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Artificial intelligence (AI) is informing just about every facet of society, from detecting fraud and surveillance to helping countries battle the current COVID-19 pandemic. But AI is a thorny subject, fraught with complex terminology, contradictory information, and general confusion about what it is at its most fundamental level. This is why the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), the University of Oxford's research and teaching department specializing in the social science of the internet, has partnered with Google to launch a portal with a series of explainers outlining what AI actually is -- including the fundamentals, ethics, its impact on society, and how it's created. The Oxford Internet Institute is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department of the University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet. At launch, the "A-Z of AI" covers 26 topics, including bias and how AI is used in climate science, ethics, machine learning, human-in-the-loop, and Generative adversarial networks (GANs).

Americans are increasingly being spotted wearing face masks in public amid the coronavirus pandemic, as are people are around the globe. Soon, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may advise all Americans to cover their faces when they leave the house, the Washington Post reported. The agency is weighing that recommendation after initially telling Americans that they didn't need to wear masks and that anything other than a high-grade N95 medical mask would do little to prevent infection any way. Research on how well various types of masks and face coverings varies but, recently, and in light of the pandemic of COVID-19, experts are increasingly leaning toward the notion that something is better than nothing. A University of Oxford study published on March 30 concluded that surgical masks are just as effective at preventing respiratory infections as N95 masks for doctors, nurses and other health care workers.

Our guest today is Marta Halina, a University Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge. Marta's current focus is the philosophy of artificial intelligence. We discuss what philosophers can contribute to AI. We talk about AlphaGo and its stunning defeat of one of the world's most celebrated Go champions. We puzzle over whether artificial minds can think creatively.

Dineo Lioma's energy and enthusiasm are infectious, and the way she speaks about things such as artificial intelligence (AI), DNA, enzymes and gene sequencing to aid those in the field of healthcare makes one believe there is hope for our virus-stricken world. Lioma has co-founded two medical technology companies, founded a third and currently runs two of them – and she is not yet 30 years old. She has a master's degree in micro and nanotechnology enterprise with distinction from Cambridge University in the UK. Cambridge offered Lioma the chance to do her PhD there to "work out how to harness solar and mechanical energy", but the engineer, who grew up fiddling with electrical plugs in her family's home in Bloemfontein, Free State, and obtained her BSc in metallurgical and materials engineering with 24 distinctions from Wits University, declined the offer. "I knew I wanted to work in the field of health and to help South Africa progress. There was not a lot going on in micro and nanotechnology here, so I came home. I wanted to give back," she says.

Nick Bostrom is a philosopher at University of Oxford and the director of the Future of Humanity Institute. He has worked on fascinating and important ideas in existential risks, simulation hypothesis, human enhancement ethics, and the risks of superintelligent AI systems, including in his book Superintelligence. I can see talking to Nick multiple times on this podcast, many hours each time, but we have to start somewhere. This conversation is part of the Artificial Intelligence podcast.

Percentage of reported'significant' AI-induced increases in profitability by current R&D ... [ ] expenditure on AI (Figure 2.17 in Survey) A significant number of executives from 151 financial institutions in 33 countries say that within the next two years they expect to become mass adopters of AI and expect AI to become an essential business driver across the financial industry. This information was collected as part of a survey on AI in Financial Services conducted by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School and supported by EY and Invesco. The objective of the study was to understand the opportunities and challenges that will result from mass adoption of AI in Financial Services. The research was published in a 127-page report entitled Transforming Paradigms A Global AI in Financial Services Survey. Financial Services sectors represented in the survey sample.

"I thought at first it was a sign of insanity, speaking to a little thing like that and him talking back!" says 92-year-old John Winward of the first time he tested a smart speaker. The former head teacher was one of a group of residents at an elderly care home in Bournemouth, England who recently took part in a half-year academic experiment designed to test if artificial intelligence voice technologies could help tackle loneliness. He was a fast convert. "I was so surprised... it was such fun!" he says, explaining that several months later he remains an active user of his Google Home device. He asks the speaker for news and weather updates, music and audio book tips and crossword puzzle clues.

Air pollution kills an estimated seven million people every year and cities around the world are being forced to take action to do what they can to lower the risk to inhabitants. A team of Loughborough University computer scientists believe their AI system has the potential to provide new insight into the environmental factors that have significant impacts on air pollution levels. In particular it focuses on the amount of'PM2.5' In 2013, a study involving 312,944 people in nine European countries revealed that there was no safe level of particulates. PM2.5 particulates were found to be particularly deadly, blamed for a 36 per cent increase in lung cancer per 10 μg/m3 as they can penetrate deep into the lungs.

The Black Death in the 1300s broke the long-ingrained feudal system in Europe and replaced it with the more modern employment contract. A mere three centuries later, a deep economic recession -- thanks to the 100-year war between England and France -- kick-started a major innovation drive that radically improved agricultural productivity. Fast forward to more recent times, the SARS pandemic of 2002-2004 catalyzed the meteoric growth of a then-small ecommerce company called Ali Baba and helped establish it at the forefront of retail in Asia. This growth was fueled by underlying anxiety around traveling and human contact, similar to what we see today with Covid-19. The financial crises of 2008 also produced its own disruptive side effects.

Imagine being scared to breathe the air around you. An unusual concept for us here in the UK, but it is a genuine concern for communities all over the world with air pollution killing an estimated seven million people every year. A team of Loughborough University computer scientists are hoping to help eradicate this fear with a new artificial intelligence (AI) system they have developed that can predict air pollution levels hours in advance. The technology is novel for a number of reasons, one being that it has the potential to provide new insight into the environmental factors that have significant impacts on air pollution levels. Professor Qinggang Meng and Dr. Baihua Li are leading the project which is focused on using AI to predict PM2.5--particulate matter of less than 2.5 microns (10-6 m) in diameter--that is often characterized as reduced visibility in cities and hazy-looking air when levels are high.