Could the humble password about to become a thing of the past? Here’s how brainwaves are being used in the battle for cyber security June 3, 2015 A new system allowing accounts to be unlocked using brainwaves could spell the end for passwords as we know them. Named “brainprints”, the system is the creation of a research team at Binghamton University in New York, and involves an application that can identify a person based on nothing more than their mental reactions to [...]
Facebook AI research: European robot lab opened in Paris to explore artificial intelligence June 2, 2015 Facebook has expanded its exploration of robot technology with the opening of a new European research centre. The Facebook AI research centre in Paris will be its third, building on existing teams in Silicon Valley and New York, and its first in Europe, looking into the application of artificial intelligence technology. "…[the] team will work [...]
Humans will be at the mercy of US killer robots in a matter of years, scientist warns May 28, 2015 There's no escape – robots capable of killing people without human intervention are on their way, and we will be utterly defenceless against them. This is the warning issued by Stuart Russell, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) professor at the University of California, Berkley. He says the US military is currently developing robots called Lethal Autonomous [...]
A whole swarm of robots can now be controlled with just the swipe of a finger May 13, 2015 It is now possible to control an entire fleet of robots just by gently swiping the screen of a smart tablet. The machines, which look more like cute toys than man-killing monsters, are drawn to wherever there is a beam of red light, and this can be determined by where you place your finger [...]
How to stop the machines from killing your job May 11, 2015 Invest in skills that complement tech but don’t compete with it. Rapid improvements in digital technology are changing the nature of human work. Computers can now recognise human speech and use it to carry out simple instructions. They work alongside humans in factories, warehouses and fields. And they can parse through large databases in [...]
Should human-killing robots be allowed to exist? The UN is deciding once and for all April 14, 2015 They're terrifying machines – capable of operating without human control and built with a vicious streak that could steal the lives of thousands of humans in a split second. As artificial intelligence develops and improves, who's to say the killer robots we put together with our own hands won't one day cause serious devastation to [...]
IBM is creating a huge health data cloud with Apple, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic April 14, 2015 IBM, Apple and Johnson & Johnson have formed an unlikely alliance to create a giant health data cloud in an attempt to drastically improve medical data analysis. The companies will contribute information gathered from millions of personal health monitoring technologies such as fitness trackers, implants and smartphones to the newly-formed Watson Health Unit. IBM, [...]
Human to superhuman: Time to upgrade yourself March 11, 2015 If you could use biotechnology to upgrade yourself, would you? Perhaps you’ve always despaired at your numerical illiteracy, or maybe you have trouble remembering things. A branch of science is looking beyond mere wearable tech toward a future of devices that you actually add to your body to make it better. From hearing aids to [...]
Google’s Eric Schmidt: Humans are better off than ever – and it’s down to technology March 6, 2015 Humankind has never had it so good and we should be thankful for the role of technology in getting us to that point, according to Google’s Eric Schmidt. Speaking at the WorldPost's Future of Work conference, the executive chairman of the software giant said he wanted to talk about “why we are so unhappy – [...]
The non-bank of Facebook, AliBay, and AI: The future of global fintech March 5, 2015 The global fintech industry has seen some remarkable developments since we launched Level39 two years ago. But what of the future? I’d like to suggest two possibilities for what might happen, and challenge one that, contrary to some current thinking, I don’t think will. FACEBOOK: THE NON-BANK BANK More than any other social media platform, [...]