Many advanced Learning from Demonstration (LfD) methods consider the decomposition of complex, real-world tasks into simpler sub-tasks. By reusing the corresponding sub-policies within and between tasks, they provide training data for each policy from different high-level tasks and compose them to perform novel ones. However, most existing approaches to modular LfD focus either on learning a single high-level task or depend on domain knowledge and temporal segmentation. By contrast, we propose a weakly supervised, domain-agnostic approach based on task sketches, which include only the sequence of sub-tasks performed in each demonstration. Our approach simultaneously aligns the sketches with the observed demonstrations and learns the required sub-policies, which improves generalisation in comparison to separate optimisation procedures. We evaluate the approach on multiple domains, including a simulated 3D robot arm control task using purely image-based observations. The approach performs commensurately with fully supervised approaches, while requiring significantly less annotation effort, and significantly outperforms methods which separate segmentation and imitation.

Recently, in the technology and marketing communities, we have started to have a robust discussion about the future impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the world's workforce. Companies and countries are starting to map out some of the potential ways this could play out. Let's take a quick step back. As usual, Wikipedia has a pretty good definition. Artificial intelligence (AI), sometimes called machine intelligence, is intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast to the natural intelligence displayed by humans and other animals….

For some children with autism, interacting with other people can be an uncomfortable, mystifying experience. Feeling overwhelmed with face-to-face interaction, such children may find it difficult to focus their attention and learn social skills from their teachers and therapists--the very people charged with helping them learn to socially adapt. What these children need, say some researchers, is a robot: a cute, tech-based intermediary, with a body, that can teach them how to more comfortably interact with their fellow humans. On the face of it, learning human interaction from a robot might sound counter-intuitive. But a handful of groups are studying the technology in an effort to find out just how effective these robots are at helping children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One of those groups is LuxAI, a young company spun out of the University of Luxembourg.

It uses artificial intelligence to identify elements of a photo, such as scene and subject, to automatically classify it into one of 20 categories and instantly optimise it based on the category. If the first shot doesn't come out right, the Galaxy Note9 lets users know there's something wrong, so they can take another picture without losing the moment. An immediate notification will appear if the image is blurry, the subject blinked, there is a smudge on the lens, or there's backlight impacting the quality of the image. It also comes with advanced noise reduction technology, and a Dual Aperture lens, which adjusts to light just like the human eye. That mans that, no matter the lighting conditions, the camera should deliver a crystal-clear shot. The Galaxy Note9 builds on Samsung Electronics' legacy of innovative camera technologies with an intelligent camera that takes the work out of capturing a photo New functions including Scene Optimizer and Flaw Detection utilize artificial intelligence to help users get the most out of the device's advanced camera Galaxy Note9's Flaw Detection automatically scans it for flaws and notifies you if any are found.

While the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has been around for some 60 years, it's now finally a part of our daily lives -- including how we work, bank, shop, interact, invest, drive and get insured. The term AI means different things to different people, but at PwC we think about it on a continuum, moving from assisted to augmented and, finally, autonomous intelligence. Here, I am primarily focusing on assisted intelligence -- applications that help us better perform tasks we're already doing today. This includes things like email filtering, automated processing of insurance claims and customer service chatbots, just to name a few applications. Of course when you're talking about AI, the question of automation and its potential to replace human jobs isn't far behind.

In building a case for an American manufacturing renaissance, economists cite increasing productivity, cheap natural gas, and rising value-added figures to show that manufacturing is in good shape and will get better. Some of these positivists also claim that rising labor costs in Asia and the creation of U.S. manufacturing jobs since 2010 are evidence of a big turnaround in manufacturing. There are also some mysterious predictions, shared without data to back them up, that manufacturing exports will grow and imports will shrink. Manufacturing has been battered so badly by China and other Asian countries and by American multinational corporation offshoring that people are desperate for positive news. But the question is, are these stories based on truth or are they just "happy talk"? For example, the McKinsey Global Institute says growth in manufacturing is right around the corner.

Through innovative use of a neural network that mimics image processing by the human brain, a research team reports accurate reconstruction of images transmitted over optical fibers for distances of up to a kilometer. In the Optical Society's journal for high-impact research, Optica, the researchers report teaching a type of machine learning algorithm known as a deep neural network to recognize images of numbers from the pattern of speckles they create when transmitted to the far end of a fiber. The work could improve endoscopic imaging for medical diagnosis, boost the amount of information carried over fiber-optic telecommunication networks, or increase the optical power delivered by fibers. "We use modern deep neural network architectures to retrieve the input images from the scrambled output of the fiber," said Demetri Psaltis, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, who led the research in collaboration with colleague Christophe Moser. "We demonstrate that this is possible for fibers up to 1 kilometer long" he added, calling the work "an important milestone."

The Chinese government has wholeheartedly embraced surveillance technology to exercise control over its citizenry in ways both big and small. It's facial-scanning passers-by to arrest criminals at train stations, gas pumps, and sports stadiums and broadcasting the names of individual jaywalkers. Government-maintained social credit scores affect Chinese citizens' rights and privileges if they associate with dissidents. In Tibet and Xinjiang, the government is using facial recognition and big data to surveil the physical movements of ethnic minorities, individually and collectively, to predict and police demonstrations before they even start. China is even using facial recognition to prevent the overuse of toilet paper in some public bathrooms.

Samsung has unveiled the Galaxy Note 9, which it describes as "the world's most advanced smartphone." The smartphone-tablet hybrid – often referred to as a'phablet' – features improved battery life, a better camera and increased storage space. A 512GB version, when combined with the external storage, can fold over a terabyte of data – which is more than most modern laptops. Speaking on stage at the Galaxy Unpacked event in Brooklyn, New York, Samsung Mobile president Dong Jin Koh described the Galaxy Note 9 as "the world's most powerful device." 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 long-awaited release date of the Android version of Fortnite has finally been announced, however it won't be available to everyone straight away. Tim Sweeney, the chief executive of Fortnite developer Epic Games, revealed that the game will available from today but only for owners of the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 smartphone. The latest smartphone device was unveiled at an event in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday, 9 August. The Fortnite app will also not be available through the Google Play Store, after Epic Games complained about the "disproportionate" cut that Google takes for enabling downloads through its online app store. Google takes a 30 per cent cut of sales made through Google Play, which is the main platform through which Android users download apps to their smartphones and tablets.