A Tory minister has been mocked for'robot a*** licking' after he gushed about the Government's artificial intelligence (AI) strategy online. Theresa May yesterday welcomed a new report which said Britain is the best equipped country in the world to embrace AI - but added on Twitter: 'I want us to do even more'. Her digital policy minister Matt Hancock rushed to respond to his boss online telling her that he was'on it'. But his tweet was greeted with mockery by Labour deputy leader Tom Watson who replied: 'We're not quite there with robot a*** licking yet but Matt's on it.' The jibe comes as both parties try to vie to be the champion of the rise of the robots despite fears they could cause millions of job losses in the UK as they muscle humans out of the workplace.

The light-sensitive layer found at the back of a person's eyes contains more than just cells that detect shadows and light -- it also contains information about the health of a person's entire body. And now, artificial intelligence can glean this information from a single snapshot, new research suggests. The new AI algorithm, which analyzes images of this light-sensitive layer of the eye, called the retina, could one day provide on the spot diagnoses of various ailments from diabetes to autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, the researchers claim. The AI algorithm was presented by Dr. Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth, the director of the ophthalmology department at the Medical University of Vienna, earlier this month at a scientific meeting in Vienna. Research on the algorithm was published Dec. 8 in the journal Ophthalmology.

Machine learning is unequivocally the foundation of Artificial Intelligence's resurgence. The capability to utilize intelligent algorithms to make predictions--and to dynamically refine and improve those predictions based on current and future results--is perhaps the most utilitarian manifestation of AI today. The applicability of this penchant for learning is so illimitable largely due to the nature of data-driven needs. Machine learning is impacting aspects of data engineering, analytics, customer interactions and internal employee interfaces. "Discovering data, [which] requires a lot of subject matter expertise and ultimately allows for decision-making: whether deciding if it's for relationships or how data's flowing," Io-Tahoe CEO Oksana Sokolovsky explained.

A new generation of futuristic robots could be powered by gel packs inspired by the electric eel, according to new research. Experts created the biologically based batteries by harnessing the same chemical process used by the fish to stun their prey and defend against predators. It could lead to the development of flexible, transparent, bio-compatible energy sources for use in everything from cyborgs to implantable gadgets. A new generation of futuristic robots could be powered by gel packs inspired by the electric eel, according to new research. To create their artificial electrical organ, the team used a 3D bioprinter to deposit droplets of liquid onto plastic base layers and set them into gels using a UV light.

Two connected stories in Monday's Guardian: Tom Watson asks us to "embrace an android" while Rachel Reeves describes society's sixth giant evil as a "crisis of loneliness". Replacing people with machines decreases opportunities for social interactions helping many feel integrated. Self-service in shops, libraries, banks and other places means people can go all day without conversation with a "real" person. It is set to worsen, to the detriment of contact and service quality. It is no coincidence that Lidl, the fastest-growing supermarket, resisted moves to self-service tills until recently.

Artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups will be given the opportunity to receive up to £68,000 in funding as part of the 2018 Velocity Health programme. Velocity Health is an accelerator programme spear-headed by global healthcare firm Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) and Wayra UK, the accelerator platform owned by Telefónica. It was set up in 2015 and targets start-ups working to meet the challenges facing the NHS. This year, MSD and Wayra UK are seeking firms using machine learning and AI to support disease and illness prevention. Two companies will be offered a maximum of £68,000 each in funding and "acceleration services".

This month, Aviva-backed smart home security system Cocoon revealed that it had signed a deal with digital home insurance platform PolicyCastle, which will see policyholders receive a 15% discount when they protect their home using the system. While telematics systems are widely used in the UK motor insurance industry, smart home technology is still in its infancy by comparison. However, the signs suggest that it could well be the next frontier in revolutionising insurance: in fact, 75% of home insurers expect smart home technology to positively affect risk mitigation, according to recent stats. Insurance Business asked Sanjay Parekh, CEO of Cocoon, about the benefits for the insurance industry of utilising smart home tech, and how AI will change the way homes are protected. "The development of AI-powered'smart' home security offers insurers the ability to more accurately price risk, reducing the cost of insuring security-conscious homeowners which in turn can be passed back as a reduction or saving on their premium," Parekh began.

Google Assistant has been available on recent Android phones for a while. However, that still puts it out out of reach of many Android users when a whopping 46.5 percent of active Android users are running a version older than Marshmallow. To help address this, Google is making Assistant available on devices running Android Lollipop. If you're still rocking an older phone, you'll get the same AI helper as a shiny new handset. The update is starting to reach phones with English language settings in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, India and Singapore. It'll also be available in Spanish in the US, Mexico and Spain, and will hit devices in Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea.

Nearly three years ago, Brendan Greene was living on welfare in his home country of Ireland. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is a title few non-video game diehards have ever heard of. That's partly because Greene and game developer Bluehole Studio have not marketed the game. Instead, a combination of viral buzz through streaming services like Twitch and a novel spin on the shooter genre propelled PUBG (pronounced "pub-gee") to popularity on par with Call of Duty, with massive production and advertising budgets. This week, having thrived on PC, PUBG will enjoy a new wave of players by making its debut on Microsoft's Xbox One.

Amazon brought multiroom audio support to its Echo speakers a few months ago, but let's face it: unless you're a big fan of Amazon Music Unlimited, it hasn't been very useful for on-demand streaming. As promised, Amazon has added multiroom support for Spotify (oh, and SiriusXM) to let you play the tunes of your choice across more than one Echo at a time, including groups. You won't have to stop listening to an album just because you've moved from the living room to the kitchen. Multi-speaker Spotify streaming is only available in a handful of countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Ireland and Germany. SiriusXM, unsurprisingly, only gets this option in the US.