Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming to the auto glass and insurance industries. Case in point, Mitchell International is exploring a computer vision application that uses image recognition to confirm repair vs. replace decisions. This is according to the company's 2017 Third Quarter Industry Trends Report. Computer vision researchers at Carnegie Mellon demonstrated the ability to detect and understand small movements. Mitchell says in its report, "Instead of an automotive repairer just getting guidance on the next step in a given repair procedure, they could get real time evaluation of ancillary problems detected by computer vision. In fact, in February 2018, glassBYTEs reported that Autoglass, a vehicle glass repair and replacement company based in the UK and owned by Belron, tested the latest AI technology to assess the severity of vehicle glass damage. The company says this can be used to determine whether customers require a repair or a full replacement. An article written by Olivier Baudox, vice president, Global Product Management, auto physical damage solutions, authored an article in the Mitchell Report, saying that AI will be used in the future of auto glass claims workflow--first, the concept has to gain traction. "With rapidly changing conditions that put more drivers and more complex cars on the road, it's no surprise that auto claim value and loss costs have increased substantially in recent years," says Ryan Mandell, director of performance Consulting for Mitchell Auto Physical Damage Solutions. He adds that AI is ready to tackle these increased workloads with specific solutions. Baudoux's article goes on to say that "once the meaningful data is identified, AI can help to elevate the right information in a way that assists and expedites workflow processes.

Spotify may be about to take on the smart speaker market. The music streaming site is testing an in-app assistant, dubbed'Spotify Voice', that allows users to control their music with their voice. The trial has sparked rumours that the firm is about to release a smart speaker to take on the likes of Apple's HomePod and Amazon's Echo. If the rumours are true, it would allow Spotify to put a microphone and potentially camera in every user's home. Spotify may be about to take on the smart speaker market.

Here's a curious question: Imagine it is the year 2023 and self-driving cars are finally navigating our city streets. For the first time one of them has hit and killed a pedestrian, with huge media coverage. A high-profile lawsuit is likely, but what laws should apply? Today, we get an answer of sorts thanks to the work of John Kingston at the University of Brighton in the UK, who maps out the landscape in this incipient legal field. His analysis raises some important issues that the automotive, computing, and legal worlds should be wrestling with in earnest, if they are not already.

A British agritech start-up has won a prestigious Horizontal Innovation Award from the IET and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC) to help develop'Harry', the company's drilling and planting robot. Small Robot Company, based in Shropshire, harnesses the power and precision of robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve the way that food is produced. The £50,000 funded research award will look to develop'Harry' from concept through to in-field prototype. Addressing key challenges around the use of robotics in agriculture, the development of'Harry's' punch planting mechanism will be supported by the Manufacturing Technology Centre, one of seven centres of excellence which make up the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVM Catapult), which is sponsored by Innovate UK. The technology is built on 15 years of robotics research by Professor Simon Blackmore, the world's leading expert on precision farming at Harper Adams University.

Introverts are uniquely suited to disruption because they're comfortable playing where other people aren't

The Digital Transformation Institute of Capgemini published in the report titled "Conversational Commerce: Why Consumers Are Embracing Voice Assistants in Their Lives", which highlights how consumers use voice assistants (Google Assistant, Siri, and Alexa above all) and what opportunities these offer systems to companies to connect with their customers. From the report, which was attended by over 5,000 customers in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany, it emerges that in the next three years voice assistants will become the predominant mode of interaction between consumers, and that those who use technology to do purchases will be willing to spend 500% more through this new form of interaction than current levels. In fact, consumers are developing a strong preference for interacting with companies through voice assistants. Research has shown that today about a quarter of respondents (24%) would prefer to use a voice assistant instead of a website. However, it is estimated that in the next three years this percentage will grow to 40% and almost a third (31%) will interact with a voice assistant instead of going to a physical store or a bank branch, compared to 20% recorded today.

Germany's experience with intensive use of robots since 1995 tells a similar story of job stability . When robots are introduced into a German manufacturing firm, largely automobile plants, this increases the chances that workers will keep a job at the firm, although many of them perform different tasks there. When German manufacturing firms deploy robots, they don't displace existing workers. They do, however, create fewer new jobs, resulting in, over time, a decline in overall employment in manufacturing. Since there are fewer new manufacturing jobs, workers seek and find work in other industries. As a result, robot use hasn't produced an overall decline in German employment.

Can you spot the truth from the fake news? The new interactive BBC iReporter game - aimed at youngsters aged 11 to 18 - gives you the chance to take on the role of a journalist in the BBC newsroom. It is a "choose your own adventure" game, created by Aardman Animations, which challenges you to make your own decisions on which sources, political claims, social media comments and pictures should be trusted as you contribute to the day's news output. Which should be published, which should be checked and which should be discarded? The game is part of a BBC initiative to help young people identify false stories by giving students and teachers resources to use in classrooms across the UK.

If you're one who thinks the ability to dance is severely missing from modern robotics, the fine folks over at ETH Zurich's Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering have a treat for you. The team has developed a robot – a quadrupedal bot called the ANYmal – with the ability to analyze music and create its own choreography. Other robots have shown the ability to cut a rug to varying degrees, like the stripper robots on display during the most recent Consumer Electronics Show. Even NAO robots have synchronized skills. However, what makes the ANYmal special is its ability to react to music in real time and not rely on a programmed set of moves.

The European Robotics Forum 2018 (ERF2018), the most influential meeting of the robotics community in Europe, takes place in Tampere on 13-15 March 2018. ERF brings together over 900 leading scientists, companies, and policymakers for the largest robotics networking event in Europe. Under the theme "Robots and Us", the over 50 workshops cover current societal and technical themes, including human-robot-collaboration and how robotics can improve industrial productivity and service sector operations. During the opening the ERF2018, on 13 March, Juha Heikkilä, Head of unit, EC DG CNECT, explained that "the European Robotics Forum has been instrumental in breaking down silos and bringing together a strong, integrated robotics community in Europe. This year's theme, "Robots and Us", reflects the increasingly broad impact of robotics and allows discussing not just technology but also the all-important non-technological aspects of robotics."