Star Wars Day shows us the droids we’re looking for May 4, 2016 Over the years I think I’ve made it pretty clear that I firmly believe science fiction is one of the most powerful influences on how people think about the future potential of technology. We’ve seen wonderful examples where the creative license of a few enlightened people have led to the creation of incredible technologies that [...]
I would trust Google’s DeepMind with my personal data more than the NHS May 4, 2016 The NHS is not a data company. Google's pretty good with that kind of thing. No wonder, then that the millions of pieces of information the health service has amassed about the nation's wellbeing – from admission times to blood tests – is being shared with the company in pursuit of the shared and very human [...]
The nine things scientists believe could cause the apocalypse (soon), from artificial intelligence and pandemics to asteroids and supervolcanos April 28, 2016 Time to hide behind the sofa. Scientists have looked at the biggest risks facing the world and ranked them according to how likely they are to bring about the apocalypse. Imminent threats to the world as we know it include the rise of artificial intelligence, pandemics – both natural and man-made – and even an [...]
Finance actually wants more regulation because of the rise of artificial intelligence fintech in the world’s markets April 25, 2016 The finance world is cautiously optimistic about the future of artificial intelligence and how it can be used, but, there is more work needed on regulating the technology when it comes to world markets. “Financial institutions have been fined billions of dollars because of illegality and compliance breaches by traders. A logical response by banks is to [...]
Potential oil freeze deal: What five experts think about the historic producer meeting in Doha April 17, 2016 Rising tensions between rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran could inhibit a historic oil production freeze deal widely expected to be inked today. Some 18 Opec and non-Opec countries, including Russia, met in the Qatari capital of Doha to firm up an agreement to freeze oil output at January levels, a move which would support crude prices. Ministers started talks after [...]
How to make big bucks in finance: These are the trading specialisms with the biggest bonuses and highest salaries April 15, 2016 We've surveyed banking salaries. We've surveyed lawyers' salaries. This week, we're focusing on those making the megabucks: traders. Salary benchmarking site Emolument.com has listed the trading roles with the biggest bonuses. And it turns out the more complex your role, the more you stand to bring in: those in commodities might think they stand to do [...]
Here’s CaptionBot, Microsoft’s latest artificial intelligence experiment April 14, 2016 Microsoft certainly hasn't been scared off doing further experiments with artificial intelligence after the whole racist bot debacle. The tech firm is back with an AI powered API that can identify (or at least try) what's in a picture. 1. Boat or wheel? 2. The shard clock 3. Unhappy Sir Martin Sorrell 4. Tech blind? 5. [...]
Chatbots and more: What to make of Facebook’s F8 reveals? April 14, 2016 Facebook’s announcements from its F8 developer conference push two of its key products into becoming full ecosystems in their own right. With large numbers of companies and users using them, as well as a number of different business models running on them, both Messenger and video have reached a scale where they are ready for this next step. [...]
One of the UK’s biggest tech venture capital investors Accel Partners now has $500m more to play with April 12, 2016 The venture capital firm which was an early backer of Facebook, bet on start startup Slack, and most recently invested in Deliveroo and Funding Circle in the UK, has raised $500m (£351m) for a new fund to invest in startups across Europe and Israel. “Entrepreneurship is flourishing everywhere across Europe and Israel; we’ve never seen so many great founders, both gritty and [...]
Industry 4.0: How disruptive technology can rescue British manufacturing April 7, 2016 Industry 4.0 is revolutionising the way international manufacturers and construction companies approach business, but the UK has a long way to go if its industry is to keep pace with its European rivals. This new world is based on digitisation, which blurs the line between the virtual and the physical. Connected products and “smart” machines [...]