Most network-based speech recognition methods are based on the assumption that the labels of two adjacent speech samples in the network are likely to be the same. However, assuming the pairwise relationship between speech samples is not complete. The information a group of speech samples that show very similar patterns and tend to have similar labels is missed. The natural way overcoming the information loss of the above assumption is to represent the feature data of speech samples as the hypergraph. Thus, in this paper, the three un-normalized, random walk, and symmetric normalized hypergraph Laplacian based semi-supervised learning methods applied to hypergraph constructed from the feature data of speech samples in order to predict the labels of speech samples are introduced. Experiment results show that the sensitivity performance measures of these three hypergraph Laplacian based semi-supervised learning methods are greater than the sensitivity performance measures of the Hidden Markov Model method (the current state of the art method applied to speech recognition problem) and graph based semi-supervised learning methods (i.e. the current state of the art network-based method for classification problems) applied to network created from the feature data of speech samples.

Abstract--Differential evolution is the conventional algorithm with the fastest convergence speed, but it may be trapped local optimal solution easily, so many researchers devote themselves into improve DE. Whale swarm algorithm (WSA) is a new algorithm with niching strategy we proposed previously, it's featured with simple mutation strategy and powerful global search capability, but for functions with high dimensions, it converges slower than conventional algorithms. Based on this fact, we proposed a new DE algorithm, called DE with nearest & better option (NbDE). In order to evaluate the performance of NbDE, we compare NbDE with several meta-heuristic algorithms in nine classical benchmark functions with different dimensions. The result have shown that NbDE outperforms other algorithms in convergence speed and accuracy.

INSURERS have seen many changes in recent years, including new competition, the emergence of insurtechs, and shifting consumer demands for new products and/or services. Digital is the most common top business priority for insurance CIOs in 2018 and 2019, according to Gartner's 2019 CIO Agenda for the insurance industry. For the first time, this has moved to the top of the list, outranking revenue and business growth in focus. "The industry continues to transform as companies begin to embrace more advanced stages of digital maturity," said Gartner Managing VP Juergen Weiss in an exclusive interview with Tech Wire Asia. This journey includes improving customer experiences, building out ecosystems, establishing enterprise intelligence through improved data and analytics, and adopting an open innovation platform that relies more on ecosystem partners.

The AI humanoid, 'Sophia' (see above), has been making a worldwide tour on behalf of her creator, Hanson Robotics of Hong Kong, and made an unexpected stop to the Caucasus this week. The Caucasus stop meant granting the world's first ever visa granted to a robot, a process that took just two minutes thanks to some smart technology. Sophia's visit was organized by UN public service award winner ASAN (Azerbaijan Service and Assessment Network) xidmet, a government agency in Azerbaijan; which has been reducing the bureaucracy by creating one-stop centres for delivering services to the public. The agency recently took over all the country's e-government initiatives - no mean feat although in Azerbaijani, the word "asan" means easy. To underscore its electronic kinship with Sophia, and its prowess at delivering e-government services, ASAN issued her an electronic visa upon her arrival at Baku International Airport in the nation's capital.

As the marketing manager of Burger King, Marcelo Pascoa, explained to AdWeek's website, the idea was to attract the attention of the viewers by surprising them with something obviously far-fetched, but still current and fun: "AI, bot, machine learning, algorithms for deep learning, blockchain and more: these are all topics that we face in assessing the future of marketing. But we must avoid getting lost in the sea of technological innovations and fashionable words, forgetting what really matters. And this is the idea. Artificial intelligence can not replace the great creative ideas that come to mind to real people. The Burger King commercials, deceitful and apparently harmless, capture a central aspect in our relationship with the new complicated technologies and the still very blurred outlines, on which it is difficult to get an idea. In this sense, AI is an exemplary case: we are talking about it continuously and this is what the largest investments in the Silicon Valley and in China are focusing on, yet there is still a big difference between what we read in the press releases that celebrate the great progress achieved by artificial intelligence systems and our daily experiences.

To accommodate the growing number of startups and international players moving into the city, Beijing officials announced a plan to build a $2.12bn AI development park in the west of the city. Set to house up to 400 businesses, the AI park will have an estimated output of CNY50bn ($7.19bn). According to Chinese news agency Xinhua, project developer Zhongguancun Development Group will partner with foreign universities to build a national-level AI lab in the area. Xinhua revealed that the new park would aim to attract enterprises working in the areas of cloud computing, big data, deep learning and biometric identification.

ABB's new 75,000-square-foot factory will use software meant to allow people and robots to work safely in close proximity, the company said, adding its YuMi robots -- designed to work side-by-side with people -- will also be deployed on many of the small parts assembly tasks needed to manufacture an ABB robot.

A.I.CKATHON is back for its second year. The signature Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hackathon in Malaysia is a 48-hour student-oriented hackathon. Supported by MDEC and commercial companies like Dell EMC and Intel, the event aims to promote the latest tools and technologies for AI development with academic and industrial AI mentorship. Happening from November 16th to the 18th, the University of Malaya organised event will see 60 teams of students and tech enthusiasts from local universities come together for the hackathon. Students from universities in the Southeast Asia region are invited to join in as well.

Japan Post Co. has said that it will start test deliveries using a drone between post offices in Fukushima Prefecture. The transport ministry on Friday approved an application by the company for flying a drone without an operator watching the airborne device or an assistant who monitors its movements. In past test flights, operators flew drones with assistants checking the movements of the devices by eye. This time, flights will be conducted without such an assistant for the first time. The mail delivery arm of Japan Post Holdings Co. is expected to start the test flights early next month.

Microsoft said on Friday that it would sell the military and intelligence agencies whatever advanced technologies they needed "to build a strong defense," just months after Google told the Pentagon it would refuse to provide artificial intelligence products that could build more accurate drones or compete with China for next-generation weapons. The announcement -- made quietly in a small, town-hall-style meeting with the software giant's leadership and employees on Thursday, then published on a blog on Friday afternoon -- starkly illustrated the radically different paths these leading American technology companies are taking as they struggle with their role in creating a new generation of cyberweapons to help, and perhaps someday replace, American warriors. But the divergent paths also underscore concerns inside the American defense and intelligence establishments about how the United States will take on a rising China. In the past two years, the Chinese government has set goals for dominance in the next decade in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other technologies that it believes will allow its military and intelligence agencies to surpass those of the United States. Pentagon officials have questioned how committed domestic technology companies are to keeping the country on the leading edge, the way Raytheon, Boeing, IBM and McDonnell Douglas did during the Cold War.