There are places people leave and places people go. Naples might be Italy's third-biggest city, but it is losing those some of those people all the time. The city was once one of the industrial engines of Italy -- a history still evident from the husks and dirt of factories in parts of its centre -- and its promenades still hold some of the splendid grandeur of a city known for its contribution to the arts, travel, literature, food, football and crime. But in recent years, like many cities built on industry and manufacturing, some of that glory has faded away. And its young people have left, too -- giving Naples that sense of being a place you start, not where you end.

From Stephen Hawking to Alan Turing, many of the most intelligent people in the world are atheists. In the hope of understanding the link between intelligence and religion, researchers have created a model based on historical evidence and a recent survey. The findings suggest that religion should be considered an instinct, with intelligence the ability to rise above one's instincts. From Stephen Hawking to Alan Turing, many of the most intelligent people in the world are atheists. Hawking famously said: 'Science can explain the universe, we don't need God to explain why there is something rather than nothing' The researchers argue that religion should be seen as a separate evolved domain or instinct, whereas intelligence allows people to rise above their instincts.

Security was greater than ever at the French festival, with stepped up efforts to restrict access and even an anti-drone system. France remains under a state of emergency since the November 2015 Paris attacks. This is also the first festival held since the nearby Nice attack last year that killed 86 people.

Google's Doodle is celebrating the Antikythera mechanism, which might just be the first computer. The mechanism was found in 1902 – exactly 115 years ago – and the discovery changed the way we saw the ancient Greeks. The man who found it, Valerios Stais, initially thought that the bronze mechanism he could see was a gear or a wheel – but on closer inspection, the metal turned out to be part of the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient and mysterious analogue astronomical computer. The machine could be used to track and predict where the planets were, understand lunar and solar eclipses, and count towards the next Olympic Games. But its uses were various – it might also have been used for unknown forms of mapping and navigation.

Whatever sins you've committed in life, being sandwiched in traffic in Milton Keynes is a punishment no one rightfully deserves. This modern penance should become less gruelling from autumn next year, when Milton Keynes is expected to become the first UK city (or is it a town?) to switch on an AI-powered traffic management system. A company called Vivacity Labs, with a little help from the public purse, will begin installing 2,500 cameras into traffic lights around the city this September. When live, the system will monitor major junctions and car parking spaces in a 50 square mile zone, and be tasked primarily with tackling congestion. With thousands of eyes built into lights, the AI will be able to direct traffic more efficiently and dynamically prioritise emergency vehicles, buses and cyclists where appropriate.

At the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence in Cambridge last year, Professor Stephen Hawking told the crowd: "Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation. We do not yet know which." It is perhaps not coincidental that the centre, which brings together researchers to investigate the implications of AI, has been established in this country. Five of the world's biggest technology companies have bought UK AI businesses in recent years, including DeepMind, which was acquired by Google for a reported $400m in 2015, SwiftKey (bought by Microsoft for an estimated $250m) and Magic Pony Technology (acquired by Twitter for $150m). Analysis by MMC Ventures shows the number of AI companies founded in the UK doubled in 2014-16, compared with 2011-13.

A further use case for Blockchain in Estonia is emerging in the form of Agrello's self-signing legal contracts. Under plans announced by the startup this week, the legal practice in Estonia could soon see Blockchain-based smart contracts and artificial intelligence (AI) leave their mark. "Until now, current Smart Contract technology has been impossible to implement as a real-world agreement due to its lack of legal visibility and obscured nature," Agrello's chief scientist Alexander Norta said in an accompanying press release. "Utilizing state of the art AI technology, we are bridging the gap between the Blockchain, the legal world and the non-coding end user to make Smart Contracts legally-binding and available to everyone." Estonia has been actively perusing the possibilities afforded by Blockchain for several years and has positioned itself as a global leader in e-government.

According to a study by Oracle, almost 80 percent of businesses have already implemented or are planning to adopt AI as a customer service solution by 2020, and a recent report by Deloitte and Oxford University suggests telesales could be the next to go. Other experts are ambivalent about whether AI is really advanced enough to take over the role of a talented sales representative. AI is already being used in the sales field to respond to basic email or chat inquiries, organize sales interactions, and follow up with leads. However, recent studies show that even the most advanced uses of AI bots still struggle when faced with complex user queries, and experts argue that if rolled out too early, bots may frustrate users and create more problems than solutions. Here's why it's too early for AI to take over the role of sales representative just yet.

Innovations in digitization, analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation are creating performance and productivity opportunities for business and the economy, even as they reshape employment and the future of work. Rapid technological advances in digitization and data and analytics have been reshaping the business landscape, supercharging performance, and enabling the emergence of new business innovations and new forms of competition. At the same time, the technology itself continues to evolve, bringing new waves of advances in robotics, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), and especially machine learning. Together they amount to a step change in technical capabilities that could have profound implications for business, for the economy, and more broadly, for society. Some companies are gaining a competitive edge with their use of data and analytics, which can enable faster and larger-scale evidence-based decision making, insight generation, and process optimization.

Artificial intelligence has already stolen the headlines in 2017 by defeating poker champions and ordering us cups of coffee. Besides this, there are ways the technology is being used to improve the world. AI is the most important investment for companies in the near future. IDC predicts a widespread adoption of cognitive systems and AI will drive worldwide revenues from nearly $8bn in 2016 to more than $47bn in 2020. The industries with the most lucrative short-term opportunities are identified as banking, securities and investments and manufacturing.