In Part 1 of a four-part series, we explore disability in the digital age: how tech is offering new solutions, and new questions, for the future of human interaction. In a recorded therapy session, humanoid robot Kaspar blankly bats his large, round eyes at a young autistic boy. The boy timidly tickles Kaspar's feet, then flashes an ecstatic grin when the robot says, "This is nice. Ben Robins, a Kaspar researcher at Hertfordshire University in southern England, hopes that such modest breakthroughs could help children on the autism spectrum learn to socialize. "Every autistic child is so different, but most open up to robots," says Robins.

We are en route to a dystopian, jobless future where super advanced technology will make us humans obsolete. Or, as summed up in one word by WIRED, we're heading for a Robopocalypse. At least, that's what we're led to believe, if the recent hype around robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) is anything to go by. You can call this The Great Tech Panic and, to be fair, it's hardly surprising. Over the last few years, we've seen crazy progress in technology, and particularly AI, which is now capable of defeating Go masters, out-bluffing champions in Texas Hold'em, and safely driving a car.

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.

The days of manually troubleshooting networking problems may soon be over if the announcements today from Cisco and Mist are any indication. The two vendors today each debuted new offerings that employ artificial intelligence technologies to simplify the management of Wi-Fi and wired networks. Cisco Systems used an event in Barcelona, Spain to introduce what it dubs its "second wave of intent-based networking innovation, that includes new "assurance technologies." Specifically, the company is rolling out the Cisco Network Assurance Engine, which uses mathematical modeling and predictive analytics to accomplish a range of tasks, including predicting the impact of changes; continuously verifying network behavior; and checking for security and compliance risks. "Today, IT teams spend 43 percent of their time troubleshooting network issues," Cisco's Scott Harrell says in a blog post. "They are challenged with finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Cambridge startup Intellegens has secured a landmark maiden deal for its Alchemite artificial intelligence technology. The company has revealed its first commercial collaboration – with e-Therapeutics, an Oxford-based pioneer of Network-Driven Drug Discovery. Alchemite will enable e-Therapeutics to generate improved predictions, correct errors and fill in gaps in the large-scale biological and chemical information repositories housed in the company's proprietary databases. Alchemite is the result of intensive research by Dr Gareth Conduit, CTO and Intellegens co- founder. Working at the world-famous Cavendish Laboratories in Cambridge, Dr Conduit discovered a new method of analysing sparsely populated matrices using deep neural networks and novel machine learning approaches.

Big Brother Watch fears it could lead to a huge unchecked database which could be secretly abused by police forces and the government. Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, said: "Selfie pay may seem like a convenience but it's actually a biometric identification tool, much like DNA and iris scanning. "Selfie pay caused controversy when it recently became normalised in China and yet Brits are now submitting themselves to the same identity checks for simple payments. "Under the Snooper's Charter, the UK Government can secretly seize any database, and that includes databases of facial scans. "Police forces in the UK are also getting their hands on facial recognition tech and even used it to spy on fans at the Champions League final.

THE past decade has seen the smartphone become a portal for managing daily life. Consumers use their pocket computers to bank, buy and befriend. Now this array of activities is expanding into an even more vital sphere. Apple has spent three years preparing its devices and software to process medical data, offering products to researchers and clinical-care teams. On January 24th it announced the result. The next big software update for its iPhone will include a feature, Health Records, to allow users to view, manage and share their medical records.

Imformatics PHD student Sebastian Bitzer performs push up exercises with a programmed Kondo humanoid robot at the newly opened Imformatics Forum building of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland September 3, 2008. 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.

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government aims to broaden its powers to block foreign takeovers of French companies deemed as strategic, to also include firms involved in data protection and artificial intelligence ('AI'), the finance minister said on Friday. Bruno Le Maire said he wanted the two sectors to be added to a 2014 decree requiring foreign companies to get permission from the French state before taking control of firms in the energy, telecoms, transport, water and the health industries. "I think that when you look at current economic trends, there's a certain number of sectors that could be added to this decree," Le Maire said on BFM TV. Do we really want investors to market our data? I'm thinking about artificial intelligence, a very sensitive sector that we want more investment in," he added.

You're presented with a list of options FEMAIL Food&Drink was the first to test out Lidl's new winebot feature on Facebook Messenger. I started by asking it for recommendations to pair with my dinner that evening: butternut squash ravioli with a simple tomato sauce. It immediately dished out some advice, writing: 'Lively, fruity reds are lovely with tomato-based pasta dishes. If you have a hint of chilli in there, try a Primitivo.' It also recommended two red wines from Lidl's collection.