Banks around the world are being confronted with a record number of regulations, and those falling short of institutional obligations are paying a high price for their errors. In response, major financial institutions are grasping big data solutions in a bid to comply with often dense regulations and reduce regulatory breaches. "Considering many banks have grown organically, often via merger and acquisition, their data is not always consistent and well organised," according to James Arnett, a partner at business and technology consulting firm Capco. Mr Arnett believes that new tools can be created through the application of data analytics, which will transform banks compliance programmes from manual, non-scalable projects into lower-cost and automated processes. "There is a real opportunity for banking clients to embrace data analytics to answer the underlying theme of regulation strategically rather than to treat each regulation as a'tick-the-box' exercise," he says.

Science council moves to safeguard South Africa's robotics prowess Since Czech playwright Karel Capek popularised and, indeed, named the concept of the robot in his 1920 science-fiction play, RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots) – the word is derived from the Czech word'robota', which means labour – it has exerted a fascination on both the popular and the scientific, and on engineering and technological minds. The robot quickly became a mainstay of science fiction, sometimes benign (as with Robby the Robot in the film Forbidden Planet or R2D2 and C3PO from the Star Wars series), sometimes hostile. The first real working robot, however, bore no resemblance to the humanoid robots beloved of science fiction. This was Unimate, developed by the Unimation (Universal Automation) company in the US, which was specifically founded to manufacture robots for industry. Unimate, which entered service on a General Motors assembly line in 1961, was the forerunner of all today's industrial robots and, being in the form of a large mechanical arm, also set the format most such robots still follow.

Antipoaching patrols like this team at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya may soon use AI technology to stay one step ahead of criminals. Poachers kill an estimated 96 African elephants every day, causing conservationists to warn that the iconic animals could disappear in our lifetime if the tide doesn't turn. But now scientists hope a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool could help wildlife officials get a leg up against poachers. PAWS, which stands for Protection Assistant for Wildlife Security, is a newly developed AI that takes data about previous poaching activities and outputs routes for patrols based on where poaching is likely to occur. These routes are also randomized to keep poachers from learning patrol patterns.

I teach one of the world's most popular MOOCs (massive online open courses), "Learning How to Learn," with neuroscientist Terrence J. Sejnowski, the Francis Crick Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. The course draws on neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and education to explain how our brains absorb and process information, so we can all be better students. Since it launched on the website Coursera in August of 2014, nearly 1 million students from over 200 countries have enrolled in our class. We've had cardiologists, engineers, lawyers, linguists, 12-year-olds, and war refugees in Sudan take the course. We get emails like this one that recently arrived: "I'll keep it short. I've recently completed your MOOC and it has already changed my life in ways you cannot imagine. I just turned 29, am in the middle of a career change to computer science, and I've never been more excited to learn."

Artificial Life Researcher; Creator of Lucy, a Robot Babay Orangutan; Author, Creation: Life and How to Make It. Physicist, Universite' de la Mediterrane' (Marseille, France); Author: What is time?

"I can't wait to push some paper today!" The mind-numbing work to keep the wheels of commerce rolling--filling out invoices, deciphering hand-written memos, processing insurance claims--can be a real grind. It's been that way since the time when Ebenezer Scrooge refused to provide another lump of coal to help warm overworked clerk Bob Cratchit. Lacking frailty of mind and body, artificial intelligence for business process automation appears to be a no-brainer. In fact, a number of companies are employing AI techniques such as machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing to automate business processes.

They have been responsible for innumerable deaths in the Middle East during the last decade and, if Amazon has its way, will deliver millions of toasters, gift sets and novels in the future. But recently drones have begun to fulfil a less utilitarian kind of role: competition in the nascent world of futuristic motorsports. A confluence of technological advances has made drone racing possible. A minuscule camera, mounted on the drone's nose, allows the pilot, as competitors are luxuriously titled, to control the vehicle through virtual reality-style goggles, as if perched in its tiny cockpit. With powerful lithium batteries, the size of which dictates the speed class of the drone, these machines, which are typically the size of a box of tissues, can reach speeds in excess of 120mph.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has captured the attention of C-suite executives across all industries and is poised to transform businesses in ways we've never seen since the impact of computer technology in the late 20th century. We are already seeing venture capitalists funding AI start-ups at a rapid pace. Technology companies are also moving swiftly to create and capture value in this emerging area. High-profile acquisitions by Google, Apple and Facebook are piquing interest in Artificial Intelligence technologies such as robotics, expert systems, computer vision, speech, gesture and facial recognition. Companies are creating new research labs devoted to innovating with these technologies. In Africa, AI has a strong role to play.

In America, 60 percent of digital media consumption now occurs on mobile or tablet devices instead of desktop computers. As people and technology have become increasingly mobile, so have their efforts to find love and sex. According to app analytics website AppAnnie, the dating application Tinder is one of the most popular tools to pursue modern romance and has been ranked as the most downloaded lifestyle app in America for nearly two years. As a social psychologist, I've focused my research on exploring why Tinder – as one of my interview participants put it – is so'evilly satisfying.' A researcher set out to explore why Tinder is so'evilly satisfying' and conducted a study with singles who use the app and those who do not A researcher from the University of Hawaii conducted a survey with a group of Tinder users and singles who do not use the app.

Digital health startups looking to solve the pharma industry's problems will be heartened to hear that German life sciences company Bayer is bringing its Grants4Apps accelerator program to San Francisco. That announcement came from Dirk Schapeler, head of Bayer's Lifescience iHub, who was speaking at the Wearable Tech Digital Health Neurotech Silicon Valley conference at Stanford University, Tuesday. Bayer's Lifescience iHub is based in Mountain View, California, and is aimed at infusing the digital component in all of Bayer's businesses including pharmaceuticals through collaboration with tech companies. As such the company is interested in sensors, AI, machine learning and digital apps. Grant4Apps is Bayer's accelerator for digital health startups worldwide.