MajorMajor CyberCyber--AttackAttack UK Internet Service ProviderUK Internet Service Provider EstimatedEstimated $$$$$$ Loss Loss $55$55 MillionMillion 12. 1717thth Nov 2015Nov 2015: "Islamic State is Plotting: "Islamic State is Plotting Deadly CyberDeadly Cyber--Attacks":Attacks": George OsborneGeorge Osborne 12CyberVision: 2015CyberVision: 2015 -- 20252025 *** 21stC Cybersecurity Trends *** London, UK:: 15th December 2015 Dr David E. Probert: www.VAZA.com

The hack, featuring software engineers from Microsoft who had travelled from across Europe and Africa to work with OS's machine learning team, used the city of Hull as a testbed. The trained machine model finished the week by correctly identifying 87% of the roof types it was shown. In its training the model was shown 500 flat roofs and 500 hipped/gabled roofs, set a confidence limit of 90%, which means it must be 90% confident or more for its assessment to count. Isabel Sargent, Senior Research and Development Scientist at OS, says: "Thanks to the excellence of the Microsoft team we have been able to work out together how to stream this machine captured data into our database for if and when we're ready to put machine learning into production. It's already very accurate, going from zero to 87% accuracy in just one week, but we need to increase its success rate. Although much slower, humans typically have an error rate of around 5%."

A USC-led study of violent protest has found that moral rhetoric on Twitter may signal whether a protest will turn violent. The researchers also found that people are more likely to endorse violence when they moralize the issue that they are protesting--and when they believe that others in their social network moralize that issue, too. "Extreme movements can emerge through social networks," said the study's corresponding author, Morteza Dehghani, a researcher at the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC. "We have seen several examples in recent years, such as the protests in Baltimore and Charlottesville, where people's perceptions are influenced by the activity in their social networks. People identify others who share their beliefs and interpret this as consensus. In these studies, we show that this can have potentially dangerous consequences."

At least half of the world's population cannot obtain essential health services. But low-cost, easy-to-use technologies powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) promise to deliver quality and affordable health care to the people who need it most, no matter how hard to reach. At the AI for Good Global Summit last week, entrepreneurs, AI experts, academics and UN representatives described many AI technologies for health, allowing for the early detection of various pathologies such as osteoarthritis, diabetic retinopathy, child malnutrition, snakebites and others. These technologies don't place a heavy burden on doctors, and can lead to prompt diagnosis and effective treatment. They agreed that AI can add tremendous value in developing countries where there is a low density of physicians.

Coping with harsh conditions, rather than social challenges, was chiefly responsible for boosting the size of our brains, a new study has found. The research found'ecological' challenges like finding food and lighting fires boosted the capacity of our ancestors to think ahead. The finding may settle a decades-long debate on the origins of human intelligence and our social relationships, scientists said. The human brain got so big because life was tough on the African savannah around two million years ago, according to new research. The human brain has tripled in size compared to the white matter of our ancestor Australopithecus afarensis, which roamed the Earth more than 3 million years ago.

YVERDON-LES-BAINS, Switzerland/CHICAGO (Reuters) - In a field of sugar beet in Switzerland, a solar-powered robot that looks like a table on wheels scans the rows of crops with its camera, identifies weeds and zaps them with jets of blue liquid from its mechanical tentacles. Undergoing final tests before the liquid is replaced with weedkiller, the Swiss robot is one of new breed of AI weeders that investors say could disrupt the $100 billion pesticides and seeds industry by reducing the need for universal herbicides and the genetically modified (GM) crops that tolerate them. Dominated by companies such as Bayer, DowDuPont, BASF and Syngenta, the industry is bracing for the impact of digital agricultural technology and some firms are already adapting their business models. Herbicide sales are worth $26 billion a year and account for 46 percent of pesticides revenue overall while 90 percent of GM seeds have some herbicide tolerance built in, according to market researcher Phillips McDougall. "Some of the profit pools that are now in the hands of the big agrochemical companies will shift, partly to the farmer and partly to the equipment manufacturers," said Cedric Lecamp, who runs the $1 billion Pictet-Nutrition fund that invests in companies along the food supply chain.

Despite her rising profile internationally as a strong and hugely popular female voice in the technology sector, Dr Sue Black OBE is very modest for someone who has achieved a great deal of personal triumph while exploring what is important to herself. "It's a lot easier doing stuff you love than working in a job where you are not in control, yeah I work hard but at the same time it's a lot easier being charge of myself," she explains when asked about the numerous projects Black has wholeheartedly embraced, not least her campaign to Saving Bletchley Park, the birthplace of Alan Turing's Bombe machine, which led to her writing her debut book that has become the fasted crowdfunded book when published in 2016. Dr Black is a polite and enthusiastic person, and for the UK tech sector she is every bit the rock star it needs. Having received her OBE from The Queen last May, she has since been recognised by being inducted into Bima's Hall of Fame alongside the likes of Stephen Fry (co-incidentally one the highest profile champions of @savingbletchley), Dame Stephanie Shirley, Sir Jony Ive and Baroness Joanna Shields. "It's really nice to get recognition from organisations outside of academia who realise the potential of the work that I'm trying to do. I'm absolutely honoured and delighted to be recognised in this way because it means that the things that I really care about – other people really care about them as well and that is heart-warming for me that the change I am trying to make in the world is being recognised."

In a field of sugar beet in Switzerland, a solar-powered robot that looks like a table on wheels scans the rows of crops with its camera, identifies weeds and zaps them with jets of blue liquid from its mechanical tentacles. Undergoing final tests before the liquid is replaced with weedkiller, the Swiss robot is one of new breed of AI weeders that investors say could disrupt the $100billion pesticides and seeds industry by reducing the need for universal herbicides and the genetically modified (GM) crops that tolerate them. Dominated by companies such as Bayer, DowDuPont, BASF and Syngenta, the industry is bracing for the impact of digital agricultural technology and some firms are already adapting their business models. Herbicide sales are worth $26billion a year and account for 46 percent of pesticides revenue overall while 90 percent of GM seeds have some herbicide tolerance built in, according to market researcher Phillips McDougall. 'Some of the profit pools that are now in the hands of the big agrochemical companies will shift, partly to the farmer and partly to the equipment manufacturers,' said Cedric Lecamp, who runs the $1billion Pictet-Nutrition fund that invests in companies along the food supply chain.

ImpactAlpha, May 21 – Artificial intelligence has a big role to play in extending financial services to the next billion customers. A wonky new report highlights financial service providers in Africa that are wielding AI to lower costs, boost revenues and gain a competitive edge with low-income populations. The report from FIBR, a partnership of BFA consulting and MasterCard Foundation, makes the case that automation, machine learning, statistics and programming can help providers "micro-segment" customers and suit services to their finances. Artificial intelligence algorithms are only as good as their data, notes the report from the consulting firm BFA. "More diverse individuals -- including women, for example, or individuals from under-represented groups -- may identify sources of bias inherent in the data and processes that might have been missed otherwise."

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a key part of the new technology mix in banks, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) for banking platform provider Temenos. You forgot to provide an Email Address. This email address doesn't appear to be valid. This email address is already registered. You have exceeded the maximum character limit.