A brief sharing on what David has learnt (mainly focused on Chatbot) during the Botathon event. The Botathon is a 2 day informal and cozy hackathon on building Bots for Facebook Messenger / Slack / WeChat / Pipedrive and more.

Advancement in computers and technology have been incredibly positive for music creators around the globe. You can learn how to produce music on YouTube, purchase the same sample libraries as your favorite composers and create epic scores from your laptop, anywhere in the world. As a result, there are more music producers than ever. Computers helping humans create original music has become today's standard, but there are several companies looking to turn the tables on this process. Computer-generated songs are a fast-growing sector of the industry, looking to disrupt creation, licensing and access for musicians and non-musicians alike.

Construction sites in Japan are enjoying a wave of automation amid an increasing shortage of laborers, with the introduction of robots to do heavy lifting and drones that instantly collect aerial data. As the industry ages along with the country's graying society, construction companies are forced to look for ways to boost productivity and efficiency. According to the Japan Federation of Construction Contractors, there will be 1.28 million fewer construction workers by fiscal 2025 compared with fiscal 2014. In 2015, some 30 percent of all construction workers were aged over 55, while those below 29 accounted for only about 10 percent, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. "We will probably have a total of 900,000 workers joining the industry within the next 10 years, but the 300,000 shortage will need to be covered by boosting productivity," said Atsushi Fujino, a spokesman at major construction firm Kajima Corp. "That's why we are all scrambling for a solution."

The Osaka-based venture behind a smartphone app that allows people to register warranty certificates and order repairs for appliances online has branched out to car and housing information while flagging the future use of artificial intelligence. Warrantee Inc., which has grown to tens of thousands of users since it was launched in 2014, is hoping to reach 1 million users by the end of the year. It also wants to enable users to sell or dispose of used appliances using the app, it said. The free app works by scanning a product bar code after purchase and taking pictures of the warranty certificate and receipt via a smartphone camera. Last month, the company started offering a new function, allowing users to manage car and housing information.

Editor's note:China concluded the annual two sessions of its national legislature and top political advisory body on Wednesday. From among the thousands of proposals and motions submitted by delegates, the Global Times has chosen eight that we believe may have the greatest impact on the livelihoods of Chinese people. It has been 15 months since China allowed all married couples to have two children to help with its aging population. However, the increase in births has fallen below expectations as young parents are worried about the extra financial burden. He Youlin, the lawmaker and former principal of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Middle School who previously proposed the two-child policy, advised the government to grant subsidies to and reduce the taxes of two-child families.

On March 5, at the opening meeting of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature's annual session, Premier Li Keqiang announced that China will accelerate research and development (R&D) in new and emerging industries, such as artificial intelligence (AI). It is the first time that China's highest national meeting has included AI in the Government Work Report. The report's singling out of AI indicates Beijing's prioritization of the industry in its economic agenda, and therefore its determination to support its growth. In recent years, China's leadership has been increasingly thinking about how to ensure their competitive edge in the AI industry. The acceleration of China's policy efforts to advance AI development began in 2014, when President Xi Jinping called for innovation and breakthroughs in science and technology, including AI, at the opening ceremony of the 17th Congress of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Uber India will introduce its facial recognition-based Real Time ID check feature for its India app in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata, with more cities to follow soon, according to a report by Tech 2. Real Time ID check prompts drivers to take a selfie before they access the app or accepts a ride, which is then matched with their photo stored on Uber's servers. If the images do not match, the driver's account will be temporarily suspended as the matter is investigated. The security measure is intended to ensure that driver's biometric details are constantly being scrutinized while preventing drivers and their accounts from being compromised by fraudsters. In addition, the feature reassures passengers that the Uber driver on the app is, in fact, the same person who is picking them up. "This prevents fraud and protects drivers' accounts from being compromised," said Joe Sullivan, chief security officer at Uber. "It also protects riders by building another layer of accountability into the app to ensure the right person is behind the wheel. We believe this new initiative will go a long way in keeping our riders and drivers in the city safe and our rides reliable like never before."

The company is looking to develop partnerships and opportunities with other organisations around the world to, create the capability, competencies and jobs to supply the technology and components required. On March 8, 2017, the latest part of that programme has been confirmed with the announcement, in Finland, of a significant research grant by Tekes - the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation. The funding will enable Rolls-Royce to invest further in a research and development centre in Turku, Finland. The company plans to carry out further development projects there focused on the future development of land-based control centres, and the use of artificial intelligence in future remote and autonomous shipping operations. Mikael Mäkinen, Rolls-Royce, President – Marine said: "Digitalisation will transform the shipping industry in the years ahead, and the time is now right to set out how we are going to make this happen. Over the coming years we need to invest globally to develop the required capabilities and to establish a range of market-ready products and systems to take advantage of what is a significant global market opportunity."

Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today unveiled its Global Trend Study titled, "Getting Smarter by the Day: How AI is Elevating the Performance of Global Companies." Focused on the current and future impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the study polled 835 executives across 13 global industry sectors in four regions of the world, finding that 84% of companies see the use of AI as "essential" to competitiveness, with a further 50% seeing the technology as "transformative." Widespread AI adoption expected across job functions Exploring the views and actions of decision makers from global companies with average revenues of $20 billion, the study revealed AI is spreading across almost all areas of a company. The biggest adopters of AI today are, not surprisingly, IT departments, with two-thirds (67%) of survey respondents using AI to detect security intrusions, user issues and deliver automation. However, by 2020, almost a third (32%) of companies believe AI's greatest impact will be in sales, marketing or customer service, while one in five (20%) see AI's impact being largest in non-customer facing corporate functions, including finance, strategic planning, corporate development, and HR.

U.S. consumers who plan to buy the all-new LG G6 will now have no reason to think twice about making the purchase. LG is offering a special preorder gift to those who will preorder its newest flagship phone, and it's none other than the Google Home smart speaker. Just this Wednesday, TechnoBuffalo exclusively received word form the South Korea tech company that as part of its promotions for the G6, anyone who will preorder the device will also get a Google Home. That means U.S. consumers can bring home two premium devices with built-in Google Assistant. The offer, called the LG G6 Google Home National Promotion, is already live.