The CIA Invests In 'Narrative Science'

Narrative Science: The CIA is Investing in Artificial Intelligence That Actually Works -- Policymic

As part of the Central Intelligence Agency's growing trend of partnering with the private sector, the CIA announced Wednesday that it would be investing in Narrative Science, a Chicago-based startup that uses computers to make sense of data and present it in prose. Once a leader of technology innovation, the CIA recognized it could not compete for IT innovation and talent with private profit-driven firms. In one of the more impressive government adjustment to economic pressures, the CIA has changed the way the government creates IT innovation.

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More News On The CIA And 'Narrative Science'

The CIA Invests in Robot Writers -- Mashable
The CIA takes an interest in Narrative Science’s quick summaries of big data -- Gigaom
The CIA Invests in Narrative Science and Its Automated Writers -- All Things D
CIA invests in robot journalism -- Poynter
Narrative Science goes beyond ‘robot journalism’ with CIA investment -- Venture Beat
Local AI startup gets CIA-linked funding -- Chicago Tribune
Chicago's Narrative Science lands deal with the CIA -- Chicago Business

A Guide To Killer Robots Everywhere

Semi-Autonomous Killer Drones From Around The Globe -- Killer Apps/Foreign Policy

With the United Nations Human Rights Council debating the development of lethal robots at its meeting in Geneva today, Human Rights Watch is ramping up its campaign to get world governments to preemptively ban the use of killer robots that can decide to attack a target without consulting their human controllers first. Despite the fact that the Pentagon has said that U.S. drones will not be able to fire weapons without "appropriate" levels of human control, HRW worries that battlefield necessity will do away with such voluntary restrictions.

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My Comment: A brief but concise review.

Rise Of The Robots

Obama Must Face The Rise Of The Robots -- Edward Luce, Financial Times 

Technology will leave a large chunk of the US labour force in the lurch. Early in his first term Barack Obama joked that he would “keep an eye on the robots in case they try anything”. He should have known resistance is futile. During Mr Obama’s presidency, IBM’s Watson has proved computers can outfox the most agile minds, drones have become America’s weapon of choice, the driverless car is now a reality and the word “app” has been detached from its origin. No longer the realm of science fiction, the rise of robots now poses the central economic dilemma of the Obama era.

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My Comment: The genie is out of the bottle .... I doubt that it can be plugged back in.

Will 'Genetic Hard Drives' Revolutionize The Way Computers Work?

Currently data centres such as Google's shown here, rely on traditional hard drives. However, they could one day be replaced by the DNA drives revealed today 

The 'Genetic Hard Drive' That Could Store The Complete Works Of Shakespeare (And Revolutionize The Way Computers Work) -- Daily Mail 

* Same technique also used to store 26 second excerpt from Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech
* Breakthrough could have major implications for computer storage with DNA hard drives
* Could lead to drives that can store high definition version of every film and TV programme ever created in a teacup sized drive

A genetic storage device has been used to 'download' all 154 of Shakespeare's sonnets on to strands of synthetic DNA.

Scientists were then able to decode the information and reproduce the words of the Bard with complete accuracy.

The same technique made it possible to store a 26 second excerpt from Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech and a photo of the Cambridgeshire laboratory where the work took place.

Researchers were also able to turn a copy of Watson and Crick's paper describing the nature of DNA into genetic code.

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My Comment: This is why I am fascinated by new technology.

Seven Amazing Robots Of 2012

The X-47B Click here to see this amazing image even larger. Douglas Sonders 

 The 7 Most Amazing Robots Of 2012 -- PopSci.com 

Okay, we know we're a little late on this, but that's because there was so much amazing stuff to sift through! In 2012, robotic technology made some huge leaps forward. We put the world's most sophisticated planetary rover on Mars using a daring--and precise--robotic delivery system. We launched marine robots capable of taking on hurricanes and rebuilding damaged coral reefs. We saw four-legged robots set new land speed records, and winged, autonomous robots strut their potentially lethal stuff on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

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Editor: The photo gallery starts here.

Humanoid Robot Pictured On Space Station

Humanoid Robot Pictured On International Space Station -- The Telegraph 

With his upright posture and shiny gold helmet, this space robot looks more suited to the set of Star Wars than the International Space Station. But the C3PO lookalike, the first humanoid robot in space, has spent almost two years orbiting the Earth while learning to perform tasks which are more suited to machines than human crew members. Robonaut 2 – nicknamed R2 in a nod to the Star Wars trilogy – was launched in February 2011 on the last flight of NASA’s Discovery space shuttle.

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My Comment: Now that is impressive.

Meet Roboy, One Of The Most Advanced Humanoid Robots In The World

Advanced Humanoid Roboy To Be ‘Born’ In Nine Months -- Kurzweilai 

Meet Roboy, “one of the most advanced humanoid robots,” say researchers at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Zurich. Their 15 project partners and over 40 engineers and scientists are constructing Roboy as a tendon-driven robot modeled on human beings (robots usually have their motors in their joints, giving them that “robot” break-dance look), so it will move almost as elegantly as a human. Roboy will be a “service robot,” meaning it will execute services independently for the convenience of human beings, as in the movie Robot & Frank.

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My Comment: Impressive.