The former F-16 and Air Force Thunderbirds pilot took over as commander of the unit in July 2015 and continues to fly drone missions himself from Creech on the MQ-9, more commonly known as the Reaper. His tenure comes at a time of unprecedented demand for the aircraft he commands – the percentage of missions in which Reapers fire their weapons has increased fivefold since 2011, he says. Now, roughly 15 percent of all the airstrikes in the war against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria are conducted by drones.

The sizeable majority of experts surveyed for this report envision major advances in robotics and artificial intelligence in the coming decade. To what degree will AI and robotics be parts of the ordinary landscape of the general population by 2025? Describe which parts of life will change the most as these tools advance and which parts of life will remain relatively unchanged. These are the themes that emerged from their answers to this question. AI and robotics will be integrated into nearly every aspect of most people's daily lives Many respondents see advances in AI and robotics pervading nearly every aspect of daily life by the year 2025--from distant manufacturing processes to the most mundane household activities. Jeff Jarvis, director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York, wrote, "Think'Intel Inside'. By 2025, artificial intelligence will be built into the algorithmic architecture of countless functions of business and communication, increasing relevance, reducing noise, increasing efficiency, and reducing risk across everything from finding information to making transactions. If robot cars are not yet driving on their own, robotic and intelligent functions will be taking over more of the work of manufacturing and moving." Vint Cerf, vice president and chief Internet evangelist for Google, responded, "Self-driving cars seem very likely by 2025. Natural language processing will lead to conversational interactions with computer-based systems. Google search is likely to become a dialog rather than a client-server interaction. The Internet of Things will be well under way by this time and interaction with and among a wide range of appliances is predictable. Third party services to manage many of these devices will also be common."

Pluto's icy heart may be hiding a subsurface ocean. Two new papers, based on observations from Nasa's New Horizons probe, claim that a frozen nitrogen pile-up in the dwarf planet's iconic heart-shaped region may have altered Pluto's tilt. This caused its spin to change which may have also created cracks and tensions in the crust of the dwarf planet that point towards the presence of a hidden sea, which scientists have previously said may host alien life. Two new papers, based on observations from Nasa's New Horizons probe, have proposed evidence of a frozen nitrogen pile-up throwing Pluto off its kilter. The cracks that have formed in the dwarf planet's surface as a result of this shift could point to a subsurface ocean, which scientists have previously said could host alien life In the first paper, researchers suggest a liquid ocean lying deep beneath Pluto's frozen surface is the best explanation for features revealed by the New Horizons probe.

When the first Ghost in the Shell movie was released in 1995, it was revolutionary, presenting a whole new way of looking at technology, artificial intelligence, and more. Twenty years later, director Rupert Sanders not only has to live up to that legacy, he's trying to build upon it, despite being stuck in a cloud of controversy. Sanders is the director of next year's live-action adaptation of Mamoru Oshii's anime masterpiece, starring Scarlett Johansson as the Major, a futuristic cyborg in a world where the human essence, called Ghosts, can be transmitted electronically into robot bodies, called Shells. He, along with Johansson and Japanese legend Takeshi Kitano, debuted the first trailer and several clips this past weekend at an event in Tokyo, Japan. "We're taking the next chapter of this legacy very seriously," Sanders said of the franchise that has been around in various formats since 1989.

If you're not using big data, you're about to fail fast How Google's new Cloud Jobs API uses machine learning to help companies fill jobs Why machine learning could change customer engagement, as we know it. Is Machine Learning Making Your Data Scientists Obsolete? Stay up-to-date on the topics you care about. We'll send you an email alert whenever a news article matches your alert term. It's free, and you can add new alerts at any time.

Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has revealed the Australian government will be among the first in the world to deploy artificial intelligence "bots" to deal with inquiries from citizens. As the tech giant looks to lead in the new era of cognitive computing, Mr Nadella told a technology developers' conference in Sydney on Wednesday morning that increasingly intelligent technology would allow human-like interaction with complex business systems. Mr Nadella told The Australian Financial Review after the speech that the Department of Human Services had completed the largest deployment of the Windows 10 operating system in the Asia-Pacific region and was now working on AI-powered applications. He said the DHS was working to create a smart software-driven conversational bot, which could help in reducing the amount of time citizens had to wait to speak to human staff.

All around us people are slowly (or sometimes quickly) transitioning into the future of work. The full-time job (9 to 5, traditional career, etc.) is about to become a rarity; only available to a select group of people who represent the core of an organization, or who possess a very specific skill set. Because we live in a society increasingly shaped by tech. Automation will take over many of the tasks previously assigned to people. And the youth of today (and tomorrow) will have no problem transitioning into that situation.

Whether they've got a fully tricked out PC gaming rig or just looking to get a little retro button mashing done on their new 4K TV, we've got the gift for the gamer in your life. Obviously, with some new consoles on the scene, there's an obvious upgrade out there for the hardcore in the PS4 Pro and Xbox One S. But you don't need to drop $300 - $400 to upgrade your favorite geek's gaming experience. A high-end mouse, top notch controller or a new headset can make a world of difference for those glued to online battles. And, for those in your life that prefer their gaming be a little more... let's say physical, you can't go wrong with a board game like Mechs vs. Minions or King of Tokyo. For our full list of recommendations in all categories, don't forget to stop by our main Holiday Gift Guide hub.

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Not so smart after all: AI robot now has to get a'real job' after FAILING a university exam for the fourth year running A robot designed to test the limits of artificial intelligence has failed an entrance exam to the prestigious Tokyo University for the fourth year running. Its creators say that the robot has accepted defeat and will now have to work a'real job' in industry Human drivers will BULLY robot cars unless the vehicles are... Snapchat confidentially files for IPO that could value it at... Elon Musk's AI firm joins forces with Microsoft to develop a... The drug and bomb sniffing drone that can detect dangerous... Human drivers will BULLY robot cars unless the vehicles are... Snapchat confidentially files for IPO that could value it at... Elon Musk's AI firm joins forces with Microsoft to develop a... The drug and bomb sniffing drone that can detect dangerous... The AI robot has entered the National Center Test, a national Japanese entrance exam, for four years running.