We introduce a general method for improving the convergence rate of gradient-based optimizers that is easy to implement and works well in practice. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in a range of optimization problems by applying it to stochastic gradient descent, stochastic gradient descent with Nesterov momentum, and Adam, showing that it significantly reduces the need for the manual tuning of the initial learning rate for these commonly used algorithms. Our method works by dynamically updating the learning rate during optimization using the gradient with respect to the learning rate of the update rule itself. Computing this "hypergradient" needs little additional computation, requires only one extra copy of the original gradient to be stored in memory, and relies upon nothing more than what is provided by reverse-mode automatic differentiation.

The MIT Technology Review has released a list of technologies it believes will make the most impact over the next 12 months, including smarter cities, genetic fortune telling and "babel fish" earphones.

The Port of Rotterdam is preparing for a digital transformation with IBM's cloud-based IoT technologies – starting with the formulation of a centralised dashboard application that collects and processes real-time water, weather sensor data and communications data. Previously, Europe's largest port by cargo tonnage banked on conventional communication techniques such as radar and radio to establish communication between captains, pilots and terminal operators to make vital decisions on port operations. With the IBM alliance, IoT sensors in addition to augmented intelligence (AI) and smart weather data will be used to collect numerous data streams including weather, water levels, currents, temperature and check berth availability. These data will be analysed by IBM's cloud-based IoT technologies and turned into information. The port authorities can use this information to make decisions that can reduce wait times, manage traffic more efficiently, decide best time for ship docking, load and unload among other advantages.

"Automation threatens 800 million jobs," read the headlines. Artificial intelligence always knew how to stoke our most primal fears. Wouldn't it be ironic if, after insurance brokers and journalists, the latest profession under siege from automation was the very people who write the software which makes technology tick? Today, few jobs are more highly prized than those of software developers. Developers sit in a golden seat because employers think only skilled human beings can write great code.

Phone makers will seek to entice new buyers with better cameras and bigger screens at the world's biggest mobile fair starting Monday in Spain after a year of flat smartphone sales.

Governments, corporations and even technology vendors are all grappling with major opportunities and challenges emerging as artificial intelligence moves from the lab into the boardroom. With any game-changing innovation the biggest challenge is often the scarcity of talent, not least in the field of AI where many of the advances emanated from academia. Often pioneers of this latest wave of disruption are PhD students from top global universities who see the opportunity to take a theory from the classroom and create a product or solution for the world. AI and deep learning, automation, predictive analytics, quantum computing and nano technology have all in some form started life in a lab or classroom - not in a traditional software development environment. The net result is that the new'rock stars' (well-paid technical talent) as they are so commonly called in Silicon Valley, are the PhD Research Scientists who are even fewer in number today than their predecessor software engineers.

It is easy to confuse the current geopolitical situation with that of the 1980s. The United States and Russia each accuse the other of interfering in domestic affairs. Russia has annexed territory over U.S. objections, raising concerns about military conflict. As during the Cold War after World War II, nations are developing and building weapons based on advanced technology. During the Cold War, the weapon of choice was nuclear missiles; today it's software, whether its used for attacking computer systems or targets in the real world. Russian rhetoric about the importance of artificial intelligence is picking up – and with good reason: As artificial intelligence software develops, it will be able to make decisions based on more data, and more quickly, than humans can handle.

We spend a lot of time talking to Alexa and Siri. Imagine if such artificial personalities were put inside a cute, adorable robot. That's what Alexander Reben has done. The artist created what he saw as the perfect interview machine to see how much he could get people to reveal to the robot. Reben's experiments with human robot interactions began when he was working on his Ph.D. in robotics at MIT.

The next BriefingsDirect technology innovation thought leadership discussion explores how rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are poised to reshape procurement -- like a fast-forwarding to a once-fanciful vision of the future. Whereas George Jetson of the 1960s cartoon portrayed a world of household robots, flying cars, and push-button corporate jobs -- the 2017 procurement landscape has its own impressive retinue of decision bots, automated processes, and data-driven insights. We won't need to wait long for this vision of futuristic business to arrive. As we enter 2017, applied intelligence derived from entirely new data analysis benefits has redefined productivity and provided business leaders with unprecedented tools for managing procurement, supply chains, and continuity risks. To learn more about the future of predictive -- and even proactive -- procurement technologies, please welcome Chris Haydon, Chief Strategy Officer at SAP Ariba. The discussion is moderated by BriefingsDirect's Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions. Gardner: It seems like only yesterday that we were content to gain a common view of the customer or develop an end-to-end bead on a single business process.

A report by leading experts calls on governments and businesses to address the "clear and present danger" posed by unregulated AI. The foreboding report is titled'The Malicious Use Of Artificial Intelligence' and was co-authored by experts from Oxford University, The Centre For The Study of Existential Risk, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and more. Digital security -- The risk of AI being used for increasing the scale and efficiency of cyberattacks. These attacks could be to compromise other systems by reducing laborious tasks, or it could exploit human error with new attacks such as speech synthesis. Some provided examples include connected vehicles being compromised to crash, or even situations once seen as dystopian such as swarms of micro-drones.