between killing pedestrians or passengers. Here, both responsibility and ethics are at play. The cold logic of numbers that define the mind of such systems can sway it either way and the fear is that passengers sitting inside the car have no control.

Its us versus them, C3

Any new technology brings a new set of challenges. But it appears that creating artificial intelligence-driven technology products is almost like unleashing the Frankensteins monster. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is currently at the cutting-edge science and technology. Advances in technology, including aggregate technologies like deep learning and artificial neural networks, are behind many new developments such as that Go playing world champion machine.

However, though there is great positive potential for AI, many are afraid of what AI could do, and rightfully so. There is still the fear of a technological singularity, a circumstance in which AI machines would surpass the intelligence of humans and take over the world.

Researchers in genetic engineering also face a similar question. This dark side of technology, however, should not be used to decree closure of all AI or genetics research. We need to create a balance between human needs and technological aspirations.

Much before the current commotion over ethical AI technology, celebrated science-fiction author Isaac Asimov came up with his laws of robotics.

Exactly 75 years ago in a 1942 short story Runaround, Asimov unveiled an early version of his laws. The current forms of the laws are: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law

Given the pace at which AI systems are developing, there is an urgent need to put in some checks and balances so that things do not go out of hand.

There are many organisations now looking at legal, technical, ethical and moral aspects of a society driven by AI technology. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) already has Ethically Aligned Designed, an AI framework addressing the issues in place. AI researchers are drawing up a laundry list similar to Asimovs laws to help people engage in a more fearless way with this beast of a technology.

In January 2017, Future of Life Institute (FLI), a charity and outreach organisation, hosted their second Beneficial AI Conference. AI experts developed Asilomar AI Principles, which ensures that AI remains beneficial and not harmful to the future of humankind.

The key points that came out of the conference are: How can we make future AI systems robust, so that they do what we want without malfunctioning or getting hacked? How can we grow our prosperity through automation while maintaining peoples resources and purpose? How can we update our legal systems to be more fair and efficient, to keep pace with AI, and to manage the risks associated with AI? What set of values should AI be aligned with, and what legal and ethical status should it have?

Ever since they unshackled the power of the atom, scientists and technologists have been at the forefront of the movement emphasising science for the betterment of man. This duty was forced upon them when the first atom bomb was manufactured in the US. Little did they realise that a search for the atomic structure could give rise to nasty subplot? With AI we are at the same situation or maybe worse.

No wonder at an IEEE meeting that gave birth to ethical AI framework, the dominant thought was that the human and all living beings must remain at centre of all AI discussions. People must be informed at every level right from the design stage to development of the AI-driven products for everyday use.

While it is a laudable effort to develop ethically aligned technologies, it begs another question that has been raised at various AI conferences. Are humans ethical?

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Creating artificial intelligence-driven technology products is almost like unleashing the Frankenstein's monster - Economic Times (blog)

John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images

Wells Fargo has created a team to develop artificial intelligence-based technology and appointed a lead for its newly combined payments businesses, as part of an ongoing push to strengthen its digital offerings.

Wells Fargo's AI team will work on creating technology that can help the bank provide more personalized customer service through its bankers and online, the bank said on Friday. It will be led by Steve Ellis, head of Wells Fargo's innovation group.

Well Fargo's AI focus comes as banks and other large financial institutions increase their investment in the emerging technology which seeks to train computers to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence.

Projects range from systems that can spot payments fraud or misconduct by employees, to technology that can make more personal recommendations on financial products to clients.

The bank also announced that it had appointed Danny Peltz, head of treasury, merchant and payment solutions, to head business development and strategy for its combined payments businesses.

For more about Wells Fargo, watch:

Pelz's group, which comprises of the bank's consumer, small business, commercial and corporate banking payments businesses, will also be tasked with establishing relationship with other companies in the payments landscape. It will also be in charge of the bank's new API (application program interface) services, or technology that allows customers to integrate Wells Fargo products and services into their own applications.

Both teams will report into Avid Modjtabai, head of payments, virtual solutions and innovation. Modjtabai's division was set up in October as part of efforts to enhance the bank's digital products and services by combining its innovation teams with some of the businesses most affected by changes in technology such as payments.

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Wells Fargo Pushes Into Artificial Intelligence - Fortune

For a fleeting moment, the humans thought they had a chance.

Four professional poker players were convinced they found a flaw in the sophisticated artificial intelligence software that was beating them in a tournament of no-limit Texas Hold em. If they bet in odd sizes, it seemed to trip up the computer. Within a day or two, though, that weakness vanished.

It became very demoralizing showing up every day and losing this hard, said Jason Les, who has played professional poker for a decade.

When the 20-day tournament was done, the artificial intelligence, called Libratus, won a princely $1,766,250.

All four professional players Dong Kim, Daniel McAulay, Jimmy Chou and Les finished in the negative (although no money will change hands).

The win demonstrates the increasing sophistication of artificial intelligence software as computer scientists work to digitally replicate the human thought process. In this case, scientists demonstrated that AI can outwit the human brain in situations where at least some of the information needed to make smart decisions is unknown.

Artificial intelligence systems have mastered and beaten humans at other strategy games, such as Go and chess, in which both players have a full view of the game board. But poker is tricky: The computer doesnt know the hands that opponents have been dealt, or what decisions other players might make as a result.

The tournament was conducted for research purposes by the computer science department at Carnegie Mellon University. Prof. Tuomas Sandholm and doctoral student Noam Brown hope Libratus can ultimately be used in a number of game theory scenarios, such as business negotiations, cybersecurity attacks or military operations.

This is not necessarily replacing humans, but its taking their negotiation and strategic reasoning ability to another level as a support tool, Sandholm said.

Sandholm and Brown said the tournaments outcome will help determine those next steps for their research and expect the AI to be a support tool.

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An artificial intelligence gamble that paid off - Minneapolis Star Tribune

New York Times

Ford to Invest $1 Billion in Artificial Intelligence Start-Up New York Times Ford Motor announced on Friday its plans to invest $1 billion over the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence start-up formed in December that is focused on developing autonomous vehicle technology. The move is Ford's biggest effort to ... Ford spending $1 billion on self-driving artificial intelligenceCNET Ford to invest $1 bln in artificial intelligence startupAl-Arabiya Ford to invest $1 billion in artificial intelligence for your carWashington Post SFGate -Ford Media all 114 news articles »

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Ford to Invest $1 Billion in Artificial Intelligence Start-Up - New York Times

I cant wait to push some paper today! Said no one ever. The mind-numbing work to keep the wheels of commerce rollingfilling out invoices, deciphering hand-written memos, processing insurance claimscan be a real grind. Its been that way since the time when Ebenezer Scrooge refused to provide another lump of coal to help warm overworked clerk Bob Cratchit. Lacking frailty of mind and body, artificial intelligence for business process automation appears to be a no-brainer.

In fact, a number of companies are employing AI techniques such as machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing to automate business processes. White-collar outsourcing is no longer going to Indiaits moving to the cloud.On one hand, that means job losses in the short term. Its already happening. The tech-loving Japanese are among the first to be replaced. For example, IBM Watson is now doing the job of more than 30 employees at an insurance company by calculating payouts. On the other hand, theres a lot of money in outsourcing. Global business process outsourcing was worth $63.5 billion in 2015, according to Statista. Companies rolling out artificial intelligence for business processes say automation will free employees from mundane tasks for more dynamic work, like checking Facebook more often.

You may recall that a few months ago we expressed some healthy skepticism about this new, so-called digital workforce. Our complaint was that much of this seemed like software automation repackaged with buzzwords like robotic process automation, cognitive technologies and desktop automation. However, we promised to dive further into this sector. In this article, well look at a couple of startups and a couple of veteran companies claiming to useartificial intelligence for business process automation.

New York-based WorkFusion is fresh off a $35 million Series D in January 2017. That brings the total investments to about $71 million since the company was founded in 2010. The latest series was led by Georgian Partners with participation from existing investors Mohr Davidow Ventures, iNovia, Nokia Growth Partners, Greycroft and RTP Ventures.

WorkFusion claims its machine learning platform can eliminate up to 90 percent of back-office business work and its AI-powered bots can increase service center capacity fivefold. Clients can reportedly enjoy a 50 to 80 percent ROI within the first year.

How does WorkFusion work its magic? Remember that machine learning is all about improving computer performance through experience rather than pre-programmed software. Its AI platform learns on the job. It has already studied the habits of 35 million users on its platform on how to do business-related processes, according to a story in Business Insider.

Last year, WorkFusion partnered with VirtusaPolaris, the market-facing brand created when Virtusa Corporation (NASDAQ: VRTU) acquired Polaris Consulting & Services a year or so ago. VirtusaPolaris provides IT consulting and outsourcing support in the banking and financial services market. That would seem to open up bigger opportunities for fledgling WorkFusion. Though we wonder where this partnership might eventually go. Virtusa has been on a shopping spree since 2009, acquiring seven companies during that time.

Another startup from the Big Apple using artificial intelligence for business process automation is HyperScience. It comes to the table with nearly $19 million in funding, most recently a second Series A in December 2016 that netted $8 million, led by Felicis Ventures. Thats also when it announced its existence to the world with the launch of its website.

The company initially focused on back-office automation. Its first product, HS Forms, is meant to replace the tedium of data entry. Its machines can read and understand any kind of text, apparently even our atrocious scribble. Such automation speeds up the processing of products like mortgage applications or medical records faster than any human, even with a double espresso each morning. HyperScience says HS Forms uses advanced computer vision techniques to process documents, identify content types, and extract the content.

The company also lists two additional, more sophisticated products. HS Freeform can take unstructured data, whether digital or handwritten, and read, understand and digitize the information. HS Evaluate goes one step further, reviewing files and applications with human-like judgment. The company says its AI software can automatically review an extensive claim file, eliminate duplicate entries, assess eligibility, and then deliver precise adjudication decisions. Judge Judy, youre fired.

Apparently the water in New York isnt just good for making bagels. Yet another company applying AI to business process automation is IPsoft, a private company with offices in 11 countries. Its been around since 1998 as an autonomic and cognitive solutions service provider, but recently went full AI with Amelia. Amelia isnt just another chatbot, according to the company, but an artificial intelligence platform that can automate just about any business process currently done by bipedal cubicle critter. Amelias digital job resume includes everything from helping customers open new bank accounts to processing insurance claims.

Calling her a cognitive agent, IPsoft says Amelia can emulate human intelligence, making her capable of natural interactions with people. She can understand human language, learn through observation and determine what actions to take in order to fulfill a request or solve a problem.

In one case study, for example, Amelia was able to take over nearly 20 percent of all incoming IT service desk tasking for a European bank after only 45 days of training. And the multi-tasking cognitive agent proved to be a fast learner as a mortgage broker as well. Within two weeks, Amelia could answer three-quarters of all questions with an 88 percent success rate.

Meet Amelia in this video:

From across the Pond we found publicly traded Blue Prism (LON: PRSM). The U.K.-based company, with offices across three time zones in the United States and Australia, debuted on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in March 2016. So far, the companyat least its stockhas performed admirably. An investment of 10,000 at the companys first closing bell on March 16 would have netted you nearly 40,000 less than a year later.

Founded back in 2001 by a group of process automation experts, Blue Prism counts more than 150 enterprise clients, including ten top global banks such as Barclays Africa Group, BNY Mellon, Commerzbank, Nordea, ING and Westpac, as well as several of the worlds leading insurers including Zurich, Swinton Insurance and Aegon. Other big names in various industries include Maersk, Siemens, IBM, Procter & Gamble and Nokia.

Heres how Blue Prism explains its robotic process automation (RPA) platform:

Blue Prisms RPA is built as the transactional platform, with its software robots helping AI turn decisions into actions. The cognitive decision making built into these software robots brings AI to life and also enables knowledge transfer between the robots and third-party AI applications as the two engage and interface with one another allowing the robots to recognize items and take action with no external intervention.

We see quite a bit of momentum in AI-powered business process automation. More than a few Global 2000 companies are signing up with players like Blue Prism and IPsoft. It wont be long before youre conversing with Amelia rather than John in Mumbai.

In a sense, this sort of automation has been around for a while, as we noted earlier. Its the artificial intelligence piece thats new. And like with many of the pieces we write on this topic, we want to caution you that anyone can slap AI on their website and call it machine learning. Its like seeing the word natural on a food label. You have to be sure to read the ingredient list first.

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Artificial Intelligence in Business Process Automation - Nanalyze

By Anna Irrera | NEW YORK

NEW YORK Wells Fargo & Co has created a team to develop artificial intelligence-based technology and appointed a lead for its newly combined payments businesses, as part of an ongoing push to strengthen its digital offerings.

Wells Fargo's AI team will work on creating technology that can help the bank provide more personalized customer service through its bankers and online, the bank said on Friday. It will be led by Steve Ellis, head of Wells Fargo's innovation group.

Well Fargos AI focus comes as banks and other large financial institutions increase their investment in the emerging technology which seeks to train computers to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence.

Projects range from systems that can spot payments fraud or misconduct by employees, to technology that can make more personal recommendations on financial products to clients.

The bank also announced that it had appointed Danny Peltz, head of treasury, merchant and payment solutions, to head business development and strategy for its combined payments businesses.

Peltz's group, which comprises of the bank's consumer, small business, commercial and corporate banking payments businesses, will also be tasked with establishing relationship with other companies in the payments landscape. It will also be in charge of the bank's new API (application program interface) services, or technology that allows customers to integrate Wells Fargo products and services into their own applications.

Both teams will report into Avid Modjtabai, head of payments, virtual solutions and innovation. Modjtabai's division was set up in October as part of efforts to enhance the bank's digital products and services by combining its innovation teams with some of the businesses most affected by changes in technology such as payments.

(This version of the story was refiled to correct paragraph 6 typographical error to Peltz instead of Pelz)

(Reporting by Anna Irrera; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Facebook Inc said it would provide information about ads displayed on its platform for an audit, months after the social network admitted to overstating key ad metrics.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Friday that bidding in the wireless spectrum auction has ended at $19.6 billion, significantly less than many analysts had initially forecast.

SAN FRANCISCO Ford Motor Co plans to invest $1 billion over the next five years in tech startup Argo AI to help the Detroit automaker reach its goal of producing a self-driving vehicle for commercial ride sharing fleets by 2021, the companies announced on Friday.

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Wells Fargo sets up artificial intelligence team in tech push - Reuters

Ford has already been testing self-driving car technology.

Ford announced today a $1 billion investment in machine-learning startup Argo AI. Through the agreement, Argo AI will work exclusively for Ford on the software brains to enable self-driving.

Ford previously announced it will offer a self-driving car by 2021, although it would likely be limited to urban environments and be used by ride-hailing services as a kind of robo-taxi.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Argo AI is a new company dedicated to developing a software system to guide self-driving cars. CEO Bryan Salesky said of the investment that it would allow Argo AI to recruit the kind of talent needed to develop these systems.

Ford CEO Mark Fields said, "For accounting purposes, Argo AI will be a subsidiary of Ford, but have a lot of independence. Its sole focus over the next five years will be developing self-driving software for Ford vehicles."

Self-driving, or autonomous, cars use sensors, GPS and onboard computing power to recognize their environments and take passengers to destinations. Almost every major automaker is developing this technology, while the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has been supporting it as a means of reducing the 32,500 fatalities that occur on US roads every year.

Ford Chief Technical Officer Raj Nair pointed out that Ford will concentrate on building the hardware platform, the physical car, and use its expertise to develop toward large-scale manufacturing. Argo AI will focus on the software side.

Fields also said that Argo AI will look into licensing its technology to other automakers at a later date.

Ford and Argo AI announce an investment in self-driving cars. From right to left, Argo AI's Peter Rander and Bryan Salesky, and Ford's Mark Fields and Raj Nair.

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Ford spending $1 billion on self-driving artificial intelligence - CNET

Artificial intelligence is the hottest arena in the tech world today, but the complexities of developing practical applications from the technology have made it slow to impact people's everyday lives. That may be starting to change.

Leading stun gun and body camera manufacturer TASER International (NASDAQ:TASR) announced on Thursday that it has acquired two companies that are creating artificial intelligence technology. It's a bold move for the company, but it could make both its Axon cameras and the Evidence.com cloud platform more valuable over the long term.

Police officer docking body camera. Image source: TASER International.

The purpose of an A.I. service from TASER would be to help sift through the enormous quantity of video and data law enforcement agencies are storing every single day. That data can be great for both law enforcement and the public, but it can be overwhelming to determine what information is useful and where it is.

A.I. can help identify objects, places, and actions people are taking. This may mean identifying a weapon in a confrontation, or spotting where a foot chase starts and stops on a video recording. That in turn can help it to categorize segments of video, which will help in the process of searching it for specific information.

TASER International is giving a bigger presentation on how the technology will be used on Feb. 15, so investors and observers can learn more then. But this will likely be an add-on to TASER's Evidence.com product.

If you want to understand how A.I. could fit into TASER International's business, one line from today's press release pops out:

The benefits of this groundbreaking technology leads to a future of hands-free reporting and real time intel in the field.

The goal is to make everything about law enforcement officers, and the citizens they interact with, easier to document and find. Not only will life be easier for officers on a day-to-day basis, court requests or public information requests will be easier to process, reducing headaches for agencies.

At least, that's the theory.

Where TASER is going to need to tread lightly is in how these products are used by law enforcement. If A.I. improves officers' efficiency and police accountability, it could be a win-win for law enforcement and the public. But the ACLU has already raised concerns. In an interview with Forbes, it postulated that this will be a surveillance mechanism for the government more broadly.

That's big potential a can of worms, and a question of how A.I will be used here that has yet to be well defined by either the technology's developers or the government. Used with care and moderation, it could be great for everyone. But there's a potential for abuse as well. TASER International will play a role in defining how the technology is used in the law-enforcement milieu, a position it may not be ready for. While A.I. is an interesting addition to its portfolio, management will need to tread carefully if it wants to avoid a public backlash against it in the future.

Travis Hoium owns shares of Taser International. The Motley Fool recommends Taser International. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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TASER International Bringing Artificial Intelligence to Law Enforcement - Motley Fool

A G6 teaser hints at a possible portable battery.

Two weeks ahead of LG's Mobile World Congress 2017 event, the South Korean phone maker sent out a couple of online teasers about its upcoming marquee handset, the G6.

There have been two teasers that we know so far. One (above) reads, "More Juice. To go." This could mean the G6 has a swappable battery, which contradicts existing rumors that because the G6 will probably be water-resistant, its battery probably won't be removable. Or it could mean nothing, the battery is still embeddable, and it just lasts long enough to keep you "going" throughout your day. Without official specs, everything is still possible.

The second teaser reads, "Less artificial. More intelligence." This could be a nod to Google Assistant, which the G6 is expected to have baked-in. The only other phone to have Assistant built in is the Pixel (and its larger counterpart, the XL). Assistant is a signature software program from Google that uses machine learning, Google's vast search database and two-way interaction to help users go about their daily lives.

CNET will be on the ground in Barcelona reporting from LG's presser, so check back for more details soon.

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LG G6 teasers emphasize battery life, artificial intelligence - CNET

Thought-provoking commentary on technologies that are changing the way mankind does things.

Network World | Feb 10, 2017 5:45 AM PT

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is so last year, according to some experts.

Scientists at MIT this week claimed a breakthrough in how human intuition can be added to algorithms. And in a separate, unrelated report, Deloitte Consulting is chastising the business community for not comprehending fully that new, cognitive computing technology should be exploited.

Artificial intelligence is only the beginning, researchers write in aDeloitte University Pressarticle about Deloitte's February study.

Advanced cognitive analytics is just one of the fast-evolving technologies businesses need to get a handle on, they say. A kind of artificial intuition and cognition through algorithms is one part of that machine intelligence (MI). Notably, its not AI. MI is more cognitive and mimics humans, the firm explains, while AI is simply a subset of MI.

To focus on AI is to miss the forest for the trees, writes Blaise Zerega in aVentureBeat article about the Deloitte report.

MI includes machine learning, deep learning and cognition, among other tools like Robotics Process Automation (RPA), and bots. Deloitte says the time is ripe to latch on to umbrella-term MI and stop single-mindedly concentrating on apparently one-dimensional AI.

It cites reasons that include data growth for making it all possible finally. The consulting firm says collected data doubles every year now, and it will reach 44 zettabytes by 2020.

Faster distributed systems, introduced by better chips and networks, sensors and Internet of Things (IoT)coupled with those huge swaths of data and smarter algorithms that simulate human thinkingare other important elements that are going to unleash MI over AI.

Its those advanced algorithms that are probably the most excitingand the most different.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is one organization racing to design them. The school recently said it now knows how to include human intuition in a machine algorithm. Thats a big deal.

Its going to do it by copying how clever people solve problems, researchers say in an MIT News article.

In recent testing, it asked a sample of brainy MIT students to solve the kinds of issues that planning algorithms are used forlike airline routing.

Problems in that field include how to optimize a fleet of planes so all passengers flying the airline network get to where they want to go, but no plane flies empty and doesnt visit a city more than once during a period.

The cleverest students results were better than the existing algorithm.

The researchers then analyzed how the best of the students approached the problem and found that in most cases, it was through a known high-level strategy called linear temporal logic. Looking at something being true until something else makes it not true is part of it.

The researchers then encoded the strategies into a machine readable form.

That, along with other human cognition and instinct analysis, is part of whats going to be behind MIs leap forward. Cognitive Agents, Deloitte calls it.

The MIT students were able to improve the performance of [existing] competition-winning planning algorithms by 10 to 15 percent on a challenging set of problems, MIT News says, of the logic it plans to copy.

This article is published as part of the IDG Contributor Network. Want to Join?

Patrick Nelson was editor and publisher of the music industry trade publication Producer Report and has written for a number of technology blogs. Nelson wrote the cult-classic novel Sprawlism.

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Artificial intuition will supersede artificial intelligence, experts say - Network World