Investment in data strategy, technologies that support machine learning and artificial intelligence, and hiring skilled data professionals is a top priority for the UK government. Ministers of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have rolled out and tested AI to automate claims processing and fight fraud within their department. Over the last year, the department unleashed artificial intelligence algorithms to track down large-scale corruption of the benefit and welfare program to stop criminal gangs who are responsible for extremely large losses. Ultimately, this effort protects taxpayers' money and gets the benefits to those who they are intended for. Benefit fraud at the hands of criminal gangs cost the Department of Work and Pensions nearly £2.1 billion in 2016, a rise of £200 million in just one year.

The growth of AI is much more than a technological advancement. AI will shape the future of the entire world. The impact of AI will be so huge that governments and companies who dominate AI will define the way our world will operate in the future. The economic impact of AI is estimated to be $15 trillion over the next 10 years, and a dramatic shift is currently underway that will determine which countries will have the advantage. Some countries have made AI a core element of their economic and geopolitical agenda.

Medical students are losing the dexterity to stitch up their patients because they are spending too much time in front of screens. That's the claim from one professor of surgery who says trainee doctors are "less competent", compared to their older colleagues, at using their hands. Professor Roger Kneebone, from Imperial College London, says young people have so little experience of craft skills that they struggle with practical tasks. It's a worrying thought - but how true is it? Does screen time impact dexterity?

A video game which allows players to embody a Nazi SS officer at an Auschwitz-like concentration camp and decide which prisoners to send to the gas chambers is being investigated. The upcoming game, named'Cost of Freedom', is reportedly being developed by Ukrainian company Alien Games and is being investigated by Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and the District Prosecutor's Office in the Polish capital Warsaw. Its trailer has been posted online and features players being able to order to send prisoners for'disinfection' at a concentration camp similar to Auschwitz. The player embodying the Nazi SS guard has to send prisoners for'disinfection' at a concentration camp similar to Auschwitz The game prominently features imagery showing concentration camp prisoners being gassed and suffering excruciating deaths. The trailer goes on to show that players can choose whether they want to play as rebelling prisoners or as Nazi guards with violent scenes showing prisoners being burned and lying dead by the camp's fence.

The UK Government will not enforce the ban on mobile roaming charges for British citizens travelling in the EU after Brexit, a cross-party committee of MPs has warned. The EU's ban on mobile roaming charges for voice, text messages and data has meant using a smartphone on the continent is the same cost as using it at home. But the House of Commons EU Scrutiny Committee said in a report that this is unlikely to remain in place for the UK following withdrawal. It will mean that network operators will be the ones to decide whether to re-introduce roaming charges on UK customers, following their abolition last year across the whole EU. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.

The State of European Tech report points to the success of tech-based businesses or acquisitions across the continent, but at the core of this success is deep tech. When it comes to advances in AI, machine learning, VR and AR, drones, robotics and 3D printing, Europe is either leading the way, or is on par with the likes of the US. Since the start of 2015, $2.3 billion has been invested into deep tech in Europe and 2016 is on track for $1 billion – four times the amount in 2011. Even Norway, the lowest ranking country of those studied, has received $56 million in the past five years. These figures also don't represent the recent acquisition of Skyscanner by China's Ctrip travel firm.

Two men walk into a bar, the first one says: "robots will conquer our civilisation and make us their servants within ten years", the second one responds: "No, the principle of artificial intelligence (AI) is a far-fetched goal that will never see light". The bartender smiles, analyses their facial expressions, assigns a sentiment score to their sentences, evaluates their historical drinking trends, and decides to pour the first one a glass of gin and tonic, and the second one a glass of Scotch. Here is the spoiler: both men are lying; and the bartender is a robot. Not a funny joke, but a reality that is shadowing all conventional discussions about the future prospects of AI. In order to avoid such binary discussions about the goodness and possibilities of machine intelligence, and to eliminate the'hype' surrounding the topic, this article aims to unveil the slowly cooking, quietly simmering, unspoken truths of the inevitable global arms race of AI.

Bossa Nova, creator of real-time, on-shelf inventory robots for the retail industry, has opened a UK division in Sheffield. Bossa Nova provides retailers with data to redesign store operations and improve the customer shopping experience. Its robots drive autonomously through aisles, navigating safely among customers and store associates, and use AI to collect terabytes of data that retailers use to increase on-shelf availability. The robots are already in use in Walmart stores in the US. The company has not unveiled any planned partnerships with UK retailers yet, but Bossa Nova expects its UK office to grow rapidly.

Steve Goodman is best known for his work DJing as Kode9 and running the Hyperdub record label, one of the pioneering forces of UK bass culture and dubstep since 2004. Through releases by Kode9 & The Spaceape, and Burial, Hyperdub captured a sound that embodied the high-pressure claustrophobia and hyper-surveillance of urban environments in the 21st Century. Seen through this dystopian lens, people are erased from the landscape and suppressed by barely perceptible sonic frequencies, and anonymous technological forces of capitalism, yet humanity bleeds through the cracks via fragments of pirate radio signals and disembodied voices. Nøtel is a new site-specific artwork created by Lawrence Lek and Kode9, which extends some of these themes. Situated in a newly regenerated site on London City Island, the work presents a fictional showroom for a hotel of the future, which is governed through artificial intelligence (A.I.).

BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 30, 2018--omni:us, the only AI company of its kind fully focused on insurance, has today announced the closure of a Series A round, bringing its total funding to date to USD 22,5 million. The investment has been led by Berlin-headquartered VC firm Target Global, followed by MMC Ventures and Talis Capital. Existing investors, Unbound and Anthemis, also participated in the round, demonstrating their continued commitment to the company's ambitions. This funding reinforces omni:us' position as a market leader in enabling insurers to become more data-driven and adapt to today's customer expectations. As a key player in the major digital revolution currently taking place in the insurance industry, omni:us has developed cutting-edge AI technology that empowers all kinds of organisations within the sector: many of the top global insurance companies - such as Allianz, Baloise and AmTrust – count on its deep digital transformation expertise in order to innovate and meet growing customer needs.