Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, seeking greater efficiency in calculating their payouts to policyholders, will soon replace many of its office workers with an AI system based on IBM's Watson Explorer ("a cognitive technology that can think like a human"). In a recent press release, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance stated an expected increase in productivity by 30% from their "Diagnostic document assessment automatic coding system." The AI system will be used to read and understand medical certificates, hospital stays, surgical procedures, and medical history to make a more accurate assessment of payouts. According to reporting from the Guardian, the company will see a return on investment in less than two years. In a small concession for human workers, the payouts will not be finalized until approved by a non-AI staffer.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is primarily known as the company that revolutionized computer gaming. The debut of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) in 1999 provided gamers with faster, clearer, and more lifelike images. The GPU was designed to quickly perform complex mathematical calculations that were necessary to accelerate the creation of realistic graphics. It achieved this feat by performing many functions at the same time, known as parallel computing. This resulted in faster, smoother motion in game graphics and a revolution in modern gaming.

What if laundry was as simple as dumping a basket of dirty clothes into one machine? This machine would wash, dry, fold, and sort all your family's clothes. We're closer to this paradise than you might think. At CES, Tokyo-based Seven Dreamers Laboratories demonstrated its Laundroid, a fridge-sized machine segmented into multiple compartments. In the bottom one, a presenter dumped a dozen red and blue shirts, closed the drawer, and waited.

SYS-CON Events announced today that Fusion, a leading provider of cloud services, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Fusion, a leading provider of integrated cloud solutions to small, medium and large businesses, is the industry's single source for the cloud. Fusion's advanced, proprietary cloud service platform enables the integration of leading edge solutions in the cloud, including cloud communications, cloud connectivity, and cloud computing. Fusion's innovative, yet proven cloud solutions lower our customers' cost of ownership, and deliver new levels of security, flexibility, scalability, and speed of deployment. For more information, please visit http://www.fusionconnect.com.

Coway makes Airmega air filtration systems that suck allergens out of the air in your home. And now it's making the devices easier to control, with the integration of Amazon Alexa voice commands, starting in mid-January. On top of that, the company will ship a graphite version of its filtration system in mid-February. The graphite unit will come in the Airmega 400 ($750) and 400s ($850) models. The Alexa integration is one more example of how much easier it can be to control devices when they become part of the Internet of Things, which is making everyday objects smart and connected. With Alexa, you can now ask Airmega for updates on indoor air quality, filter lifetime, fan speed changes, timer setup, and more.

To process an image, for example, the lowest layer is fed the raw images. It notes things like the brightness and colours of individual pixels, and how those properties are distributed across the image. The next layer combines these observations into more abstract categories, identifying edges, shadows and the like. The layer after that will analyse those edges and shadows in turn, looking for combinations that signify features such as eyes, lips and ears. And these can then be combined into a representation of a face--and indeed not just any face, but even a new image of a particular face that the network has seen before.

Those amazing, lifelike robots, reports Jefferson Graham on #TalkingTech. LAS VEGAS --The one, coolest thing from this year's 2017 CES is an easy pick -- those amazing robots. We saw robots to make your morning coffee, pour candy, fold your clothes, turn on and off your lights, project a movie on the wall, handle your daily chores and most impressively, look just like a human, or in this case, legendary scientist Albert Einstein, with facial expressions and movement. Why did robots dominate CES? You can thank the popularity of Amazon's Alexa for showcasing the technology of a voice-activated personal assistant.

Although we saw more of what dominated the tech scene last year -- smart home products, wearables and enough Amazon Echo partnerships to make your head spin -- some new products shined brightly above the rest. From an underwater drone to the car of the future, here's a look at what impressed us most. Toyota unveiled a concept car to highlight its vision for what cars may look like in 2030. With see-through glass doors, wheels built directly into the body and a bright white interior and exterior, the future is looking pretty sleek. While you'd think we'd be riding in self-driving vehicles by then, the car isn't fully autonomous.

After years of anticipation, Faraday Future unveiled its "Tesla-killer" FF91 electric car this week -- and it's even faster than a Model S in ludicrous mode. Meanwhile, Nissan announced that its next-gen Leaf EV will be able to drive itself on the highway, and Toyota debuted a futuristic concept car that takes the wheel when drivers get sleepy. China is making a huge investment in high-speed rail to the tune of over $500 billion, and Israel is testing electric roads that wirelessly charge electric vehicles as they drive. Costa Rica has invested heavily in alternative energy, and it's paying off in spades: The nation 1.5 million electric vehicles a year. Israel is building the world's tallest solar tower, which will power 130,000 households once it's complete.

A robot is invading a popular reality TV show in China that tests people's brainpower. The smart, AI-powered bot, Xiaodu, will take on human competitors in complex trials involving face and voice recognition. The AI robot built by search engine giant Baidu is one of the contestants, facing off against four people and other clever computer programs. Baidu first showed off a small version of Xiaodu in 2015. After working on the AI in the interim – and building a giant version just for TV – the gadget now faces its biggest ever battle.