Wednesday, January 11, 2017

The European Parliament Wants To Give Robots Legal Status By Calling Them 'Electronic Persons'

The report proposes a kill switch on robots. © Francois Lenoir / Reuters

RT: Robot kill switches & legal status: MEPs endorse AI proposal

A European Parliament committee has voted in favor of a draft report that proposes granting legal status to robots, categorizing them as “electronic persons”.

The draft report, approved by 17 votes to two and two abstentions by the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs, proposes that “The most sophisticated autonomous robots could be established as having the status of electronic persons with specific rights and obligations, including that of making good any damage they may cause.”

Authored by Luxembourg MEP Mady Delvaux, the report proposes definitions and outlines rules to govern how robots interact with humans “now that humankind stands on the threshold of an era” that it claims will see artificial intelligence (AI) “unleash a new industrial revolution.”

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WNU Editor: I will not be surprised if this is past by the EU parliament.

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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

An AI Robot To Combat Loneliness

Elli.Q reminds lonely elderly people to take medication, talk to family and stay active

The Telegraph: AI robot 'friend' launched to chat and play games with lonely elderly

A talking robot which chats to elderly people, reminding them to take their medication and stay active, has been launched in London.

Elli.Q, which is one of the most advanced social companion robots in the world, has been designed to convey emotion through different speech tones, lights and body language to be as engaging as possible.

The little robot suggests activities such as reading, going for a walk, playing games to keep mentally active or phoning friends and family.

And she is programmed to learn what her owner enjoys, gradually tailoring her programming to fit.

Elli.Q has been developed by Intuition Robotics to prevent older people feeling socially isolated, and keep them connected to family and friends.

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ZC Editor: I can see this being valuable for seniors who live alone.

World Economic Forum Warns That Artificial Intelligence Needs Strong Governance


Computer Weekly: World Economic Forum warns of AI business risk

Ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, the World Economic Forum warns that artificial intelligence needs strong governance

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2017 has highlighted risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI).

Based on a survey of 750 experts, the report warned that AI, biotech and robotics have among the highest benefits to society, but they also require the most legislation.

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CSN Editor: No one is ready for the large scale unemployment that the adoption of AI would create.

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Monday, January 9, 2017

A Robot-Powered Burger Restaurant Is Coming To San Francisco

This is the only known image of a burger manufactured by Momentum Machines technology. Momentum Machines / The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania

Business Insider/Tech Insider: This robot-powered restaurant could put fast food workers out of a job

A robot-powered burger joint is coming to San Francisco.

In 2012, secretive robotics startup Momentum Machines debuted a machine that could crank out 400 made-to-order hamburgers in an hour. It's fully autonomous, meaning the robot can slice toppings, grill a patty, and assemble and bag the burger without any help from humans. The internet flipped out.

Years of relative silence ensued, but in January, Hoodline's Brittany Hopkins learned that the San Francisco-based startup had applied for a building permit to convert a ground-floor retail space in the SoMa neighborhood into a restaurant.

Now it looks like the restaurant is actually happening. A job posting on Craigslist from early June gives us our first glimpse into how the company's future flagship, presumably opening soon, might work.

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ZC Editor: I suspect that this restaurant will also be more cleaner.

Experts Say AIs Will Soon Understand Human Emotions



Daily Mail: The rise of the robot interrogator: Experts say AIs will soon understand our emotions - and could do everything from give therapy to quiz terrorists

* Artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly good at reading emotion
* AI can now recognise faces, speech and even turn sketches into photos
* AI may be able to match humans in recognising emotions in a few decades
* An emotionally intelligent AI has potential benefits, be it to give someone a companion or to help us performing certain tasks – ranging from criminal interrogation to talking therapy

How would you feel about getting therapy from a robot?

Emotionally intelligent machines may not be as far away as it seems.

Over the last few decades, artificial intelligence (AI) have got increasingly good at reading emotional reactions in humans.

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ZC Editor: Humans have trouble understanding the emotions of others .... it is going to be interesting to see how AIs will perform.

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Sunday, January 8, 2017

Quantum Computing Could Make Supercomputer Obsolete In 5 Years

Multilayer microwave integrated quantum circuit (left) uses silicon wafers with features etched using MEMS techniques to create enclosures that serve as high-Q resonators as well as providing shielding. Superconducting metalization (blue) covers the walls of these enclosures to provide low-loss wafer-to-wafer bonding. A cross-section of the rectangular cavity resonator (upper right) shows interlayer aperture coupling between the cavity and transmission lines above. 3D superconducting transmission lines (lower right) could be constructed using membranes (green) in the MEMS structure where qubits and act as a compact low-loss quantum bus.
(Source: Yale)

Next Big Future: Universal Quantum computers could replace supercomputers within 5 years

Some researchers are predicting that the market for "universal" quantum computers that do everything a supercomputer can do plus everything a supercomputer can not do — in a chip that fits in the palm of your hand — are on the verge of emerging. The rise of quantum computing may be as important a shift as John von Neumann's stored program-and-data concept.

Here are some of the scientists and breakthroughs that will enable this shift.

Robert Schoelkopf (Yale, Quantum Circuits inc) claims a number of "world's firsts," the latest of which is the longest "coherence time" for a quantum superposition.

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Update: Quantum Computing on Cusp - Researchers say supercomputer obsolete in 5 years -- EETimes

ZC editor: To me the 5 years is too optimistic .... but the trend lines are that Quantum computers will replace supercomputers in the near future.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

Mark Zuckerberg Talks About AI And Its Future In The World (Video)

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This Robot Can Play Chess With A Chessboard

A robot developed by Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute plays chess at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Nevada on January 8, 2017 ©Rob Lever (AFP)

AFP: For 'intelligent' robot, chess is just a hobby

A robot developed by engineers in Taiwan can pour coffee and move chess pieces on a board against an opponent, but he's looking for a real job.

The robot developed by Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute, which spent the week playing games against opponents at the Consumer Electronics Show, was displaying what developers call an "intelligent vision system" which can see its environment and act with greater precision than its peers.

With this enhanced vision, the robot can perform variety of tasks for service and manufacturing, and can also learn on the job with artificial intelligence.

Read more ....

ZC Editor: Playing chess with a robot has just got interesting.

Friday, January 6, 2017

The Race To Build Quantum Computers Is Heating Up



Next Big Future: Google, Microsoft, labs and start-ups will create universal quantum computers in 2017 and achieve quantum supremacy over classical computers

Google started working on a form of quantum computing that harnesses superconductivity in 2014. In 2017 or 2018 Google hopes to perform a computation that is beyond even the most powerful ‘classical’ supercomputers — an elusive milestone known as quantum supremacy. Its rival, Microsoft, is betting on an intriguing but unproven concept, topological quantum computing, and hopes to perform a first demonstration of the technology.

The quantum-computing start-up scene is also heating up. Christopher Monroe, co-founded the start-up IonQ in 2015, plans to begin hiring in earnest this year.

Physicist Robert Schoelkopf at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, who co-founded the start-up Quantum Circuits, and former IBM applied physicist Chad Rigetti, who set up Rigetti in Berkeley, California, say they expect to reach crucial technical milestones soon.

The largest trapped ion quantum computer with 20 qubits is being tested in an academic lab led by Rainer Blatt at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.

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ZC Editor: Both Microsoft and Google are investing heavily in this tech frontier.

This 'Anti-Robot' Can Carry A Human And Run Over 20mph



Daily Mail: Meet 'Prosthesis', the terrifying 14ft-tall 'anti-robot' that can carry a human and run over 20mph almost SILENTLY

* Prosthesis is an 'exo-bionic racing robot' that is controlled by a human pilot sitting inside it
* The human sits at the center of the machine, and moves their arms to control it
* According to the creators, it can hit speeds of more than 30 km per hour

A 14-foot-tall exo-bionic racing robot could soon be tearing across the Nevada desert.

Exhibitors revealed the massive Prosthesis bot at CES 2017 in Las Vegas today, and they say it can hit a top speed of roughly 20 miles per hour – and despite its imposing size, it’s nearly silent when it moves.

The 7,700lb ‘anti-robot’ is controlled by a human pilot who stands at the center of the mechanical exoskeleton, using arm movements to drive it forward at terrifying speeds.

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ZC Editor: This is one big robot.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Office Workers Are Replaced by Artificial Intelligence In A Japanese Company

Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance believes it will increase productivity by 30% Photograph: Toru Hanai/REUTERS

The Guardian: Japanese company replaces office workers with artificial intelligence

Insurance firm Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance is making 34 employees redundant and replacing them with IBM’s Watson Explorer AI

A future in which human workers are replaced by machines is about to become a reality at an insurance firm in Japan, where more than 30 employees are being laid off and replaced with an artificial intelligence system that can calculate payouts to policyholders.

Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance believes it will increase productivity by 30% and see a return on its investment in less than two years. The firm said it would save about 140m yen (£1m) a year after the 200m yen (£1.4m) AI system is installed this month. Maintaining it will cost about 15m yen (£100k) a year.

The move is unlikely to be welcomed, however, by 34 employees who will be made redundant by the end of March.

Read more ....

ZC Editor: So it begins.

Artificial Intelligence (A Bloomberg Quick-take)

Bloomberg: Artificial Intelligence

It’s the stuff of sci-fi movies and dystopian, end-of-humanity nightmares — and now, of mind-numbingly dull white-collar work. After decades of premature promises, artificial intelligence is finding its way into all sorts of businesses. Its arrival has been low-key. That’s primarily because the line between ordinary software and AI software has blurred as artificial intelligence has been adapted to narrow, unsexy tasks. But there is a difference. AI programs can look at a confusing situation, make an informed guess about what’s going on and act on it — and learn from what happens. The result has been progress so fast that people are now asking themselves two very different questions: What can we do with this to make money, and how do we stop it from going awry? AI could usher in an era of unprecedented prosperity or unprecedented inequality. Bill Gates, Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, among others, have a deeper fear: That we may be, in Musk’s words, “summoning the demon.”

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ZC Editor: A good brief summary.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Former World Chess Champion Kasparov On The Future Of Artificial Intelligence



Chess News: Kasparov on the future of Artificial Intelligence

"You will go down in history as the first person to be beaten by a machine in an intellectual pursuit where you were the most advanced member of our species," says American author, philosopher, and neuroscientist in this extraordinary podcast interview with Garry Kasparov. After discussing the current world political situation they go on to the subject of machine intelligence. Kasparov also announced a book called Deep Thinking that is due for release in May.

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ZC Editor: The interesting part of this entire story is that today's chess programs can easily defeat Deep Blue when it Defeated World Champion Garry Kasparov 20 years ago.

China Wants To Be The World Leader In Artificial Intelligence

Wu Haishan, a senior Baidu data scientist, at the Baidu Technology Park in Beijing, China. Baidu is widely seen as being at the forefront of AI in Asia. Photo: Bloomberg

South China Morning Post: The Machines are Coming: China's role in the future of artificial intelligence

After a year of breakthroughs, experts believe they are on the brink of revolutionising our daily lives through artificial intelligence – and Asia can play a leading role in this brave new world

Try typing “the machines” into Google and chances are that one of the top results the artificial intelligence-powered search engine will return is the phrase: “The Machines are Coming”.

After a 2016 filled with high-profile advances in artificial intelligence (AI), leading technologists say this could be a breakout year in the development of intelligent machines that emulate humans.

Asia, until now lagging Silicon Valley in AI, will play a bigger role as the field cements itself at the pinnacle of the technology world in 2017, the experts say.

AI – technically, a computing field that involves the analysis of large troves of data to predict outcomes and patterns – is as old as modern computers but its esoteric nature means it has long endured caricatures of its actual potential – think for example, the 1960s space age cartoon The Jetsons, which featured a sentient robot maid and automated flying cars (both of which we are still waiting for, even 50 years on).

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CNS  Editor: Silicon Valley has always lead the way in developing AI platforms .... but it looks Asia wants to catch-up.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Instead Of Humans Will AI Systems Be The Ones Who Hire And Fire You In The Future?

US-based Bridgewater Associates is reportedly developing artificial intelligence

Daily Mail: Robots that hire and fire staff could soon be employed by the world's largest hedge fund in bid to improve efficiency

* US-based Bridgewater Associates is reportedly developing artificial intelligence
* The firm wants to use robots to hire and fire so emotions don't get in the way
* Billionaire founder Ray Dalio appointed Systemised Intelligence Lab for the job

Robots could soon be hiring and firing staff at the world’s largest hedge fund under secret plans drawn up to improve efficiency.

A team of engineers at US-based Bridgewater Associates is reportedly developing artificial intelligence which can run the firm without emotions getting in the way.

Billionaire founder Ray Dalio is seeking to create a new business model where most employees are programmers and decisions are made by a computer.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: So much for hiring someone based on a "gut feeling".

Monday, January 2, 2017

The United Nations Has Decided To Take On Killer Robots In 2017

YouTube

Seeker: U.N. Vote Puts 'Killer Robots' on the Agenda in 2017

International pressure mounts for a preemptive ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems.

Good news, fellow humans: The United Nations has decided to take on killer robots.

At the international Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva, 123 participating nations voted to initiate official discussions on the danger of lethal autonomous weapons systems. That's the emerging designation for so-called "killer robots" — weapons controlled by artificial intelligence that can target and strike without human intervention.

The agreement is the latest development in a growing movement calling for an preemptive ban on weaponized A.I. and deadly autonomous weapons. Last year, a coalition of more than 1,000 scientists and industry leaders, including Elon Musk and representatives of Google and Microsoft, signed an official letter to the United Nations demanding action.

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ZC Editor: Too late .... the genie is already out of the box.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Has Google’s AI Translation Tool Invented Its Own Internal Language?


Tech Crunch: Google’s AI translation tool seems to have invented its own secret internal language

All right, don’t panic, but computers have created their own secret language and are probably talking about us right now. Well, that’s kind of an oversimplification, and the last part is just plain untrue. But there is a fascinating and existentially challenging development that Google’s AI researchers recently happened across.

You may remember that back in September, Google announced that its Neural Machine Translation system had gone live. It uses deep learning to produce better, more natural translations between languages. Cool!

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CSN Editor: It makes you wonder if machines can operate at a far more smarter level than what we have taken for granted.

Russia Has A ‘Colossal’ Supercomputer

Building of Russian Ministry of Defence at Frunzenskaya Embankment. Moscow, Russia. Wikipedia. Wikipedia

RT: Army’s brain: Russia’s ‘colossal’ supercomputer helps predict wars, defense minister says

A “colossally powerful” supercomputer installed at Russia’s military headquarters helps the country’s armed forces tackle emerging threats by analyzing previous conflicts, such as the Yugoslavian war and the like, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.

The supercomputer is a key part of the headquarters’ IT infrastructure and is so powerful that the military uses less than half of its capacity, Shoigu told Rossiya 24 TV channel, which filmed a documentary about Russia’s National Defense Management Center (NDMC).

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ZC Editor: It looks like Russia wants to build Skynet .... Powerful Russian supercomputer to ‘speak’ to any robotic system, no matter which manufacturer (RT).