Discrimination discovery from data is an important task aiming at identifying patterns of illegal and unethical discriminatory activities against protected-by-law groups, e.g., ethnic minorities. While any legally-valid proof of discrimination requires evidence of causality, the state-of-the-art methods are essentially correlation-based, albeit, as it is well known, correlation does not imply causation. In this paper we take a principled causal approach to the data mining problem of discrimination detection in databases. Following Suppes' probabilistic causation theory, we define a method to extract, from a dataset of historical decision records, the causal structures existing among the attributes in the data. The result is a type of constrained Bayesian network, which we dub Suppes-Bayes Causal Network (SBCN). Next, we develop a toolkit of methods based on random walks on top of the SBCN, addressing different anti-discrimination legal concepts, such as direct and indirect discrimination, group and individual discrimination, genuine requirement, and favoritism. Our experiments on real-world datasets confirm the inferential power of our approach in all these different tasks.

If you are a roboticist and you want to work with humanoids but you don't want to build a robot from scratch, PAL Robotics would be happy to sell you one. The Spanish robot maker is introducing a new option that improves on its REEM humanoids: TALOS is a 32-degrees-of-freedom, 1.75-meter-tall, 100-kilogram robot designed for dynamic walking, heavy lifting, and (eventually) assisting humans with all of those tasks that we really don't want to be doing. PAL Robotics designed TALOS with the intention of having the robot "work on physically demanding and accurate tasks performed under hostile or uncomfortable industrial settings," according to PAL CEO Francesco Ferro. This means that the robot is not just a research platform--it's going to start out in research, as many robots do, but PAL hopes it can transition into doing useful tasks in the real world, a thing that humanoid robots in general aren't known for. Right out of the box (and we assume it's a pretty big box), TALOS can walk at 3 km/h, it can handle traveling over irregular surfaces, and its battery can keep it running for up to 3 hours (depending on what the robot is doing).

LoopMe, a digital advertising firm that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to optimize mobile video advertising, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by Impulse VC and Harbert European Growth Capital, with participation from Holzbrinck Ventures and Open Ocean Capital. Founded out of London in 2012, LoopMe unifies all the popular mobile video ad formats, covering pre-roll, HTML5, and the VAST ad-serving standard. In a nutshell, the platform replaces humans with algorithms that determine the placement of ads in real time, based on metrics such as purchase intent or offline sales. The technology "learns" how viewers are reacting to the ads and changes them based on how a user is responding. The company's platform has been used by a host of well-known brands, including Microsoft, Disney, Airbnb, and Honda.

WikiLeaks has released a huge set of files that it calls "Year Zero" and which mark the biggest exposure of CIA spying secrets ever. The massive set of documents – over 8,000 pages in all – include a host of hacking secrets that could embarrass intelligence agencies and the US government, as well as undermining spying efforts across the world. Here are six of the biggest secrets and pieces of information yet to emerge from the huge dump. 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. Japan's On-Art Corp's CEO Kazuya Kanemaru poses with his company's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot'TRX03' and other robots during a demonstration in Tokyo, Japan Japan's On-Art Corp's eight metre tall dinosaur-shaped mechanical suit robot'TRX03' performs during its unveiling in Tokyo, Japan Singulato Motors co-founder and CEO Shen Haiyin poses in his company's concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China A picture shows Singulato Motors' concept car Tigercar P0 at a workshop in Beijing, China Connected company president Shigeki Tomoyama addresses a press briefing as he elaborates on Toyota's "connected strategy" in Tokyo.

WikiLeaks has alleged that the CIA looked into vehicle interference methods that could potentially enable it to assassinate people without detection. It hasn't included any more details about the alleged practice. 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 ...

Do you think you can tell a piece of music composed by artificial intelligence (AI) from one created by a human composer? Before you read any further, let's find out. The following audio consists of two fragments, one written by AI, the other by a human. We're inviting 250 to exhibit at TNW Conference and pitch on stage! If you didn't get it right the first time, no worries--we'll have a couple more mini-quizzes like this below.

Sonos has unveiled its Playbase – a huge, smart speaker that TVs can sit on. The new speaker is similar to its existing Playbar, which is a long flat set of speakers that sits under the TV and throws out wide and loud sound for films or music. But it is built into a body that can have a television sit on top of it – which Sonos says is perfect for people who don't have the space or the setup for a soundbar. The new speaker will go on sale in April in black and white and cost £699. Customers can sign up to be notified when the new speaker goes on sale. Like the rest of Sonos' speakers, the Playbase can connect to the internet and pull down music from a wide variety of streaming services.

It look like a gadget-filled motor that would have featured on the Thunderbirds. But this British 4x4 will soon be used by search and rescue teams to help save lives during disaster relief operations. The specially developed Land Rover Discovery has an in-built drone that launches through the vehicle's roof. It will allow rescuers to drive close to the scene of major emergencies - ranging from avalanches and earthquakes to rail crashes and floods - sending back details of unseen dangers ahead. The specially developed Land Rover Discovery has an in-built drone that launches through the vehicle's roof Crucially the drone can be launched while the vehicle is in motion – at speeds of up to 25mph - thanks to ground-breaking world-first docking technology.

It could be the end of seemingly neverending delays and arguments with builders. A San Francisco startup has revealed a future where homes are built in just 24 hours. Apis Cor unveiled a 400-square-foot house in a town outside of Moscow, Russia that was constructed using a mobile 3D printer. The technology printed the walls, partitions and building envelope from a concrete mix - the entire project was done in a single day and amounted to $10,134. A San Francisco startup foresees a future where homes are built in just 24 hours.

It has been described as a cross between'an angry toaster and an old school Apple iMac on wheels'. But this bizarre-looking driverless pod concept is what Volkswagen believes will be the future of self-driving cars. Dubbed Sedric, the design was unveiled by VW ahead of the Geneva Motor Show this week. The firm said it also plans to launch more than 30 purely battery-powered vehicles by 2025. Volkswagen have built a self-driving concept car called Sedric which is a so-called Level 5 vehicle capable of fully automated operation.