It's not a breaking news that robots are slowing overtaking most of the human jobs. But, it surely is a news that a robot is now soon going to start greeting you at the HDFC Bank. Following the footsteps of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, HDFC is now going to use a robot to enhance user experience as well as to ease a lot of their work. The name of the robot is finalized by the bank but isn't announced yet. Also, the bank is planning to introduce these robots in their Mumbai branches first for testing.

New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) While artificial intelligence is making waves globally, Cognitive Business Intelligence (BI) is the next stage of machine learning to design and analyse unstructured data, video, images and human language, say experts. According to them, we are generating data but is this data being analysed to create insights which could help in running businesses more effectively is the real concern for businesses. "This potential can be leveraged using Business Intelligence. Using BI, we can understand what really the data means," said Nikhilesh Tiwari, Co-Founder, Helical Insight, the world's first open source Business Intelligence (BI) framework. At the moment, less than 0.5 per cent of all data is ever analysed and used globally.

MUMBAI: In order to understand its effects on the finance and accounting industry, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, (CIMA) the world's leading and largest UK based professional body, conducted a global survey across select European, African and Asian countries. A majority of financial leaders are of the opinion that artificial intelligence helps enhance efficiency and accuracy of the business. This recent global study reveals that more than two-thirds (64%) of finance professionals from India encourage increasing automation as it saves time, money and helps ease the indecision process in their organisations. At a global level, Zimbabwe tops the chart with (75%) professionals supporting automation, followed by China with a 67% of acceptance. This indicates that accountants regard the impact of new technologies as an opportunity rather than a threat.

A new technique using artificial intelligence to read satellite images could aid efforts to eradicate global poverty by indicating where help is needed most, a team of U.S. researchers say. The method would assist governments and charities trying to fight poverty but lacking precise and reliable information on where poor people are living and what they need, the researchers based at Stanford University in California said. Eradicating extreme poverty, measured as people living on less than 1.25 a day, by 2030 is among the sustainable development goals adopted by United Nations member states last year. A team of computer scientists and satellite experts created a self-updating world map to locate poverty, said Marshall Burke, assistant professor in Stanford's Department of Earth System Science. It uses a computer algorithm that recognizes signs of poverty through a process called machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, he said.

China's biggest search engine, Baidu, announced it will use Intel's Xeon Phi processor when the processor's release plan was disclosed on August 17 at Intel's annual developer forum in San Francisco. "When it comes to AI (artificial intelligence), Intel's Xeon Phi is a great fit," said Jing Wang, a senior vice president of Baidu, who joined Diane Bryant, executive vice president in charge of Intel's data center group, at the forum. Intel said Xeon Phi will help accelerate deep learning, a computerized technique increasingly used for tasks such as interpreting speech, identifying objects in photos and piloting autonomous vehicles. Baidu, having researched the application of artificial intelligence for years, is considering using the new chip to support its voice recognition system, called Deep Speech. Deep Speech is based on the collection of 7,000 hours of voice clips created by 9,600 people.

A company founded in 1984 to produce high-end audio systems is now on the vanguard of the self-driving vehicle frontier with key financial backing from Ford and Baidu, China's largest search engine provider. Velodyne, a Morgan Hill, Calif.-based company, just received 150 million from Ford and Baidu to continue development and production of Lidar, or the 3D light-powered radar that helps self-driving cars see where they are going. With a presence on three continents, Velodyne is now regularly mentioned in research reports that cite leading companies in the niche field of lidar. Lidar emits short pulses of laser light so that software in the self-driving vehicle can create a real-time, high-definition 3D image of what's around it. In addition to cars, the systems also have growing potential for agricultural equipment, mining vehicles and military vehicles.

Do you know that two thirds of Chinese outbound travelers prefer individual travel? Data from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) shows that Chinese outbound travelers reached 120 million in 2014, among whom 80 million chose self-guided tours. While we can appreciate the various options available in transportation, accommodation, and attractions, it can also become perplexing and even frustrating to dig through a sea of information just for a travel plan. "The abundance of choice allows everyone to personalize a journey, yet filtering out useless and repeated information can be time-consuming and not cost-effective," said Zhang Fan, founder and CEO of the itinerary planner Mioji. Moji means "brilliant idea" in Chinese.

In our quarterly analysis of companies pursuing healthcare-focused applications of AI, we reported that deals leapt from less than 10 in 2011 to 60 in 2015. So far this year (as 0f 8/23/2016), companies in this space have raised around 55 equity funding rounds. Some of the recent deals include a 25M Series A round raised by London-based health services startup, Babylon Health, backed by investors including Kinnevik and Google-owned DeepMind Technologies (Babylon will reportedly roll out a Siri-like voice recognition interface this year), and a 154M Series A round raised by China-based iCarbonX. "By 2025, AI systems could be involved in everything from population health management, to digital avatars capable of answering specific patient queries." We identified over 80 companies that are applying machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics to reduce drug discovery times, provide virtual assistance to patients, and diagnose ailments by processing medical images, among other things.

NAIROBI – Japanese and African leaders on Sunday pledged to fight terrorism and emphasized the importance of rules-based maritime order as they wrapped up a Japan-led international conference on the continent's development. In the Nairobi Declaration adopted at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), the leaders also agreed to promote investment in infrastructure that leads to job creation in the fast-growing region. "Japan's public and private sectors will offer cooperation for the development that is led by Africa itself," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a news conference after wrap-up of the sixth TICAD, convened in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told the same news conference that Japan does not press its own views on the continent and continues to be a force for African development. The triennial conference was held outside Japan for the first time, as Tokyo seeks to strengthen its economic and political presence in the continent amid China's increasing influence.

Seated against a deep red backdrop, gazing intently at hand-held mirrors, two eunuchs in sparkling saris inspect their appearance before Raksha Bandhan celebrations in the red light district of Mumbai. The photograph from the Reuters news agency is an arresting contemporary scene, but a new Tate Britain project is aiming to inspire deeper reflections with images from its own collection of paintings. Launching on Friday, Recognition is the winner of 2016's IK prize – an annual award, this year supported by Microsoft, for a project that embraces digital technology to explore and showcase Tate's collection of British art. This year, the challenge was to do it with artificial intelligence. The team behind the winning project, from the Italy-based communication research centre Fabrica, say their inspiration came from an intriguing conundrum: how can you apply rational thinking to a subject like art? Recognition matches stunning photographs from the 24/7 news cycle with centuries-old artworks, and presents them online.