The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. As an artificial intelligence researcher, I often come across the idea that many people are afraid of what AI might bring. It's perhaps unsurprising, given both history and the entertainment industry, that we might be afraid of a cybernetic takeover that forces us to live locked away, "Matrix"-like, as some sort of human battery. And yet it is hard for me to look up from the evolutionary computer models I use to develop AI, to think about how the innocent virtual creatures on my screen might become the monsters of the future. Might I become "the destroyer of worlds," as Oppenheimer lamented after spearheading the construction of the first nuclear bomb?

July 14, 2017 --According to Norse mythology, the god Odin has two ravens that fly all over Midgard to gather information. Their names are Huginn and Muninn, the Old Norse words for "thought" and "memory." The ancient storytellers who bestowed these names on the birds were onto something: A new study finds that ravens can flexibly plan for events outside their present sensory awareness, a cognitive skill once considered exclusive to humans and other great apes. This research does more than just reveal that the raven is smarter than we thought, that apes' intellectual abilities are less unique than we thought, and that a mammalian lineage is a not a prerequisite for complex thinking. It also adds to the growing body of evidence that intelligence has evolved more than once.

This week: awesome applied AI pieces. Opinion: AI is not really Intelligent When not to use deep learning?. Why investors won't be all that interested in AI startups sooner rather than later.

In less than a year, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will go into effect across Europe. This regulation, commissioned by the European Union, will mandate a broad set of data management requirements that dictate how organizations within the EU, as well as those that conduct business in the EU, handle people's personal information. Set to take effect May 25, 2018, GDPR changes dramatically how companies must handle and process any data that can be used to identify an individual or face stiff penalties. For example, failure to provide regulators and citizens of a data breach within 72 hours will result in fines of up to 20M € or 4% of the organization's total annual revenue. Yet, despite these risks and the looming deadline, many organizations are still not yet prepared.

As an artificial intelligence researcher, I often come across the idea that many people are afraid of what AI might bring. It's perhaps unsurprising, given both history and the entertainment industry, that we might be afraid of a cybernetic takeover that forces us to live locked away, 'Matrix'-like, as some sort of human battery. And yet it is hard for me to look up from the evolutionary computer models I use to develop AI, to think about how the innocent virtual creatures on my screen might become the monsters of the future. One leading expert say he would'appeal to the compassion and empathy that the superintelligence has to keep me, a compassionate and empathetic person, alive' Why should a superintelligence keep us around? I would argue that I am a good person who might have even helped to bring about the superintelligence itself.

Corrosive acids such as those used in last night's attacks in London can be found and purchased online within minutes. Googling "sulphuric acid", for instance, instantly brings up a row of products, most of which cost less than £10, that sits right across the top of the page. One of the first search results is described as a "high strength" product that should be "handled with extreme care as [it] can cause severe burns". The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar.

When batteries go bang as electric cars charge: Insights from a cyber security perspective. The image above shows an incident captured by CCTV in my own back garden earlier this year. This occurred when a power drill battery, which was being charged by builders working on my house, exploded and shot in the air. Fortunately, no-one was injured and no damage was done, apart from some slightly scorched grass. The lithium-ion battery in question was a branded product that had apparently been purchased from a reputable retailer. So why did it explode in such a spectacular way?

You're used to unlocking your door with a key, but maybe not with your face. As strange as it sounds, our physical appearances can now verify payments, grant access and improve existing security systems. Protecting physical and digital possessions is a universal concern which benefits everyone, unless you're a cybercriminal or a kleptomaniac of course. Facial biometrics are gradually being applied to more industries, disrupting design, manufacturing, construction, law enforcement and healthcare. How is facial recognition software affecting these different sectors, and who are the companies and organisations behind its development?

The University of Agder invites applications for a full-time permanent position as Professor at the Department of Information and Communication Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Science. The position is currently located in Grimstad, Norway. The starting date is negotiable. The primary aim of this position is to strengthen the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAIR), to be hosted by the Department of ICT. The vision of CAIR is to provide an attractive environment for cutting-edge research on artificial intelligence (AI), focusing particularly on machine learning.

Andrew Hopkins' route into the world of science has a familiar start – an inspirational chemistry teacher at school. Less predictably, he made a career in pharmaceuticals after getting his first taste of industrial chemistry in a steelworks. Hopkins grew up in Neath, South Wales, and his first summer job was in the labs at the British Steel plant in nearby Port Talbot. 'By then I'd already got the chemistry bug,' he says. 'What I loved about chemistry is that it is the "liberal science" that allows you to go in many different directions, and it seemed like a natural choice to follow my passion.'