Grey swans turning white and artificial intelligence: These are the five best bits from Sir Martin Sorrell’s update June 9, 2015 Ahead of WPP's AGM today – in which Sir Martin Sorrell's pay packet was contested, but not thrown out – the advertising giant released its annual statement. As with previous years it was packed full with words of wisdom from Sorrell, looking at macro, political and social pressures as well as what was happening [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Budget 2015: Here are George Osborne’s best quotes plus his Budget speech in full March 18, 2015 George Osborne's final Budget during this parliament had few surprises but plenty of great quips, including – to the dismay of bookies everywhere – a quip about Ed Miliband's now-infamous second kitchen. Here's a selection of our favourites from today's big speech. (Source: Getty/City A.M.) (Source: Getty/City A.M) (Source: Getty/City A.M.) [...]
Why business needs military skills March 9, 2015 Dealing with uncertainty and embracing the future are attributes the corporate world needs. The world around us is changing at an incredible pace – the graph is not linear, but exponential. Advances in technology threaten to outpace the ability of individuals and organisations to keep up. Some, like professor Stephen Hawking, are concerned that artificial [...]
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, [...]
Man Vs machine: One chart showing how artificial intelligence created by Google’s Deep Mind beat humans at classic 80s Atari games February 26, 2015 Google just made a massive leap forward in developing artificial intelligence (AI) – with the help of classic Atari games like Space Invaders and Pong. Researchers working at the secretive London company Deep Mind have succeeded in creating a computer program which can learn how to play computer games, with no input whatsoever from humans. [...]