Take a golf ball and a cannonball and drop them off the Tower of Pisa. The laws of physics allow you to predict their trajectories pretty much as accurately as you could wish for. Now do the same experiment again, but replace the cannonball with a pigeon. Biological systems don't defy physical laws, of course--but neither do they seem to be predicted by them. In contrast, they are goal-directed: survive and reproduce. We can say that they have a purpose--or what philosophers have traditionally called a teleology--that guides their behavior. By the same token, physics now lets us predict, starting from the state of the universe a billionth of a second after the Big Bang, what it looks like today.

Understanding Agent Cooperation Joel Leibo, Vinicius Zambaldi, Marc Lanctot, Janusz Marecki, Thore Graepel Google DeepMind Blog "Recent progress in artificial intelligence and specifically deep reinforcement learning provides us with the tools to look at the problem of social dilemmas through a new lens... we showed that we can apply the modern AI technique of deep multi-agent reinforcement learning to age-old questions in social science such as the mystery of the emergence of cooperation." Agility Robotics Introduces Cassie, a Dynamic and Talented Robot Delivery Ostrich Evan Ackerman IEEE Spectrum "Agility Robotics, a spin-off of Oregon State University, is officially announcing a shiny new bipedal robot named Cassie. Cassie is a dynamic walker, meaning that it walks much more like humans do than most of the carefully plodding bipedal robots we're used to seeing... Cassie has some work to do before it's ready to be hauling groceries up stairs for you, but we're very much looking forward to watching this robot taking more steps toward robust and dynamic legged locomotion." How Escape Rooms and Live Theater Are Paving the Way for VR Bryan Bishop The Verge "Cinema has had more than a century to develop its own language of shots, cuts, and transitions, while storytelling in VR is still in its infancy... creators seem to be zeroing in on interactive, experiential moments as one of the key building blocks of VR storytelling. One of Chris Milk's next projects is a piece set in the Planet of the Apes universe that will lean heavily on AI to drive interactive character performances."

Recently, a conference on artificial intelligence, tantalizingly titled "Superintelligence: Science or Fiction?", was hosted by the Future of Life Institute, which works to promote "optimistic visions of the future". The conference offered a range of opinions on the subject from a variety of experts, including Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, futurist Ray Kurzweil, Demis Hassabis of MIT's DeepMind, neuroscientist and author Sam Harris, philosopher Nick Bostrom, philosopher and cognitive scientist David Chalmers, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, as well as computer scientists Stuart Russell and Bart Selman. The discussion was led by MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark. The conversation's topics centered on the future benefits and risks of artificial superintelligence, with everyone generally agreeing that it's only a matter of time before AI becomes paramount in our lives. Eventually, AI will surpass human intelligence, with the ensuing risks and transformations.

"I can't wait to push some paper today!" The mind-numbing work to keep the wheels of commerce rolling--filling out invoices, deciphering hand-written memos, processing insurance claims--can be a real grind. It's been that way since the time when Ebenezer Scrooge refused to provide another lump of coal to help warm overworked clerk Bob Cratchit. Lacking frailty of mind and body, artificial intelligence for business process automation appears to be a no-brainer. In fact, a number of companies are employing AI techniques such as machine learning, computer vision and natural language processing to automate business processes.

Intel realizes there will be a post-Moore's Law era and is already investing in technologies to drive computing beyond today's PCs and servers. The chipmaker is "investing heavily" in quantum and neuromorphic computing, said Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, during a question-and-answer session at the company's investor day on Thursday. "We are investing in those edge type things that are way out there," Krzanich said. To give an idea of how far out these technologies are, Krzanich said his daughter would perhaps be running the company by then. Researching in these technologies, which are still in their infancy, is something Intel has to do to survive for many more decades.

They have been responsible for innumerable deaths in the Middle East during the last decade and, if Amazon has its way, will deliver millions of toasters, gift sets and novels in the future. But recently drones have begun to fulfil a less utilitarian kind of role: competition in the nascent world of futuristic motorsports. A confluence of technological advances has made drone racing possible. A minuscule camera, mounted on the drone's nose, allows the pilot, as competitors are luxuriously titled, to control the vehicle through virtual reality-style goggles, as if perched in its tiny cockpit. With powerful lithium batteries, the size of which dictates the speed class of the drone, these machines, which are typically the size of a box of tissues, can reach speeds in excess of 120mph.

The current language when talking about Artificial Intelligence, Robots and Automation – (what we can name the'AIRA' technologies), and their impact on jobs is often fearful or aggressive. The'robots will take your job and everything is ruined' mentality seems pervasive. The headlines are pitched to grab your attention while pulling at your fears. However, increasing anxiety over job security is understandable as we're seeing artificial intelligence, robots and automation, taking over in areas we previously thought were safe. Undeniably there is a huge change happening thanks to these technologies. Yes, many jobs are under threat – but that isn't the whole story by any stretch of the imagination.

Taiwan will shoot down any drones that are found flying into its airports' territory, the country's defense minister said Saturday. The comments came after a drone was found at Taipei Songshan Airport resulting in closure of the airport for nearly an hour Monday. Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan said that officers can shoot down any drones that fly into the airports' territory without prior approval. He also noted that a rise in drone use has posed security concerns to airports. "If the threat is imminent, there is no need to ask for the approval of the superior," Feng said, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency.

Will A.I. make our government smarter and more responsive – or is that the last step towards the end of privacy? As chief scientist of U.S. Government Accountability Office, Tim Persons conceives its vision for advanced data analytics. Learn about the promise and challenges around government A.I. and what those portend for private sector companies. Dr. David A. Bray began work in public service at age 15, later serving in the private sector before returning as IT Chief for the CDC's Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Program during 9/11; volunteering to deploy to Afghanistan to "think differently" on military and humanitarian issues; and serving as a Senior Executive advocating for increased information interoperability, cybersecurity, and civil liberty protections. He completed a PhD in from Emory University's business school and two post-docs at MIT and Harvard. He serves as a Visiting Executive In-Residence at Harvard University, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Visiting Associate at the University of Oxford. He has received both the Arthur S, Flemming Award and Roger W. Jones Award for Executive Leadership. In 2016, Business Insider named him one of the top "24 Americans Who Are Changing the World". Dr. Timothy M. Persons is a member of the Senior Executive Service of the U.S. federal government and was appointed the Chief Scientist of the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2008. In addition to establishing the vision for advanced data analytic activities at GAO, he also serves to direct GAO's Center for Science, Technology, and Engineering (CSTE), a group of highly specialized scientists, engineers, and operations research staff. In these roles he directs science and technology (S&T) studies and is an expert advisor and chief consultant to the GAO, Congress, and other federal agencies and government programs on cutting-edge S&T, key highly-specialized complex systems, engineering policies and best practices, and original research studies in the fields of engineering, computer, and the physical and biological sciences to ensure strategic and effective use of S&T in the federal sector. Michael Krigsman: Welcome to Episode #216 of CxOTalk. I'm Michael Krigsman, I'm an industry analyst and the host of CxOTalk, where we bring truly amazing people together to talk about issues like the one we're talking about today, which is the role of AI and the impact on public policy; or maybe I should say, the impact of public policy on AI. Our guest today, we have two guests actually, are Tim Persons, who is the Chief Scientist of the General Accountability Office of the United States Government, and David Bray, who has been on CxOTalk many times, the Chief Information Officer of the Federal Communications Commission. And David, let's start with you. Maybe, just introduce yourself briefly.

This was the title of a very popular book published in 2012, featuring several job interview questions (brain teasers) asked by Google's hiring managers to candidates. They apparently dropped all these questions, as they found out that they were not good indicators of career success. Do you think you are smart enough to work for Google? I had one phone interview with Google long ago, and was rejected right away. The interviewer was just focused on very technical details, and spent all her time arguing about Lasso regression, and was clearly looking for a specialist, dismissing people with a broad range of skills and non-standard approach to solving tech problems.