Today's leading minds talk AI with host Byron Reese In this episode, Byron and David discuss AI, jobs, and human productivity. Today's leading minds talk AI with host Byron Reese Byron Reese: This is Voices in AI brought to you by GigaOm, I'm Byron Reese. Today our guest is David Barrett. He is both the founder and the CEO of Expensify. He started programming when he was 6 and has been at it as his primary activity ever since, except for a brief hiatus for world travel, some technical writing, a little project management, and then founding and running Expensify. Welcome to the show, David. David Barrett: It's great of you to have me, thank you. Let's talk about artificial intelligence, what do you think it is? How would you define it? I guess I would say that AI is best defined as a feature, not as a technology. It's the experience that the user has and sort of the experience of viewing of something as being intelligent, and how it's actually implemented behind the scenes. I think people spend way too much time and energy on [it], and forget sort of about the experience that the person actually has with it. So you're saying, if you interact with something and it seems intelligent, then that's artificial intelligence? That's sort of the whole basis of the Turing test, I think, is not based upon what is behind the curtain but rather what's experienced in front of the curtain. Okay, let me ask a different question then– and I'm not going to drag you through a bunch of semantics. But what is intelligence, then? I'll start out by saying it's a term that does not have a consensus definition, so it's kind of like you can't be wrong, no matter what you say. Yeah, I think the best one I've heard is something that sort of surprises you.

Give us your feedback Thank you for your feedback. Parker's first day at work at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright in Australia involved 1,000 conversations with potential clients. Even the most super-energetic young lawyer would normally manage only a fraction of that but Parker is, of course, a chatbot -- a computer program that simulates human conversation. The new recruit is a prime example of how law firms in Asia-Pacific are experimenting with artificial intelligence to improve efficiency. Chatbots, which use AI to answer simple questions from people wanting to learn more about a subject, are already being adopted in industries ranging from banking to medicine.

BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif.--Six decades after the U-2 flew its first mission, the military is trying to harness artificial-intelligence technology to enhance the venerable spy plane's combat reconnaissance capabilities. U.S. Air Force reconnaissance experts have enlisted Stanford University engineering and business students to develop advanced computer programs to analyze the old-style Kodak film currently used by U-2s over Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, Syria and other hot zones. If successful, computers would quickly scan miles of U-2 film and count cars, airplanes, motorcycles, buildings and even individual people, tasks now performed painstakingly by analysts using eye loupes and illuminated screens. "Our analysts are already saturated with data--too much imagery, too few analysts, and too little time," says U.S. Air Force Col. Jason Brown, commander of the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing. "Imagine if an algorithm could sweep through the data to cue analysts on potential areas of concern. Airmen could spend less time searching and more time making sense of the things they see."

SUPERCOMPUTERS usually fill entire rooms. But the one on the fifth floor of an office building in the centre of Bristol fits in an average-sized drawer. Its 16 processors punch more than 1,600 teraflops, a measure of computer performance. This puts the machine among the world's 100 fastest, at least when solving certain artificial-intelligence (AI) applications, such as recognising speech and images. The computer's processors, developed by Graphcore, a startup, are tangible proof that AI has made chipmaking exciting again.

We are at a pivotal moment in technical advancements, where waves of digital innovation are changing how we work, play, travel, communicate, dine, interact and even think. The Internet of Things (IoT) world may be exciting, but there are serious technical challenges that need to be addressed, especially by developers. In this handbook, learn how to meet the security, analytics, and testing requirements for IoT applications. You forgot to provide an Email Address. This email address doesn't appear to be valid. This email address is already registered.

A new drone surveillance system can spot when someone in a crowd is acting violently. It uses artificial intelligence and is going to be tested at a university festival in India later this year. The system assesses the way each person in a crowd is standing via two cameras on the drone. To continue reading this premium article, subscribe for unlimited access. Existing subscribers, please log in with your email address to link your account access.

By 2023, the Singapore government aims to have all its public officers equipped with basic digital literacy. This will see 20,000 public officers being trained in data analytics and data science, up from 10,000 it announced previously according to multiple media reports. Meanwhile, to further strengthen integration between policy, operations and technology, chief digital strategy officers have also been appointed to lead and implement digitalisation plans within their ministries and respective agencies. These chief digital strategy officers will be paired with chief information officers, who will support them from a technical perspective, according to the recently released Digital Government Blueprint (DGB). At the middle management and working levels, the Singapore government also looks to help policy and operations officers understand the opportunities which technologies may offer.

Video: Yandex's autonomous car hits Moscow's streets. Transportation is about to get a technology-driven reboot. The details are still taking shape, but future transport systems will certainly be connected, data-driven and highly automated. With harsh winters, drivers who constantly switch lanes, traffic jams and occasional crashes, the Russian capital of Moscow provides a challenging setting for testing autonomous cars. "In Moscow, the guys behind you honk the horn even before the traffic lights turn green," says Dmitry Polishchuk, head of Yandex's driverless car project.

Westworld is a hell of a show, but the sense of dread it elicits is nothing new. Pygmalion sculpted a woman who came to life. Same goes with the Golem, only with mud. The amalgamated Frankenstein jolted awake to get all murderous. Humans creating life in their own image is a cornerstone of the realm of fiction.

We've got some simple tips you can take to keep Amazon's Alexa from eavesdropping into your conversations and potentially sharing them. Amazon shipping horror stories put the onus on the shopper to be careful when buying. For most Amazon shoppers, the experience is likely a seamless one: you search for a product, perhaps read reviews and see related items, and if you're an Amazon Prime member, you'll likely have it delivered quickly. It should be that simple – especially when Amazon's $178 billion in annual sales rank the company as the largest Internet retailer and marketplace in the world. Alas, shopping on Amazon doesn't always go smoothly.