Evolving consumer expectations, the rapid adoption of technology and new competitors entering the markets are placing new demands on today's wealth management firms. These trends are re-shaping the look and feel of the industry, and the change is happening across all aspects of the value chain, from client acquisition to advice to ongoing portfolio monitoring and decision-making. According to Ketan Samani, chief digital officer for APAC at UBS Wealth Management, the industry is just at the start of its digital journey. "Wealth management is taking the lead from the retail banks, which experienced high disruption by start-ups in payments, lending and other products," he said. "It is just waking up to the fact that the robo-advisers will do the same. There is a way to go, but the journey has begun."

Concerns have been raised about a set of late stage government amendments inserted into the UK's draft data protection bill. The clauses deal with the processing of public sector data. Health data privacy advocacy group MedConfidential believes ministers are trying to sneak in a data protection law carveout, in order to hand politicians the power to judge the ethics of -- for example -- applying AI to taxpayer-funded medical data-sets. Thus far, the Data Protection Bill 2017, which is intended to align domestic rules with the incoming EU General Data Protection Regulation -- and generally gives consumers more control over how their data is used -- has attracted limited controversy. Although some privacy groups argue the government is not going far enough on data redress powers. But if complex and impactful ethical judgments about how to process sensitive public sector data are to be nakedly conjoined to political interests that would indeed be a major cause for alarm.

Sand--bubblers are crabs of the genera Dotilla and Scopimera which are known to produce remarkable patterns and structures at tropical beaches. From these pattern-making abilities, we may draw inspiration for digital visual art. A simple mathematical model is proposed and an algorithm is designed that may create such sand-bubbler patterns artificially. In addition, design parameters to modify the patterns are identified and analyzed by computational aesthetic measures. Finally, an extension of the algorithm is discussed that may enable controlling and guiding generative evolution of the art-making process.

If you dial the emergency services in Denmark, soon you won't just get a human operator, but an artificially intelligent assistant will be listening in too. Developed by start-up Corti, the system kicks into action when some dials 112 in Copenhagen, then it starts listening for signs of a possible cardiac arrest. To do this, it first uses speech recognition software to transcribe what's being said before analysing the text. Once it is confident of a diagnosis, it flashes an alert on the screen for the operator to see. Identifying cardiac arrest over the phone is one of the trickiest tasks for an operator.

Businesses of the future will be defined by technologies such as the Internet of Things, supercomputing, virtual reality, robotics and artificial intelligence. They form a critical part of so-called "Industry 4.0" and the rise of automation and big data in a wide variety of sectors. Technological revolutions come and go. The first industrial era dawned in the 1700s when sophisticated mechanical systems emerged. Then came electricity and the rise of computers. The fourth such era is all about automation, and machines that could one day compete with humans in virtually all aspects of the workplace.

The growing role of artificial intelligence, automation and robotics within the modern supply chain will be reflected at 2019's International Materials Handling Exhibition (IMHX 2019). "The Barclays UK Logistics Confidence Index 2017 highlighted that the logistics sector is taking all forms of technology seriously and that automation, robotics and AI are going to have a bigger impact than ever before as warehouse operators look to optimise their intralogistics operations over the next five years," IMHX 2019 event director Rob Fisher said. He continued: "Automation, for example, represents one of the biggest opportunities to reduce cost and increase efficiency within a warehouse or distribution centre and the predicted post-Brexit labour shortages are strengthening the case for automation as firms seek to make their operations less labour-intensive. "High demand and opportunities for further market growth are driving optimism among automated intralogistics solutions suppliers and the bookings we have already taken and the interest being expressed in IMHX 2019 from some of the leading names in the field is clear evidence of the sector's confidence." Dave Berridge, secretary of AMHSA (the Automated Material Handling Association) supports this view. "Demand is being fuelled by the availability of funding and advances in technology that are increasing the scope of automation so that now some form of automated or semi-automated approach is an attractive proposition even to smaller companies," he stated. As part of IMHX 2019's emphasis on new technology a Future Technology Zone is being planned that will provide an opportunity for the UK's top universities that are working on artificial intelligence, robotics and automation to demonstrate some of their logistics-related projects. "UK universities have long been hotbeds for top scientific talent and these institutions are homes to pioneering research and the next generation of innovators in the industry.

When asked to head Facebook's Applied Machine Learning group -- to supercharge the world's biggest social network with an AI makeover -- Joaquin Quiñonero Candela hesitated. It was not that the Spanish-born scientist, a self-described "machine learning (ML) person," hadn't already witnessed how AI could help Facebook. Since joining the company in 2012, he had overseen a transformation of the company's ad operation, using an ML approach to make sponsored posts more relevant and effective. Significantly, he did this in a way that empowered engineers in his group to use AI even if they weren't trained to do so, making the ad division richer overall in machine learning skills. But he wasn't sure the same magic would take hold in the larger arena of Facebook, where billions of people-to-people connections depend on fuzzier values than the hard data that measures ads. "I wanted to be convinced that there was going to be value in it," he says of the promotion. Despite his doubts, Candela took the post. And now, after barely two years, his hesitation seems almost absurd.

A lot can happen in a year. At the start of 2017 I highlighted 15 disruptive technology trends I expected to see in 2017. As we start 2018 I thought it would be interesting to look back over the last 12 months to see what progress has been made. . . Whilst the use of industrial robots for manufacturing is nothing new, 2017 saw a growth in organisations implementing industrial robots alongside their human colleagues. These lightweight plug and play systems, offer huge flexibility, and with an average cost of around £18,000 are a growing part of the industry.

A.I. RESUME is a 21st-century resume leveraging data, analytics, AI and modern technologies for a more effective job search and application process. Meet Titus Blair, the founder of A.I. RESUME who is personally dedicated to leveraging A.I. for the benefit of humanity. Titus Blair has built, run and grown successful e-commerce, mobile and technology startups. He has been featured on major television stations, national newspapers and magazines as well as in the book, Startup Nation. I connected with Titus Blair last year in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain to talk about artificial intelligence, future of work and resumes.

Artificial Intelligence There is a constant battle in human's curiosity to check out if we can defeat computers. Due to that, people are creating different games to play against the robot. After chess, Jeopardy or even soccer, humans decided to test robots in one of the most interesting game tables – foosball. The idea to create a foosball table you can play against robot was born on the Swiss École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne as a part of their education. When you look at that table, it looks like an average foosball table, with a pretty sleek design.