The documents also include forms that local police officers can use to submit a photo to the FBI's Facial Analysis, Comparison and Evaluation (FACE) Services Unit, which then runs it through a facial recognition search and returns possible matches. Officers can use the form to request the photos also be run through a biometric database of foreign citizens and combatants run by the Defense Department and the passport and visa photos managed by the State Department, the documents show.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning could revolutionize the search for life on other planets. But before these tools can tackle distant locales such as Mars, they need to be tested here on Earth. A team of researchers have successfully trained an AI to map biosignatures -- any feature which provides evidence of past or present life -- in a three-square-kilometre area of Chile's Atacama Desert. The AI substantially reduced the area the team needed to search and boosted the likelihood of finding living organisms in one of the driest places on the planet. The results were reported on 6 March in Nature Astronomy1.

Amid lingering concerns about surveillance and safety, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to accept the donation of a dog-like robot for the LAPD. The vote will determine whether the department gets the controversial device, which would be paid for with a nearly $280,000 donation from the Los Angeles Police Foundation. The Police Commission and the council's public safety committee have approved the move. The department said it intends to deploy the device in limited scenarios and primarily for reconnaissance. Nicknamed Spot, it can climb stairs, open doors and navigate rugged terrain, giving police a set of eyes in potentially dangerous situations while keeping officers out of harm's way, officials say.

It was October 2021, and Imane, a 44-year-old mother of three, was still in pain from the abdominal surgery she had undergone a few weeks earlier. She certainly did not want to be where she was: sitting in a small cubicle in a building near the center of Rotterdam, while two investigators interrogated her. But she had to prove her innocence or risk losing the money she used to pay rent and buy food. Imane emigrated to the Netherlands from Morocco with her parents when she was a child. She started receiving benefits as an adult, due to health issues, after divorcing her husband. Since then, she has struggled to get by using welfare payments and sporadic cleaning jobs.

A robot hand made from wood could be used in extremely hot environments while still maintaining a delicate touch. Most robotic hand grippers are made from soft plastics, which can pick up objects without damaging them but melt at high temperatures, or from metals with many moving parts, which are stiff and complex to operate. Now, Swee Ching Tan at the National University of Singapore and his colleagues have developed wooden grippers made from 0.5 millimetre-thick pieces of Canadian maple, …

On 14 February, Kevin Roose, the New York Times tech columnist, had a two-hour conversation with Bing, Microsoft's ChatGPT-enhanced search engine. He emerged from the experience an apparently changed man, because the chatbot had told him, among other things, that it would like to be human, that it harboured destructive desires and was in love with him. The transcript of the conversation, together with Roose's appearance on the paper's The Daily podcast, immediately ratcheted up the moral panic already raging about the implications of large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-3.5 (which apparently underpins Bing) and other "generative AI" tools that are now loose in the world. These are variously seen as chronically untrustworthy artefacts, as examples of technology that is out of control or as precursors of so-called artificial general intelligence (AGI) – ie human-level intelligence – and therefore posing an existential threat to humanity. Accompanying this hysteria is a new gold rush, as venture capitalists and other investors strive to get in on the action.

Microsoft's Bing chatbot is offering replies in three different tones as it seeks to address some criticisms of the service. The search engine's chatbot, powered by the same technology behind ChatGPT, will now give users options for three types of response: creative ("creating surprise and entertainment"), balanced ("reasonable and coherent") or precise ("concise, prioritising accuracy"). The new-look Bing is being rolled out gradually but generated wild responses in some interactions shortly after its launch last month, including declaring its love for a New York Times journalist. This prompted Microsoft to add some restrictions, which resulted in Bing's chatbot refusing to answer some queries. Microsoft's head of web services, Mikhail Parakhin, said the updated Bing should now make fewer refusals and "hallucinations", or false replies. Referring to the tone options, Parakhin said he preferred the "creative" tone, although "precise" was "much more factual".

Whether it is managing childcare, operating on a patient or cooking a Sunday dinner, there are many occasions when an extra pair of arms would come in, well, handy. Now researchers say such human augmentation could be on the horizon, suggesting additional robotic body parts could be designed to boost our capabilities. Tamar Makin, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the MRC cognition and brain unit at Cambridge University, said the approach could increase productivity. "If you want an extra arm while you're cooking in the kitchen so you can stir the soup while chopping the vegetables, you might have the option to wear and independently control an extra robotic arm," she said. The approach has precedence: Dani Clode, a designer and colleague of Makin's at Cambridge University, has already created a 3D-printed thumb that can be added to any hand.

Taipei, Taiwan – As the arrival of artificial intelligence-powered chatbots sends shockwaves through the global tech industry, China is racing to produce versions of its own. China's search-engine giant Baidu has announced plans to release its chatbot ERNIE sometime in March, following the pioneering launch of ChatGPT, which has prompted existential questions about the future of sectors ranging from education to journalism and healthcare. Chinese tech shares rallied in response to the news and authorities have pledged to beef up their support of the sector. Similar projects to ERNIE are under way at Chinese tech giants Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, JD.com and top institutions including the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence. China's Ministry of Science and Technology said last week it would push for the integration of AI across Chinese industry, while cities including Beijing have also announced plans to back developers.

With Google's recent partnership with Mercedes-Benz, a "next-generation navigation experience" is not too far away. In this deal, Google Maps will provide geospatial data and navigation capabilities for the car manufacturer, while Mercedes-Benz will use Google Cloud's AI and machine learning capabilities to create, train and deploy AI models at speed. This will enhance customer experience, alongside building faster and more efficient data processing platforms to analyse fleet data. Additionally, it also plans to leverage Google's open infrastructure to secure and scale from on-prem to the edge to the cloud, across its technology ecosystem. Google chief Sundar Pichai said that the company will provide AI and data capabilities to accelerate their sustainability efforts, advance autonomous driving, and create an enhanced customer experience.