Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told developers that bots via its Messenger Platform is the future, but what remains to be seen is whether users will go for them as they work out early artificial intelligence issues. At the F8 developer conference, Facebook took the wraps off of its bots for Messenger effort, a series of application programming interfaces and tools for business bots. Google, Apple and every enterprise vendor will have some form of them. Simply put, chat bots are automated and conversational reps that can talk up products, get you to stores, be helpful and an assistant at times. Bots get you the goods without the legwork. Every tech player will be talking some form of bots.

SEOUL/WASHINGTON – Ahead of a rare congress of the ruling party next month, secretive North Korea is revealing details of its weapons development program for the first time, showcasing its push to develop long-range nuclear missiles despite international sanctions. Until recently, information on the North's weapons program was hard to come by, with foreign governments and experts relying on satellite imagery, tiny samples of atomic particles collected after nuclear tests and mangled parts recovered from long-range launches. In just over a month, the North has published articles with detailed color photos on a range of tests and other activities that point to fast-paced efforts to build a nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The reason for the revelations, many analysts say, is that Pyongyang believes that convincing the world, and its own people, of its nuclear prowess is as important as the prowess itself. Nevertheless, the isolated North's true capabilities and intentions remain unknown.

Cian Westmoreland was 18 years old when he enlisted in the US Air Force. Now 28, the former serviceman served with the 606 Air Control Squadron in Germany and the 73rd Expeditionary Air Control Squadron in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as an Air Force Technician. He built the communications infrastructure for the US military's drone programme in Afghanistan, which, according to a 2015 report by The Intercept led to the deaths of hundreds of civilians. In 2010, after four years in the military, he left the Air Force and joined other whistle-blowers speaking out about US drone policy. The group of technicians and operators wrote an open letter to US President Barack Obama.

There is growing expectation that in the near future, intelligence far beyond human understanding will produce new technologies by using knowledge and information around the globe to drastically change the world. By making excellent use of nanotechnology, the intelligence will cure any disease or injury, and also resolve environmental problems. If it were to bare its fangs at humans, it would become a threat that we could not compete with. The 2014 film "Transcendence" depicts a world in which AI is highly developed. Many countries have spent an enormous amount of money to take the lead in the field, and global "artificial intelligentization" is arriving at the point of no return. If this happens, we should choose a path of coexistence.

If the humans ain't broke, don't replace them with robots. Otherwise, your whole restaurant will itself be -- you guessed it -- broke. In a rather damning display of the limitations of technology, a fleet of useless robots meant to replace human servers have caused the demise of two restaurants in China. As it turns out, the answer to the question, "What can't robots do?" is actually, "a lot." Initially, Chinese restaurant chain Heweilai bought a whole staff's worth of automatons to wait on its patrons in three locations.

Classy started as a code challenge for a technical interview for a machine learning job in Tokyo. The challenge was to create an an application that uses a supervised learning algorithm to classify images based on their text content. This application was then wrapped in a server with a tiny REST API, and Classy was born. I can certainly make that happen! Let me know a little more about what you're working on using the contact form below and we'll get the ball rolling.

In Southern California, near TFS U.S. headquarters, TIMS will support the development of telematics car insurance services for Toyota customers, as well as new experiences aimed at more fully satisfying customers by working in unison with dealers and distributors. TIMS will contribute to the development of insurance offerings that benefit consumers-including so-called'pay how you drive' insurance, which encourages safer driving. TIMS plans to conduct analysis of big data, and conduct relevant marketing and promotion of the new services to help offer broader insurance options to users. The aim of establishing the new company is to contribute-from the aspect of automobile insurance-to the achievement of Toyota's vision of a mobile society that is safe, secure and convenient. AD and TFS will invest in the new company through their own subsidiaries in the U.S., while investment on the part of TMC will come from Toyota Connected, Inc. (TC) established in the U.S. in January 2016.

Toyota doesn't just want its cars to drive themselves; it wants them to grab the wheel to stop you from crashing. Toyota's researchers are developing what they call a "guardian angel" system that will automatically take control of a vehicle, or subtly adjust a driver's actions, in order to avert danger. In contrast to other companies working on self-driving vehicles, the Japanese carmaker sees combining machine and human driving as a key step toward full autonomy. "In the same way that antilock braking and emergency braking work, there is a virtual driver that is trying to make sure you don't have an accident by temporarily taking control from you," explains Gill Pratt, CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, a company the carmaker created last year with 1 billion in funding to research automated driving, artificial intelligence, and robotics (see "Toyota's Billion-Dollar Bet"). Pratt announced the guardian-angel effort, as well as plans to create a new TRI facility close to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, during a speech at a conference in San Jose today.

Intel's keynotes can be fun, with robots parading on stage and drones zigzagging around the room. Now Intel's making new hardware to help enthusiasts join the fun by building robots and drones at home. The Robotic Development Kit and Aero Kit provide the necessary hardware and software tools to build robots and drones, respectively. The kits were announced at the ongoing Intel Developer Forum in Shenzhen, China. A major element of the developer boards is the RealSense 3D camera, which will ship with the kits and help the robots and drones navigate and avoid obstacles.

The 2016 winners were as follows: Tom Dietterich, AAAI President, for AAAI 2017 Awards, please Manuela Veloso, AAAI Past President contact Carol Hamilton at hamilton@aaai.org.