Japan has a new robot cafe where customers can enjoy coffee brewed and served by a robot barista. The robot named Sawyer debuted this week at Henna Cafe in Tokyo's downtown business and shopping district of Shibuya. The shop's name in Japanese means "strange cafe." The single-armed robot scans a ticket purchased from a vending machine and greets the customer. "Would you care for a delicious coffee?" the barista, with a screen showing a pair of cartoon eyes, asks in a flat tone.

At a mere 23 years old, Japan's latest news anchor would make her parents proud -- if she had any. Erica, a lifelike android designed to look like a 23-year-old woman, may soon become a TV news anchor in Japan, the Wall Street Journal reported. According to Hiroshi Ishiguro, director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka Universityand Erica's creator, the android will replace a human news anchor on the airwaves as soon as April, the Daily Mail said. Erica the android may be well suited for this desk job. For starters, she can capably recite scripted writing and sit in a chair, making her about as qualified for television as most humans.

Didi, the company that purchased the rights to Uber in China, plans to build an electric, autonomous ride-sharing service with Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi and other automakers. The two companies are currently in the exploration stages, but Renault said it will launch "robo-vehicle ride-hailing services" with Didi as part of its Alliance 2022 strategic plan. Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi previously announced that it will build 12 pure EVs that share platforms and components, along with another 40 autonomous cars. As part of that plan, it will supply Didi with autonomous EVs for its ride-hailing program, according to Reuters. "This cooperation fits with the alliance's expansion in vehicle electrification, autonomy, connectivity and new mobility services," Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Senior VP Ogi Redzic said in a statement.

NITI Aayog, the government's premier policy-making body, is exploring the use of blockchain and AI technologies in areas such as education, health, and agriculture. Having completed three years since its formation, the NITI Aayog is now working towards the adoption of AI and Blockchain in the areas of governance as it believes that such technologies will result in significant benefits if deployed in these areas among others. In a note highlighting its achievements in the last three years, NITI Aayog said it "is working on a strategy paper for blockchain in India which will outline use cases as well as map out the schemes of Government of India that stand to benefit from the utilisation of the technology." A senior official at the Aayog, who did not wish to be identified, stated, "It is like a distributed ledger. Suppose, you have made 50000 photocopies of a book and you make some change in the original book, then the blockchain technique allows you to replicate the change in all the copies by changing just the original book. We are still exploring and believe this technology can have potentially beneficial uses in the areas of education, health, social sector etc."

An Associated Press investigation finds that Russian cyber spies exploiting a national vulnerability in cybersecurity are trying to break into the emails of scores of people working on military drone technology.

BEIJING--As hundreds of millions of Chinese begin traveling for the Lunar New Year holiday, police are showing off a new addition to their crowd-surveillance toolbox: mobile facial-recognition units mounted on eyeglasses. China is already a global leader in deploying cutting-edge surveillance technologies based on artificial intelligence. The mobile devices could expand the reach of that surveillance, allowing authorities to peer into places that fixed cameras aren't scanning, and to respond more quickly. The devices, released late last year, were touted in state media this week as a means to help authorities during times such as the annual Lunar New Year migration that begins next week, when Chinese travelers flood train stations and airports. The eyeglass-mounted camera is equipped with facial-recognition technology capable of "highly effective screening" of crowds for fugitives traveling under false pretenses, the official People's Daily newspaper reported Monday.

BEIJING – The newest use of facial recognition technology has drawn concerns among human rights groups, with some Chinese police sporting high-tech sunglasses that can spot suspects in a crowded train station. In a scene reminiscent of the dystopian sci-fi TV show "Black Mirror," officers in the central city of Zhengzhou are wearing the digital shades amid the crush of travelers heading home during Chinese New Year, the busiest time for the country's transit system. Quoting the city police department, the state-owned People's Daily reported that so far the technology has allowed police to nab seven suspects accused of crimes ranging from human trafficking to hit-and-runs, as well as another 26 people who were using fake IDs. The system is part of China's efforts to build a digital surveillance system able to use a variety of biometric data -- such as photos, iris scans and fingerprints -- to keep close tabs on the movements of the entire population. The rapid development of the technology has triggered a demand for commercial applications as well, with gyms, restaurants and even public toilets getting in on the facial-recognition game. The special glasses are being used by four officers positioned at entrances to Zhengzhou's east station.

The demand for talent that can work on artificial intelligence and its applications is set to spike as it becomes pervasive in industries ranging from automotive to retail. Tech giants are fighting over AI talent, often paying anywhere between $300,000- $500,000 for their skills. It's still early days but in Bengaluru, which led the charge during the outsourcing boom, some early moves are being made to ready talent for the fourth industrial revolution-- one where machines and software meld into one. Can India supply that talent? Last week we wrote about how the country is moving to address the AI talent supply gap.

Artificial intelligence has made some great developments toward speeding up cancer diagnosis so far in 2017. Last month it was announced that AI from Sophia Genetics was helping to accelerate patient diagnosis across Latin America. Earlier this year researchers at Stanford University developed a deep learning algorithm that can analyse skin cancer as accurately as a human doctor. Now, Israel-based company, Medial EarlySign has announced the ability of its AI tool to identify the top 1% at highest risk of undiagnosed colorectal cancer (CRC). The machine learning developer announced the first-year results of its implementation with Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), for ColonFlag, a tool developed in collaboration with MHS to identify individuals with a high probability of having CRC.

We've talked to hundreds of companies about AI. Almost all recognize that AI represents both great opportunities and tremendous threats. Unfortunately most are still struggling to define specific use cases in their environment. "We know we need machine learning but we're not sure where to start." "We have a bunch of ideas but haven't turned them into business plans."