We read with interest this week that Vodafone has just announced that they have developed the world's first Radio Positioning System (RPS) for drones. This new control system uses a 4G modem and SIM embedded within each drone to enable real-time tracking of the drone with up to 50 metre accuracy. The system is intended for use by drone operators helping them to identify and stay clear of unauthorized airspace zones. Authorized bodies such as air traffic control will be able to use the technology to repel unauthorized intrusions into controlled airspace. In addition to position monitoring the system can help drone pilots with beyond line of sight control.

Most of the focus has been on economic growth (like China's ambition for a $150bn industry). But there has also been a flurry of interest in AI for good; a proliferation of events, organisations being set up (like AINow, OpenAI and AI4ALL in the US and the Ada Lovelace Institute or ElementAI's new London office focusing on AI for good, here in the UK). Some are real and some may turn out to be little more than hot air, or algorithmic greenwash. So what can we hope for? Through the half century history of AI, the direction of research and funding has been dominated by the military and intelligence.

Many federal and state governments around the world have taken measures to encourage EV adoption, but only a few have crafted comprehensive policies that envision a complete transition to electromobility. One of those is of course California, which subsidizes several flavors of charging infrastructure and has funded pilot projects to electrify everything from buses to trucks to off-road commercial vehicles. Another is the UK, which has announced its intention to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2040, and recently unveiled a detailed 46-point plan to manage the transition. Part of that effort is the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act, which recently passed through Parliament to become law. The AEV Act gives the government new powers to ensure that motorway service locations are upgraded with plenty of charging points, and allows mayors to request that fuel retailers in their areas install charging infrastructure.

Interest in artificial intelligence is at'fever pitch', according to the technology market research company IDC. If measured in money, the heat will reach almost 20 billion this year – that's the dollar amount IDC forecasts that companies will spend on AI and cognitive computing. But in fact, the temperature around these technologies has been rising for some time. Many industries, including banking, manufacturing and healthcare are scrambling to get involved. Top of the pile will be retail which IDC says will outspend all others on AI this year.

Although artificial intelligence has been around since the 1950s yet it is definitely not late to get started…no matter if you are a developer or an enterprise manager. Actually, given the (major) developments in the past few years, you couldn't be in a better time to get started in Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is redefining the experiences humans have with machines and enhancing even richer experiences for end users and entities alike. This entry is a follow-up to the talk I delivered during the Google Cloud Day in Malta on the 26th July 2018. Below, I will first set the context and then outline a selection of latest developments that should motivate you to get started in artificial intelligence.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said those are the things she has obsessed over the most as a new parent, and that the experience of focusing on such basic needs for her baby girl has helped her appreciate why people with young families may not find time for politics. "So it's our job to make sure that we are serving the needs of people, regardless of whether they have time to engage with what we're doing or not," she said. "That's something that's been really amplified for me." Ardern spoke on Thursday at her bungalow in Auckland as she prepared to return to the capital, Wellington, after six weeks of leave following the birth of her daughter, Neve. Ardern, 38, is just the second elected world leader in recent history to give birth while holding office, and her story has provided inspiration for working mothers around the world.

Japan's aging population will require more investment in technology such as artificial intelligence and robots to make up for a decline in the labor force for economic growth, according to a government report released Friday. The world's third-largest economy is on firm footing, having enjoyed a moderate recovery for the past five and a half years under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policies including aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan. "Corporate profits are at record highs, labor and income conditions are improving, and increased income is leading to an expansion in consumption and investment, showing that a'virtuous economic cycle' is beginning to take hold," said the annual white paper on the economy and fiscal policy. But the report warned that the country is also experiencing the worst labor shortage in a quarter century, and some industries such as transportation services and construction may already be seeing earnings suffer as a result. "Amid an aging population, (Japan) needs to drastically strengthen the supply side of the economy in order to deal with the labor shortage and realize sustainable growth," it said.

Samsung has partnered with Babylon Health to offer AI-powered medical consultations to its smartphone users via the'GP at Hand' service. AI News first covered GP at Hand in November last year. "GP at Hand is a window into what the NHS of the future will look like," said Dr Howard Freeman MBE, senior GP. "When innovative NHS GPs embrace Babylon's technology to make life better for their patients, the sky is the limit." The service uses AI to determine if a patient's symptoms require further attention before putting them in touch with a GP using video chat if necessary.

One of our biggest learnings is that AI is best trained by diverse teams that help identify the right questions for AI algorithms to solve. For example, several teams used multi-terabytes of operational data in wealth management to train algorithms to drive higher trading income. The obvious approach was to focus on day traders, who are mostly single, 30-35 year old white males. One of the teams – with a set of diverse members beyond the usual data engineers and neural net experts – addressed that objective and also identified an even larger opportunity targeting single 50-55 year old women, which uncovered a high investible assets segment that previously had gone untapped. Diverse teams think of questions others may not even know to ask.

In recent times, we've seen the potential and impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, be it in the supply chain, analytics, or finance division. However, when it comes to real-world applications of AI in the field of digital marketing, not much is known. Companies, big and small, have just started exploring how it can change, transform, and disrupt the industry, and from what IAB Europe and Xaxis' study has revealed, it's making quite a splash already. Their survey revealed that AI is currently being utilized within digital marketing and with good results. Respondents say it's proving successful in driving and delivering innovation.