Microsoft this week announced its facial-recognition system is now more accurate in identifying people of color, touting its progress at tackling one of the technology's biggest biases. But critics, citing Microsoft's work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, quickly seized on how that improved technology might be used. The agency contracts with Microsoft for a set of cloud-computing tools that the tech giant says is largely limited to office work, but which can also include face recognition. Columbia University professor Alondra Nelson tweeted, "We must stop confusing'inclusion' in more'diverse' surveillance systems with justice and equality." Today's facial-recognition systems more often misidentify people of color because of a long-running data problem: The massive sets of facial images they train on skew heavily toward white men.

The system, which involves sending information to a centralized computer linked to the city's transport networks, is part of a trial by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. The Chinese tech giant is hoping to use its cloud and data systems to tackle issues hobbling China's healthcare system like snarled city traffic, long patient queues and a lack of doctors.

Each day, Mark Koh and his team at Kuala Lumpur-based data training & content moderation company Supahands help their clients test the limits of the question'how much data is too much data?' Data drives innovation, but it is only valuable if it is assigned a purpose, and it is only usable if it is organized to serve that purpose. As companies continue to move toward digitization and automation, and more data is at their disposal than ever before, the amount of data requiring cleaning, tagging, and categorizing has exploded. Amazon and Google are two examples of companies that have set themselves apart through data-driven innovation, but many organizations don't have the scale, time or expertise to understand and make use of their data with the speed and accuracy needed to take full advantage of it. That's where Supahands comes in. Headquartered amidst the hustle-and-bustle and congestion of Malaysia's capital city, the Supahands team aims to create a less polluted data universe.

The Toyota e-Palette, an autonomous vehicle designed for multiple business purposes such as driverless stores, is displayed at CES 2018 in Las Vegas. Up until several years ago, car companies were, well, car companies. Except for firms like Honda, Suzuki and BMW who make cars and motorcycles, all other manufacturers focused their attention on building safer, more efficient cars and crossovers. To meet the needs of a rapidly changing society with a hunger for cleaner, more efficient, more connected transport systems, firms like Toyota and Honda are making strategic diversions from their recent paths. At last January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Toyota announced its e-Palette concept, an autonomous, flexible, electric vehicle concept that can be tailored to various needs and lifestyles.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) are about to launch AI in Finance (AIF), the first online programme for finance professionals. Despite the growing hype around Artificial Intelligence (AI), many finance professionals are still unfamiliar with the impact it will have on their industry. Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), one of Singapore's leading institutes of higher learning, is partnering with London-based Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE) to launch the first online course to showcase AI applications and use cases in the banking industry. "AI is a technological driving force that no industry can ignore. Some studies estimate that about 50 per cent of today's tasks would be assisted by AI in the next 20 years. With Singapore and London gaining recognition as leading fintech hubs of the world, it is timely for NP and CFTE to launch an industry-led course that provides finance professionals and others a practical guide to AI." "You will also see that a lot more can be automated in future. If you want to keep your job, you need to question both what your role will be in this automated future, and what impact artificial intelligence will have on your area of the business."

"Nothing will affect the future of humanity more than digital super-intelligence." Machines that can "think" like humans and simulate intelligent behaviors...it's the stuff of science fiction, but also of your most recent hotel stay or restaurant experience. Chatbots, robotics, voice-enabled devices and other artificial intelligence (AI) -driven technologies are rapidly being leveraged by hotels and restaurants of all sizes to enhance the guest experience. In doing so, they are part of a broader trend. Hospitality Technology's own research indicates as much.

AI, computational linguistics, computational vision, machine learning, and natural language processing skills receive some of the most eye-popping equity premiums. The following is a guest post by Kyle Holm (Partner, Pre-IPO Compensation Practice Leader at Radford) and Kelsey Owen (Director, Pre-IPO Compensation Practice at Radford). The race to build computers that act, see, speak, and think like humans is as competitive as ever. While some worry that artificial intelligence (AI) will someday lead to robots rampaging their way to world domination, AI-related startups have not stopped attracting intense interest from talent and capital. Just weeks ago, China-based AI startup SenseTime Group received one of the largest venture capital investment in the AI space -- a $600M Series C investment led by Alibaba.

Fully understanding consumer behaviour can be very challenging for marketers. In light of recent high-profile cases of personal data misuse, customers have been increasingly sceptical about giving up their personal data, preferring to share content privately through messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Snapchat or Messenger. At the same time, GDPR regulations mean businesses are unable to use vast quantities of data they collect on customers without their express permission. This means that, rather than offering personalisation, marketers have to rely on creating "personas" – types of customers they can target who don't require personally identifiable information. Coupled with this, they are increasingly turning to the latest augmented or artificial intelligence technologies to build a better picture of consumers and how they are likely to behave in their decision making. One company at the forefront of the AI revolution, IBM, has reinvented its offerings over the course of a century.

Everest Group, a leading consulting and research firm, has placed Genpact (NYSE: G), a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation, in its Leader's quadrant in the 2018 PEAK MatrixTM for Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance service providers. Genpact achieved the greatest positive year-on-year movement on the PEAK Matrix, and also received a Star Performer designation. The report evaluates 18 P&C insurance industry service providers in terms of vision, capability, market impact, and other areas. Everest Group emphasizes Genpact's digital technology investments, including Genpact Cora, its artificial intelligence (AI)-based platform, and the company's recent strategic P&C sector acquisitions. In the past year, Genpact has acquired BrightClaim, National Vendor, and OnSource, which enhance Genpact's end-to-end claims management capabilities.

Every time Marjorie recounts a story to her husband Walter, his refrain isn't, "I remember that now." Instead it's, "I'll remember that now." That shift from present to future tense is pivotal because he cannot recall those moments from their marriage – flags in the park, the death of their son, what bad film was playing when he proposed – because he was never there. Walter is Walter Prime, a sophisticated AI serving as Marjorie's companion. The real Walter (Jon Hamm) has been dead for decades, while 86-year-old Marjorie (Five Easy Pieces' Lois Smith) is going senile.