Meet the magical computing that puts the human into artificial intelligence August 3, 2014 Think Artificial Intelligence and the first thing that comes to mind is probably robots. Thanks to popular culture, AI is considered distinctly un-human, and can prompt people to worry about the role of technology in our daily lives and who is really in control. However, there’s a new wave of technology fighting to put the [...]
From manufacturing to space farming: Meet Baxter, the multi purpose robot July 24, 2014 Baxter was originally designed as an industrial robot for working alongside humans on factory floors, excelling at fast, repetitive manufacturing tasks. Each with its own pair of chunky robot arms connected to a computer brain, hundreds of Baxters are already busily working away in factories and packing stations across the US. First launched [...]
Journalists beware: Financial news could soon be written by robots July 2, 2014 Are earnings reports so mundane that a robot can be trusted to produce them? The Associated Press thinks so. The news service will soon entrust reports on earnings and some other business stories to an automated system so it can better resource more in-depth business coverage. The AP expects to produce more than 4,000 reports [...]
A human step for artificial intelligence June 23, 2014 Robots are getting smarter. They still need instructions, but they no longer need to be so detailed. Now you can just say “make me a bowl of noodles”, rather than telling them that they need to heat the water, too. This is because of work being done by a scientist in California, who is designing them [...]
This robot can understand feelings and goes on sale next year June 5, 2014 Japanese tech group Softbank has unveiled the world's first robot capable of recognising human emotions. Named Pepper, the 120cm tall humanoid robot can read into the tone of its owner's voice to understand its temperament. However, Pepper's abilities are not set in stone. Pepper will use cloud-based AI to gather what Softbank calls "collective wisdom". The [...]
Why robots are finally breaking into business – but sadly not our kitchens March 10, 2014 ROBOTICS is now the fastest growing industry in the world, according to a recent report from Littler Mendelson, and could well become one of the largest within a matter of decades. Yet for all the hype, and fears of autonomous machines replacing human jobs, this is a comparatively recent development. The fields of robotics and [...]
Google snaps up London start up in £400m deal January 27, 2014 GOOGLE has paid £400m to take control of a London-based tech company co-founded by former chess prodigy and neuroscientist Demis Hassabis. DeepMind Technologies, which was set up by Hassabis and colleagues Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman in 2011, will work on research and development projects in artificial intelligence, which could one day be used in [...]
Artificial Intelligence will destroy jobs – but technological pessimism is wrong September 4, 2013 DEVELOPMENTS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be among the most exciting advances of this century. No longer the preserve of science fiction, from driving our cars to managing our health, the products of AI research are already quietly revolutionising our world. But warning bells are ringing. John Maynard Keynes coined the term “technological unemployment” to [...]
Geeks and hackers are transforming healthcare and saving our economy July 23, 2013 THE future of healthcare is taking shape. But it’s not being invented in drug company labs or planned by the NHS. Amateurs, obsessives and hackers are leading the charge. It’s a movement that will help us live longer – and could save the economy. It’s all happening through a combination of new gadgets, the power [...]