Lift up the hood and go and have a look at the code running it and it's like staring at a screen straight out of the Matrix. As a consequence there are those people who can code, and those that can't. People who live and breathe in this new world, and self-professed hackers like Gates and Zuckerberg who rule it, and those of us who just dabble at the edges blindly poking the apps on their smartphones like cats playing with balls of yarn. As a result, today, as the world's companies race to build out their new digital empires the demand for programmers has never been higher. But, unfortunately, just as the kings and queens of the new digital universe are getting used to their new exalted status on the world stage there's a new programmer in town, and it's packing – an artificial intelligence (AI) system called DeepCoder that's learnt how to write its own code and write new software programs from scratch.

Google announced today that Google Assistant will start rolling out to devices running Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and 7.0 (Nougat) later this week. Previously, the Assistant was only available on Google's Pixel phones, Home personal assistant, Allo messaging app and Android wear devices. Google is at the forefront of machine and deep-learning based natural language processing which they have used to power their vaunted speech recognition system. Google Assistant leverages this research to enable two-way, context-sensitive, conversational interactions between the user and the device. The Assistant syncs across devices and apps like Allo and Google Calendar and it allows voice-control of enabled smart-home devices.

With a connection this LG G6 can take advantage of the Google Assistant (Photo: Edward C. Baig) BARCELONA--The virtual Google Assistant is going to spread its voice beyond Google's own Pixel devices. Google announced that starting this week, it will roll out a software upgrade that brings the Assistant to all Android phones running Android 7.0 Nougat and Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Google Play Services. That's the software Google uses to update Google apps and services on Android devices. Google says the rollout will come first to English users in the U.S., followed by English users in Australia, Canada, India and the United Kingdom, as well as German speakers in Germany. More languages will be added over the course of the year.

The backdrop for Professor Arrow's influential early work was the centuries-long recognition that majority voting can produce arbitrary outcomes. Consider a legislature choosing its leader from among three candidates: Alice, Betty and Harry. If the legislature were to vote first on Alice versus Betty, with the winner running against Harry, it could come to a different decision than had it first started by voting on Alice versus Harry. Because the order with which the legislature takes votes is arbitrary, the ultimate winner of this system of majority voting becomes arbitrary. That puts politics in an awkward corner.

Assistant might be the future of voice-controlled intelligence on our Google devices, but Google hasn't made it easy to get it. There are versions of it on Google Home, the new LG watches, or in Allo chats, but if you wanted the full mobile Assistant experience you had to commit to buying one of the Pixel phones. That's all about to change with a coming Play Services update. Right on the heels of LG's declaration that the G6 would be the first third-party phone to feature Assistant, Google announced that it would be bringing its voice-activated conceirge to all phones running Nougat and Marshmallow. As it is with the Pixel, users will be able to summon Assistant by saying OK Google or long-pressing on the home button.

New measures to support Britain's world-leading AI sector are set to be announced as part of a bold Digital Strategy to boost growth and deliver a thriving, outward-looking digital economy that works for everyone. Accenture has estimated AI could add in the region of £654 billion ($814 billion) to the UK economy by 2035. So the Strategy, due to published by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley MP on Wednesday (March 1), builds on the plan set out in the Government's Industrial Strategy to capitalise on Britain's existing strengths and back new technologies where the UK can take a lead. Britain already has a competitive advantage in Artificial Intelligence, with some of the world's most innovative AI companies based here and a rich ecosystem of investors, employers, developers and clients. It is a fast-growing area for research and commercial investment, including by major global digital companies, and was identified as one of the technologies that could be supported through the Government's new Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and the Challenger Business Programme.

About 10 years ago, one of my top manufacturing clients invited me to visit their main production site in Europe. To my surprise, the factory was in Denmark--one of the most expensive places on the planet! I just couldn't fathom how they could afford to run their operations from this location…that was, until I entered the factory. For such a huge building full of production lines, there was a notable absence of people. Of the people that were working there, some were sitting behind monitors in small offices, clicking a mouse or keying in something from time to time. Others were behind glass walls testing products to ensure they met quality requirements.

NEW YORK Artificial intelligence has made history by beating humans in poker for the first time, the last remaining game in which humans had managed to maintain the upper hand. Libratus, an AI built by Carnegie Mellon University racked up over $1.7 million worth of chips against four of the top professional poker players in the world in a 20-day marathon poker tournament that ended on Tuesday in Philadelphia. While machines have beaten humans over the last two decade in chess, checkers, and most recently in the ancient game of Go, Libratus' victory is significant because poker is an imperfect information game -- similar to the real world where not all problems are laid out and the difficulty in figuring out human behavior is one of the main reasons why it was considered immune to machines. "The best AI's ability to do strategic reasoning with imperfect information has now surpassed that of the best humans," said Tuomas Sandholm, professor of computer science at CMU who created Libratus with a Ph.D student Noam Brown said on Wednesday. The victory prompted inquiries from companies all over the world seeking to use Libratus' algorithm for problem solving.

The argument against artificial intelligence (AI) is driven by fear. According to Stephen Hawkings we do have reason to beware of the consequences of artificial intelligence (AI) including the possibility of the end of the human race. The rise of the machines won't be happening imminently. After all, AI is still in its infancy. The most realistic fear today is that AI will take people's jobs.

The US Supreme Court is considering a law banning convicted sex offenders from social media sites such as Facebook. The lawsuit was sparked by a North Carolina sex offender who posted on Facebook after his traffic ticket was dismissed. Thanks, Jesus," Lester Packingham Jr wrote. Mr Packingham was forbidden by a 2008 North Carolina law from using social networking sites that children could join, because he is a registered sex offender. He was convicted of indecent liberties with a minor when he was 21 and served 10 months in prison. A Durham police officer investigated the post and determined Mr Packingham used an alias rather than his real name. He was prosecuted, convicted of a felony and received a suspended prison sentence. However, his lawyers say no evidence pointed to him using Facebook or his computer to communicate with minors, or that he posted anything inappropriate or obscene. The Supreme Court will now decide whether the law, meant to prevent communications between sex ...