Africa
The 2018 Survey: AI and the Future of Humans
"Please think forward to the year 2030. Analysts expect that people will become even more dependent on networked artificial intelligence (AI) in complex digital systems. Some say we will continue on the historic arc of augmenting our lives with mostly positive results as we widely implement these networked tools. Some say our increasing dependence on these AI and related systems is likely to lead to widespread difficulties. Our question: By 2030, do you think it is most likely that advancing AI and related technology systems will enhance human capacities and empower them? That is, most of the time, will most people be better off than they are today? Or is it most likely that advancing AI and related technology systems will lessen human autonomy and agency to such an extent that most people will not be better off than the way things are today? Please explain why you chose the answer you did and sketch out a vision of how the human-machine/AI collaboration will function in 2030.
Toward digital power over states - Atlantic Council
Security officers keep watch in front of an AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign at the annual Huawei Connect event in Shanghai, China September 18, 2019. Rapid advances in digital technologies amplify the potential for data acquisition from and influence over other states. One state aggressively pursuing digital advantage globally is China, especially in its leveraging of artificial intelligence (AI). This memo presents recent data from multiple sources and initial analysis to set the stage for discussion about the profound implications of imminent digital power by China. A leading concern for those states not presently engaged in AI and related technologies is that they will fall behind those that are already heavily innovating and investing.
Nigerian start up wins GITEX star prize of $10,000 in Artificial Intelligence.
Chiniki Guard, a Nigerian Information Communication Technology (ICT) startup application has won the best prize of 10,000 USD in the Artificial Intelligence category competition at the ongoing Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX). GITEX is a global annual and biggest technology gathering in the Middle East,North Africa and South Asia with theme "Synergising the Mind and Technology Economy."aqq Chiniki Guard is an Artificial Intelligence security solution for retail stores,supermarkets to monitor,detect and alert shop owners of shoplifting as well as suspicious behaviour in real time. Chiniki Guard is among the 34 startups in the category of the Supanova finalists at the GITEX Futurestars competition. Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)Mr Abdulhakim Bashir,the Founder of Chiniki Guard, said the opportunities at GITEX had accorded him the win and would enable him widen the scope of his business.
Number of Japanese language schools soaring in Asia, survey finds
About 3.85 million people studied Japanese at a record 18,604 institutions overseas in fiscal 2018, with the number of institutions soaring in Asia, according to a survey released this week. The number of Japanese language institutions jumped nearly fourfold to 818 in Vietnam from the previous survey in fiscal 2015 and nearly tripled to 400 in Myanmar, said the survey by the Japan Foundation, a government-backed organization conducting international cultural exchange programs. The number of Japanese learners overseas rose 5.2 percent to 3,846,773, led by a 169.0 percent surge to 174,461 in Vietnam, it said. The survey found a record high 142 countries and territories offering Japanese language education, five more than the fiscal 2015 level. The five include East Timor, Zimbabwe and Montenegro.
Toward Artificial Sentience, Significant Futures Work, and more
An autonomous idea-creation system that already has invented patentable concepts has itself now been patented. The U.S. Patent and Trade Office has awarded a patent to Stephen L. Thaler, president and CEO of Imagination Engines Inc., for his Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience (DABUS). Formally, the patent is titled "Electro‐Optical Device and Method for Identifying and Inducing Topological States Formed Among Interconnecting Neural Modules," which Thaler says constitutes a "successor to deep learning and the future of artificial general intelligence." With DABUS, "vast swarms of neural nets join to form chains that encode concepts gleaned from their environment," Thaler said in a press release. "It also teaches the noise‐stimulation of such neural chaining systems to generate derivative concepts from their accumulated experience (i.e., idea formation)."
Why Intelligence Is The New Oil For The Future Enterprise
Much has been said about data being the new oil that will fuel businesses in the future. But the reality is that it's not about the amount of data that organizations have access to, but how effective their decisions are based on that data. Therefore, data alone will not be the new oil, rather intelligence will fuel the digital economy, and organizations that can create intelligent business processes to deliver contextualized and consent-based experiences will win in this new data-driven world. As intelligence (and technology in general) increasingly underpins future business models, there is a big question around the role of IT moving forward. The CIO needs to be part of boardroom discussions driving decision-making around the broader business (and digital) strategy.
Huge four-inch long parasitic wasps are discovered in the Ugandan jungle
Scientists have discovered two species of wasps which grow up to four inches (10cm) long and lay their eggs inside other insects. The wasps were found in the jungle in Uganda's Kibale National Park and are among some of the only ones of their type ever discovered. Named Epirhyssa quagga and Epirhyssa johanna, the creatures are part of the rhyssine family, which cannot sting and are harmless to humans. But they are less harmless in their own habitat – their larvae develop inside the offspring of beetles and other wasps and eat them from the inside out. Discoveries of these disconcertingly large wasps are generally rare, but scientists this time found large numbers of both males and females of new types in the forest.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Robotics Market Report 2019-2029 - Visiongain
Read on to discover how this definitive report can transform your research and save you time. The use of artificial intelligence based industrial and personal-service robots is on the rise and has led Visiongain to publish this timely report. The USD 2.3 billion Artificial Intelligence Robotics Market is expected to flourish in the next few years because of advances in specific areas of AI such as machine learning methods. The continuous advancements in computer power have enabled the development of more intelligent and stronger AI systems and this is expected to feed through in the latter part of the decade driving growth to new heights. If you want to be part of this growing industry, then read on to discover how you can maximise your investment potential.
AI for social good: four ways to make the most of tech
The explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a boon for business. It is also helping solve some of the world's biggest social problems, from reducing crime to eradicating disease and tackling climate change. The amount of available data and technology that can process it intelligently has snowballed as the internet has increasingly integrated with our lives through tablets, phones and wearables. The advent of the internet of things – the extension of internet connectivity into everyday objects – has taken this even further. These advances have enabled a wide range of bodies, including companies, governments and non-governmental organisations, to start working together to use AI for social good and has already produced some groundbreaking results in vital areas.
Augmented humans to be pervasive by 2030
Over the next decade, innovative technologies such as edge computing, 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality and Internet of things will combine to create deeply connected relationships between people and computers, resulting in fully augmented human beings. This is according to the Future of Connected Living report commissioned by Dell Technologies and conducted by Vanson Bourne. The research firm surveyed 4 600 director- to C-suite-level business leaders across four countries, including SA, to uncover their views on the impact of emerging technologies. The research found the gap between human and machines is shrinking, presenting a new era of human-machine alliances on the horizon. Over the next decade, it says, everything around us will become more intelligent, communicative and connected, with new kinds of networks, devices, interfaces and AI expected to help people augment, enhance and optimise their personal lives and working environment.