This paper describes a novel text-to-speech (TTS) technique based on deep convolutional neural networks (CNN), without any recurrent units. Recurrent neural network (RNN) has been a standard technique to model sequential data recently, and this technique has been used in some cutting-edge neural TTS techniques. However, training RNN component often requires a very powerful computer, or very long time typically several days or weeks. Recent other studies, on the other hand, have shown that CNN-based sequence synthesis can be much faster than RNN-based techniques, because of high parallelizability. The objective of this paper is to show an alternative neural TTS system, based only on CNN, that can alleviate these economic costs of training. In our experiment, the proposed Deep Convolutional TTS can be sufficiently trained only in a night (15 hours), using an ordinary gaming PC equipped with two GPUs, while the quality of the synthesized speech was almost acceptable.

The scene around the flooded Whitehill Yeo pit in Devon, UK, resembles a lunar landscape. Until it was abandoned just a few years ago, an endless stream of diesel trucks carried china clay out of the mine seven days a week. But don't be fooled by the silence: this is very much an active site. It's just that all the excavation is happening deep beneath the placid waters. This is a test bed, the first, for a new type of mining by underwater robots.

Governments around the world are beginning to understand the potential and importance of artificial intelligence (AI). International acceptance has spread with the implementation of AI regulations, like what has been created in Germany. For others, like the U.S., incorporating AI begins with recommendations on how to move forward with the tech. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), however, the government took AI adoption one step further by installing a minister in-charge of AI. The UAE's first State Minister for Artificial Intelligence is 27-year-old Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama.

Industry has used robots for decades. They were once confined to safety cages in manufacturing facilities, programmed to perform one task perfectly, over and over again. Their purpose was to make high volumes of goods more quickly and cheaply. But advances in a number of technologies are springing robots from their cages, liberating them to work in new roles, in new industries, and with new benefits. Robots are changing far more than manufacturing--in industries ranging from retail to financial services, they are clambering onto the agendas of strategy, marketing, customer experience, and product leaders.

Russian president Vladimir Putin wanted world leaders to have regulations in store for superhuman soldiers in the future in case they turn in to mass killers who feel no pain or fear, The Express reported Monday. The statement came after he warned attendees of the "World Festival of Youth and Students" Saturday. Genetically-modified superhuman soldiers are a possible danger, because scientists are close to breaking the genetic code. "He can be a genius mathematician, a brilliant musician or a soldier, a man who can fight without fear, compassion, regret or pain," Putin said in his speech for the festival's closing ceremony, according to Express. "What I have just described might be worse than a nuclear bomb," Putin proclaimed, in front of the 20,000 young women and men attending the festival, which was held in the Olympic Park in Sochi.

Apple sees its mobile devices as a major platform for artificial intelligence in the future, Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams said on Monday. Later this week, Apple aapl is set to begin taking pre-orders for its new smartphone, the iPhone X--which starts at $999 and uses artificial intelligence (AI) features embedded in the company's latest A11 chips. The phone promises new facial recognition features such as Face ID that uses a mathematical model of a person's face to allow the user to sign on to their phones or pay for goods with a steady glance at their phones. "We think that the frameworks that we've got, the'neural engines' we've put in the phone, in the watch … we do view that as a huge piece of the future, we believe these frameworks will allow developers to create apps that will do more and more in this space, so we think the phone is a major platform," Williams said. He was speaking at top chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's 30th anniversary celebration in Taipei, which was attended by global tech executives.

Genetically-modified superhuman soldiers'worse than a nuclear bomb' could soon become a reality, according to Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Speaking at a youth festival this week, Putin claimed that an army of trained killers could be created if scientists play with man's genetic code. Putin suggested that world leaders should agree on strict regulation to prevent the creation of mass-killing soldiers who feel no pain or fear. Genetically-modified super soldiers'worse than a nuclear bomb' could soon become a reality, according to Russian President, Vladimir Putin Putin warned that messing with the genetic code could have serious consequences. He said: 'One may imagine that a man can create a man not only theoretically but also practically.

India's most valuable bank, HDFC Bank, is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) at its core by offering conversational interfaces, such as humanoids and chatbots, to transform the customer experience. In the six months since she joined HDFC Bank, Eva has had over 1.2 million conversations addressing nearly 2.7 million customer queries. In an environment where the country's biggest and most competitive banks are jostling to acquire modern customers, Eva is just what the bank's country head of digital banking, Nitin Chugh, had asked for. Earlier this month, Eva also became India's largest banking chatbot. Eva, which stands for electronic virtual assistant, combines natural language processing and artificial intelligence to offer an almost human-like customer experience for users.

China and the US are becoming the world's biggest rivals in artificial intelligence: it's Luke vs Darth Vader, Alien vs Predator, Rocky vs Ivan Drago. The Chinese government's pivot to become the leader in this technology has created plenty of hype, but how are China's ambitious AI aspirations playing out on the ground? Research by startup database IT Juzi and Tencent News offers a new view of China's AI industry's strengths and weaknesses. The US is currently the definite champion in AI development, according to the data. There are 1.82 times more American AI companies than Chinese.

SEOUL – The constant missile and nuclear threats from South Korea's belligerent northern neighbor have racked regional tensions sky-high, but they are a boon for the country's burgeoning defense industry. South Korea has been one of the world's largest importers of military equipment and technology for decades -- mostly from the U.S. -- but in recent years its domestic sector has grown rapidly. Arms exports have soared tenfold in a decade, from just $253 million in 2006 to $2.5 billion last year, according to government data. The country's missiles, howitzers, submarines and warplanes are especially popular in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. Once a largely agricultural backwater devastated by war, South Korea now has companies that have become world leaders in fields ranging from shipbuilding to smartphones, and its arms manufacturers are starting to follow suit.