The competition between China and the US in AI development is tricky to quantify. While we do have some hard numbers, even they are open to interpretation. The latest comes from technology analysts CB Insights, which reports that China has overtaken the US in the funding of AI startups. The country accounted for 48 percent of the world's total AI startup funding in 2017, compared to 38 percent for the US. In terms of the volume of individual deals, the country only accounts for 9 percent of the total, while the US leads in both the total number of AI startups and total funding overall.

One quarter of customer service and support operations will integrate chatbot technology – otherwise known as virtual customer assistant (VCA), across engagement channels by 2020, up from less than 2% last year, says analyst firm Gartner. According to research by Gartner, organizations report a reduction of up to 70 percent in call, chat or email inquiries after implementing a VCA. They also report increased customer satisfaction and a 33% saving per voice engagement. And organizations realize this, with more than half of those investing in VCAs doing so for customer service to tap into the advantages of automated self-service and the ability to escalate to a human agent in complex situations. "As more customers engage on digital channels, VCAs are being implemented for handling customer requests on websites, mobile apps, consumer messaging apps and social networks. This is underpinned by improvements in natural-language processing, machine learning and intent-matching capabilities," said Gene Alvarez, managing vice president at Gartner at the Gartner Customer Experience Summit in Tokyo earlier this week.

Nissan's self-driving taxi service is ready for its first passengers. The firm will begin testing the service, dubbed'Easy Ride', in Japan next week ahead of launching it commercially in 2020. Working alongside Tokyo-based mobile developer DeNA, the service will ferry passengers around a 2.8 mile stretch of Yokohama. Nissan has admitted the technology is not perfect and the cars would crash without occasional human intervention. However, the latest development is a challenge to ride-hailing companies such as Uber who are hoping to develop their own driverless taxi service.

The increase in how technology affects our day to day lives can be seen by everyone. From personal assistant tools like Siri, ordering anything at the touch of a button and yes, even self-checkouts… If you consider the capabilities of your mobile phone compared to your first, you can see how quickly things can change! Get our free ebook on how the Soviet Union became Putin's Russia. According to Oxford University it is believed that "47% of the human workforce will be replaced by 2035" - A staggering number! What job roles will still be around for humans in the future?

A school in China has started a new course to teach its students how to play video games as a future profession. The school hopes the £1,470-per-year'eSports and Management' course could help ambitious teenagers cash in on China's £116 million digital gaming industry. During the first year of the course, the students in their teens and early 20s spend 50 per cent of their time gaming and the rest on study'theory lessons' to ensure they would succeed in the industry. Teenagers majoring in'eSports and Management' listen to teacher Yang Xiao explain game techniques at the school The Lanxiang Technical School, situated in the city of Jinan in eastern China, launched its eSports course last September and has attracted 50 students in its inaugural year. 'At first, many parents thought it was just about playing video games,' school director Rong Lanxiang, told AFP. 'In fact, it's not the case, eSport is developing to a very high degree and it's become an economic growth driver.'

Psychologists have create a creepy machine that can peer into your mind's eye with incredible accuracy. Their AI studies electrical signals in the brain to recreate faces being looked at by volunteers. It could provide a means of communication for people who are unable to talk, as well as the development of prosthetics controlled by thoughts. The finding also opens the door to strange future scenarios, such as those portrayed in the series'Black Mirror', where anyone can record and playback their memories. Psychologists have create a creepy machine that can peer into your mind's eye with incredible accuracy.

Nissan will start testing its self-driving taxi service Easy Ride in a few days in hopes of launching it in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The automaker and Tokyo-based mobile developer DeNA will begin ferrying passengers in Yokohama on March 5th. Nissan's autonomous cars will only be able to drive them along a set route, a 2.8-mile-long stretch of road between Nissan's HQ and the Yokohama World Porters shopping center. But they'll at least be able to give the Easy Ride app's features a try during their trip. Passengers will be able to tell the app via text or voice what activity they want to do while in the area.

Google is my favorite giant tech company. Unlike Apple, it has preserved a broadly innovative spirit, pursuing lots of ideas that have no direct link to its existing revenue model. Unlike Microsoft, it understands people well enough to give them consistently comfortable interfaces, and it keeps the interfaces pretty glitch-free. And unlike Facebook, it has never treated users, literally, like laboratory rats. Robert Wright (@robertwrighter) is an Ideas contributor for WIRED and the author of Nonzero, The Moral Animal, The Evolution of God, and, most recently, Why Buddhism Is True. He cofounded and runs bloggingheads.tv and meaningoflife.tv, and he founded and publishes The Mindful Resistance Newsletter.

Artificial intelligence startups worldwide raised a record $15.2 billion in 2017, according to American research firm CB Insights. Chinese businesses accounted for 48% of the total, up from just 11.6% in 2016. The U.S. placed second with 38%.

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