It's day one at the Singularity University: the opening address has just been delivered by a hologram. Craig Venter, who was one of the first scientists to sequence the human genome and created the first synthetic life form, is up next. And later, we will see two people, paralysed from the waist down, use robotic exoskeletons to rise up and walk. But first, the co-founder of the Singularity University, Peter Diamandis, gives us our instructions for the day. Your task, he says, is to pick one of the "grand challenges of humanity" – the lack of clean drinking water, say. And then come up with an idea that "can positively impact the lives of a billion people". Some of us haven't even had coffee yet. There's about 50 of us present and the room has been divided up into tables, one for education, another for poverty, another for water, and I'm not sure where I should sit. Diane Murphy, the university's PR executive, hesitates for a moment and then directs me over to the table marked "food". "Tell you what," she says.

News that a British Airways plane was hit by a drone before landing safely at Heathrow airport has once again highlighted how drones can be a nuisance and, potentially, dangerous. We all know about the military uses of drones (bomb lots of people, surveillance), and how drones can be used for nefarious purposes (theft, voyeurism), but there are actually some pretty cool uses for drones too. Last year the Ocean Alliance partnered with tech heads Yuneec to create "snot bots"; drones with petri dishes attached. For research purposes, the drones are flown over water to catch spray and snot from whales when the animals exhale. There is already a drone journalism lab at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Missouri also offers a drone journalism course.

Spouting statistics about China's breathtaking urbanization does little to convey the speed of the transformation sweeping the country. Knowing that it used more cement in three years than the US used in 100, or that six of the 10 tallest skyscrapers opening this year will open in China, or that entire cities sit empty, is fascinating, but not terribly visceral. No, if you want to really appreciate the change, look at photos of China's cities before things went nuts. Dheera Venkatraman does just that in his series Time Traveling In China, comparing photos from the past to scenes from today. Entire cities rise from the countryside, and skyscrapers stand alongside ancient monuments.

Humans have always had a complicated relationship with new "technologies." From awe to fear, centuries ago, Plato even worried that writing would adversely affect people's memories. Modernity has had a particular curiosity regarding artificial intelligence (AI). From Terminator-style killer robots to emotive humanoids, the mention of AI brings to mind the many silver screen renderings of some future civilization. More likely than any of these, however, is the reality that AI will probably turn out to be another commonplace technology that, while novel at first, will end up integrated into our everyday lives.

An artificial intelligence "chatbot" from Taco Bell now lets you order a meal in a smartphone text exchange that might look something like this: TacoBot: Hello there, I'm your TacoBot, I can help you order a meal for you or your team. TacoBot: Sounds good... do you want to keep adding stuff? Brands like Taco Bell and tech companies large and small are betting that more and more people will start using this "conversational" way of interacting online instead of clicking through on-screen menus. If the trend catches on -- as firms like Facebook and Microsoft expect -- it could transform the digital landscape by allowing smartphone users to find information or make purchases with simple text messages, bypassing apps and search engines. Among the companies already developing or launching chatbots are the Wall Street Journal, CNN and retail giants Sephora and H&M.

Aliyun, the cloud computing unit of Alibaba Group Holding, on Wednesday officially introduced an artificial intelligence (AI) robot named Ai that's meant to compete with overseas AI players. The Ai system was developed on the basis of neural networks and social computing, according to a press release Alibaba sent to the Global Times on Wednesday. The Ai system is good at predicting and understanding human emotions, the company said. Neural networks are based on animals' central nervous systems, and they are used to mimic functions involving many inputs. Social computing can be defined as the intersection of social behavior and computing systems.

The threat from such machines is real enough for 100 states to come together and debate the matter of their ban for three consecutive years now. The use of autonomous machines could potentially change the vocabulary of warfare, just like gun powder and nuclear arsenal upon their entry into the battlefield. In April 2013, NGOs associated with successful efforts to ban landmines and cluster munitions got together in London and issued a call to governments urging the negotiation of a treaty preventing the development, deployment and use of what are known as'Killer Robots' in popular parlance. In July 2015, some of the world's leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) scientists including Apple co-founder Steven Wozniak, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallin and Professor Stephen Hawking signed a letter with nearly 21,000 signatures asking for an outright ban on these autonomous weapons systems (AWS). "Autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow," states the letter.

Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business Section. Expect financial markets to face headwinds today after the Federal Reserve reported Friday that U.S. industrial production fell more than expected in March. This is the latest sign that economic growth slowed significantly in the first quarter. On the plus side, though, many economists still forecast a rebound in growth as the year plods ahead. Tax deadline: Monday is the deadline for most Americans to submit their tax returns.

We live in an age of disruption -- and that's a good thing. Old systems will collapse as entrepreneurs figure out how to optimize and reinvent inefficient businesses, products, and services to provide consumers (us) with all things better, faster and cheaper. According to the Olin School of Business, 40% of today's Fortune 500 companies will be gone in the next 10 years. This post is a quick look at three industries (healthcare, finance and insurance) that are ripe for disruption this decade due to big data and artificial intelligence. Clearly big data and AI will change almost every industry this decade...but none more than these. Healthcare is so massively broken, that its disruption will come easy and happen fast.

TOKYO--Japanese industrial robot maker Fanuc Corp. said Monday it has developed technology to connect robots to networks that it hopes will give it an edge as it races to build the factory of the future. The technology is meant to enable factory owners to easily customize their robots and systems by downloading any needed applications, much like a consumer downloads smartphone apps on iOS or Android platforms.