With a financial services industry increasingly reliant on technology, cyber-threats are a real, and for many organisations, persistent threat. There have been numerous examples of cyber-crime and internal fraud that have resulted in data leaks and/or financial losses. Firms are being required to be more vigilant when it comes to their technology, with greater pressure to improve both network resiliency and security. This is where firms like NetGuardians can assist, offering solutions to the industry to protect against fraud and cyber-crime. "We are helping to detect and reduce false positives and detect criminal activities via our innovative technology based on big data and machine learning" says Maio. Maio and his associate started the firm ten years ago in Switzerland and have now expanded overseas with offices in Kenya, Poland and Singapore.

Essentially, no one wants suffocating regulations and laws, yet a line has to be drawn somewhere. Where exactly that should be? Well, the debate is only just starting. Clark reckoned policymakers are "slightly concerned about AI, but not generally not aware of its rate of progress." He hoped to see more people hosting more workshops, where scientists, engineers, those advising lawmakers, and other experts, can raise their concerns. "This is the beginning of a dialogue on this topic, not the end," Brundage added.

A majority of employees globally say artificial intelligence (AI) could help improve their jobs and workplaces, according to new research from The Workplace Institute at Kronos. A little more than four out of five workers (82%) say AI could make their jobs more empowering and engaging, the report said. The findings suggest worker buy-in is in increasing, potentially allowing the workforce to be more accepting of new technologies used in digital transformation efforts. The survey looked at nearly 3,000 employees from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the US. Respondents from all eight countries said they would accept AI in the workplace for a few reasons: Simplifying time-consuming processes (64% of respondents), balancing their workload (64%), increasing fairness (62%), and helping managers make better decisions (57%).

FRANKFURT, Germany - Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are raising risks that malicious users will soon exploit the technology to mount automated hacking attacks, cause driverless car crashes or turn commercial drones into targeted weapons, a new report warns. The study, published on Wednesday by 25 technical and public policy researchers from Cambridge, Oxford and Yale universities along with privacy and military experts, sounded the alarm for the potential misuse of AI by rogue states, criminals and lone-wolf attackers. The researchers said the malicious use of AI poses imminent threats to digital, physical and political security by allowing for large-scale, finely targeted, highly efficient attacks. The study focuses on plausible developments within five years. "We all agree there are a lot of positive applications of AI," Miles Brundage, a research fellow at Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute. "There was a gap in the literature around the issue of malicious use."

"For many decades hype outstripped fact in terms of AI and machine learning. "This report looks at the practices that just don't work anymore and suggests broad approaches that might help: for example, how to design software and hardware to make it less hackable - and what type of laws and international regulations might work in tandem with this." The report urges policy makers and researchers to work together to understand and prepare for how the technology could be used maliciously, and calls for developers to be proactive and mindful of how it could be misused. Those who contributed to the study include the Elon Musk-founded non-profit research firm OpenAI and international digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

According to a global survey of nearly 3,000 employees across eight nations conducted by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated, four out of five employees surveyed see significant opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more engaging and empowering workplace experience, yet admit a lack of transparency from their employers is a primary driver of fear and concern. The Engaging Opportunity: Working Smarter with AI survey conducted with Coleman Parkes Research explores how employees – both hourly and salaried from a variety of industries in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. – believe emerging technologies should be used to improve the future of work. The Workforce Institute at Kronos provides research and education on critical workplace issues facing organizations around the globe. By bringing together thought leaders, The Workforce Institute at Kronos is uniquely positioned to empower organizations with the knowledge and information they need to manage their workforce effectively and provide a voice for employees on important workplace issues. A hallmark of The Workforce Institute's research is balancing the needs and desires of diverse employee populations with the needs of organizations.

Since the 1980s the number of women completing computer science degrees has plummeted, and in most large tech companies the representation of women in technical roles is below 30%. This lack of diversity prevents us from building products that work for everybody. It can foster toxic "brogrammer" cultures which harm everybody who works within them, and it deprives teams of the well-documented performance boost that women bring. Many of the early superstars in computer science were women -- from Lord Byron's polymath daughter Ada Lovelace, the first person to envisage a general purpose computer, to Rear Admiral Grace Hooper, who pioneered the use of natural language in writing computer programs. Similarly, the post-war computing scene was dominated by women.

Drones turned into missiles, fake videos manipulating public opinion and automated hacking are just three of the threats from artificial intelligence in the wrong hands, experts have said. The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence report warns that AI is ripe for exploitation by rogue states, criminals and terrorists. Those designing AI systems need to do more to mitigate possible misuses of their technology, the authors said. And governments must consider new laws. Speaking to the BBC, Shahar Avin, from Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, explained that the report concentrated on areas of AI that were available now or likely to be available within five years, rather than looking to the distant future.

Four out of five employees surveyed see significant opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) to create a more engaging and empowering workplace experience, yet admit a lack of transparency from their employers is a primary driver of fear and concern. This is according to a global survey of nearly 3,000 employees across eight nations conducted by The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated. The survey, "Engaging Opportunity: Working Smarter with AI," conducted with Coleman Parkes Research, explores how employees – both hourly and salaried from a variety of industries in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. – believe emerging technologies should be used to improve the future of work. "Organizations are making significant investments in benefits, technology, and innovative workplaces, yet employees are working more than ever and engagement has remained stagnant for decades," said Joyce Maroney, executive director, The Workforce Institute at Kronos. " While emerging technologies always generate uncertainty, this survey shows employees worldwide share a cautious optimism that artificial intelligence is a promising tool that could pave the way for a game-changing employee experience if it is used to add fairness and eliminate low-value workplace processes and tasks, allowing employees to focus on the parts of their roles that really matter."

Every useful machine – from advanced AI through to the humble toaster – has to possess'knowledge' about the world in which it operates. For example, within the design of a household toaster, much knowledge about the world must have already been implemented. The toaster'knows' what electrical voltage is available through the design of its electric components. Through its physical dimensions it knows the size of a slice of bread (with some allowance for variation). Within the toaster's regulation mechanisms lies knowledge on the duration of toasting typically needed, and in its switch and knob design it even knows the typical size of people's fingers with which these buttons are being pushed and turned.