Risks of artificial intelligence on financial markets must be monitored, warns Financial Stability Board November 1, 2017 The world’s top central bankers have warned that the spread of artificial intelligence could pose a threat to financial stability. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) said yesterday it was crucial for regulators to monitor the growing adoption of AI and machine learning technology across the financial industry, from hedge funds to brokers to banks. Read [...]
Ada Health lands €40m from Len Blavatnik, Amazon Alexa creator William Tunstall-Pedoe and Google business chief Philip Schindler’s June Fund October 31, 2017 The company behind a healthcare app which can help diagnose symptoms has landed a multi-million pound round of funding from investors, who include a top Google executive, the man who created Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and one of Britain's richest billionaires. London and Berlin based Ada Health has raised €40m (£35.2m) to grow the business [...]
The future may be powered by data, but it must be piloted by humans October 24, 2017 Of the six most valuable companies in the world, five are tech firms, whose worth is embodied less in physical assets than in intellectual property and customer data. Apple and Microsoft provide the tools to connect people, and to collect and process data. Google, Facebook and Amazon provide services, and in return accumulate more data [...]
New Wolff Olins boss Sairah Ashman on taking up the top job October 23, 2017 The opportunity to climb the meritocratic ladder, one rung at a time, is one of capitalism’s greatest feats. If you’re good at something and stick to it, eventually you’ll reach the top. Sairah Ashman, chief executive at brand consultancy Wolff Olins, is testament to that notion. Having worked at the firm for 23 years (“longer [...]
Listen up, nerds: These are the UK’s best paying tech jobs October 20, 2017 Tech may be trendier than banking, but it looks like its salaries are beginning to catch up too. New research by salary benchmarking website Emolument has suggested those with much-needed tech skills can "name their price" as companies scrabble around to find people with the right experience. The best-paid jobs in UK tech are so-called [...]
Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL review: Simply the best Android phones ever made October 18, 2017 Google’s new phones are rather good. The Pixel 2 and its bigger brother the Pixel 2 XL (identical in every way but shape, size, price and battery) are straightforwardly excellent. They are simply the best Android phones ever made. Life-changing, envelope-pushing, they can shift a paradigm from fifty paces. They do your laundry, improve your [...]
The UK’s law firms are seeing revenues plateau as they struggle to keep up with client expectations, according to PwC October 16, 2017 Law firms in the UK have seen muted revenue growth this year, as they are struggling to keep up with client expectations and advancing technologies. PwC’s annual UK law firms survey noted average fee income growth of just three per cent, while half of the businesses saw domestic profits fall. This was due to increased [...]
How AI could change the way you save for retirement October 13, 2017 A conversation in the not-too-distant future: Sarah: Hi Eva. Eva*: Hi Sarah, how’s it going? You came home early today. Yeah, I wasn't feeling too well so thought I would have an early night. What’s the problem? I have a booming headache and a runny nose. Sound’s terrible. Would you like me to order [...]
20 years since Deep Blue: Garry Kasparov on the human-machine relationship October 9, 2017 When Garry Kasparov was defeated in a game of chess by IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997, it represented more than just a PR exercise from an opportunistic computer manufacturer looking to bump its share price. For many, it signified the start of the end of human supremacy: the machines had won. Today, 20 years later, [...]
Adapt, or be crushed by the fourth industrial revolution October 9, 2017 No business has ever had the luxury of standing still. In the 1920s, American Express was founded as delivery service (hence the name), and Marriott originally specialised in root beer rather than hotels. Any company that has survived this long has had to adapt to the immense changes of the twentieth and early twenty-first century, [...]