BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will boost its investment in artificial intelligence by about 70 percent to 1.5 billion euros ($1.83 billion) by 2020 to catch up with Asia and the United States, which are each investing at least three times more than Europe. Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize sectors from healthcare to transport to agriculture and Europe is keen not to be left behind in the digital race. The Commission, the EU executive, wants total private and public investment in AI to reach at least 20 billion euros by the end of 2020 to ensure the bloc retains competitiveness and does not face a brain drain. In 2016 European private investments in AI totaled around 2.4-3.2 billion euros, compared to Asia's almost 10 billion euros and America's 18 billion euros. "Just as the steam engine and electricity did in the past, AI is transforming our world," said Andrus Ansip, Vice-President of the European Commission, on Wednesday.

"Today, we are giving a boost to researchers so that they can develop the next generation of AI technologies and applications, and to companies, so that they can embrace and incorporate them." Other European countries such as France and Britain have also made AI investment a priority. French President Emmanuel Macron promised 1.5 billion euros of public money for AI in March. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an emerging and transformative technology, and promises to deliver vast socio-economic changes to Europe. An increase in public and private investment in artificial intelligence and the establishment of legal and ethical frameworks supporting its development are both vital to ensuring that Europe can become a world leader in the implementation of AI. The commission has proposed a three-pronged approach, which includes boosting public and private investment in artificial intelligence, including the investment of €1.5bn before 2020 from the Horizon 2020 framework programme. This is expected to mobilise €2.5bn in additional funding from existing public-private partnerships. Other facets of the approach include preparing for socio-economic changes that artificial intelligence will bring, and ensuring the establishment of an appropriate ethical and legal framework, to anticipate concerns related to liability or decision making.

Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov settled into the commander's chair in a secret bunker outside Moscow. His job that night was simple: Monitor the computers that were sifting through satellite data, watching the United States for any sign of a missile launch. It was just after midnight, Sept. 26, 1983. A single word flashed on the screen in front of him. The fear that computers, by mistake or malice, might lead humanity to the brink of nuclear annihilation has haunted imaginations since the earliest days of the Cold War.

The Automation Readiness Index ranks countries on how prepared they are in 2018 for the future impact of robotics and artificial intelligence. No country is fully prepared for the impact of robots powered by artificial intelligence. But South Korea, Singapore and Germany are the most prepared countries in the world in 2018, according to a new study. To get ready for automation, countries need to focus on retraining their workforce and shifting education strategies to center on the economy to come, the study's authors wrote. They can also build in an advantage by fostering the creation of AI-backed technology on their home turf. The report was released Monday by multinational company ABB and The Economist Intelligence Unit.

According to real estate data firm Co-Star, over 90 million square feet of retail space is slated to close this year, leading observers to point to an obvious truth: empathy matters in customer service. Getting it right is another story. When businesses are out of touch with consumer needs, consumers stop buying and stores start dying. Enter "affective computing," an area of research involving machines that can read and display emotional intelligence, with applications as far ranging from preventative medicine to music lessons and every commercial sector in between. The retail industry isn't the only one eying "emotion AI" as a potential savior from digital disruption, but the physical spaces that characterize the retail experience ares providing innovators with a ripe venue to demonstrate the power that capturing and understanding customer sentiment can have.

The meeting will be hosted at Software University in Sofia and starts at 11.00 on September 3, 2016. You can find more information about the talk and the lecturer, as well as to register for the event on the following link here.

"In the US, it is entirely driven by the private sector, large corporations, and some startups dealing with them. All the choices they will make are private choices that deal with collective values," warned Macron. "On the other side, Chinese players collect a lot of data driven by a government whose principles and values are not ours," he pointed out. Macron showed in the thought-provoking interview he knew that if you want to shape how AI will affect us, you have to be involved at the design stage, and set the rules. "If we want to defend our way to deal with privacy, our collective preference for individual freedom versus technological progress, integrity of human beings and human DNA, if you want to manage your own choice of society, your choice of civilisation, you have to be able to be an acting part of this AI revolution," the French leader said, adding he wanted to "frame the discussion at a global scale". A similar message is due to come out of Brussels on Wednesday (25 April), when the European Commission presents its strategy paper on artificial intelligence - namely, that the EU should take the lead to shape the ethics of AI.

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing could create EUR 60 bn in additional value for German industry. According to the new study, "The Ghost in the Machine: Artificial Intelligence in the Factory of the Future", for which the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) surveyed manufacturing and technology managers from about 1100 industrial companies worldwide about their applications of and willingness to invest in AI. Almost 90 percent of executives say they aim to integrate AI in their processes in the next three years. Nonetheless, so far only 28 percent have created a clear strategy for AI in manufacturing. In Germany, only 23 percent, or one in four German industrial companies, have developed an AI strategy.