As the World Economic Forum unraveled last week in Davos, Switzerland, many leaders highlighted areas of future growth and how to shape the global economy – to promote an economy that will only serve to help improve our lives. Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, was also there discussing how IBM can contribute to this starting with artificial intelligence – or augmented intelligence/cognitive as we say at IBM. Why does IBM choose to use "augmented intelligence" or "cognitive" over "artificial intelligence"? What we've witnessed during each of these stages is some form of mechanics or machinery developed to augment our performance, thereby improving our outcome. Automotive – The assembly line was created to help workers produce more cars and simultaneously made the car more affordable to the masses. Communication – telephone / telex / fax – Gives one the ability to transfer information faster rather than having a messenger or a trained bird fly there.

A group of self driving Uber vehicles position themselves to take journalists on rides during a media preview at Uber's Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh (Photo: Gene J. Puskar, AP) Ride-hailing service Uber and Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, announced a partnership Thursday to work together on future self-driving cars. The goal would be to produce cars that can run on Uber's ride-hailing network. In a statement announcing the partnership, Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick didn't give a timeframe, only saying the program would be operational "in the coming years." Uber has been one of the most aggressive companies in trying to develop self-driving cars, envisioning the time when driverless cars prowl the streets of major cities picking up and dropping off passengers. "By opening up the Uber platform to Daimler, we can get to the future faster than going it alone," stated Kalanick.

When we think of artificial intelligence, most people think of two specific things: androids, and the future. We think of creations that will look, more or less, like humans, and things which are far off from our modern times. Artificial intelligence (for better or worse) doesn't look like androids that do our laundry or pilot our spaceships (yet) but it is absolutely here – perhaps even the White House is getting involved. The very best businesses and brands are learning how to manipulate artificial intelligence to boost their brands and improve their customer interactions. In Sweden, there is a retail bank called Swedbank which has integrated Nina, an intelligent virtual assistant, into its system.

Nato must begin to compete on the cyber-battlefield to counter Russian hacking aimed at undermining democracy in the US and western Europe, the British defence secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, has said. In his most hard-hitting comments yet about Russia, he accused it of targeting the US, France, Germany, Holland, Bulgaria and Montenegro, which is due to become a full Nato member this year. Fallon blamed Russia for helping create the age of fake information. "Today we see a country that, in weaponising misinformation, has created what we might now see as the post-truth age. Part of that is the use of cyber-weaponry to disrupt critical infrastructure and disable democratic machinery," he said.

More than 90% of surveyed trusts say they still rely on hand-written reports - Photo credit: Flickr, ad.mak, CC BY 2.0 According to figures released following a Freedom of Information request by the communications solutions company Nuance, 93% of the 30 trusts that responded said they handwrite reports. The same proportion said they relied on traditional word processing methods to type up electronic patient records. However, the FoI also indicated an increasing interest in AI across the NHS, with 43% of trusts reporting that they were considering how to use AI as a way of allowing patients to "self-help" when accessing health services. In a statement published alongside the FoI responses, Nuance said that such technology included virtual assistants, speech recognition technology and chat-bots. Last year, Enfield Council became one of the first local authorities to use AI assistance, with the introduction of IPSoft's Amelia systems to help residents carry out online tasks.

European Union antitrust authorities are concerned that some video game publishers aren't playing by the rules of the EU's single market, charging customers in different countries different prices for access to what is essentially the same game. The European Commission opened investigations into five companies distributing their games online through the Steam network operated by Valve. The companies--Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media, and ZeniMax--are suspected of placing geographical restrictions on the use of Steam activation keys so that they can't be used by buyers in some parts of the EU to play their video games. This could allow them to sell activation keys at a higher price in some countries, and prevent players in those countries from activating the game with cheaper keys purchased elsewhere in the EU. This may breach competition rules by restricting so-called'parallel trade' within the EU, preventing consumers from buying cheaper games that may be available in other member states, the Commission said Thursday.

When you think of the rapid evolution of technology, the first thing that comes to mind is likely self-driving cars or artificial intelligence, not the real estate industry. But just because the real estate industry is not at the forefront of the technological revolution, it doesn't mean there aren't exciting new developments happening in the sector – and some of them can benefit you as a real estate investor. Nearly every industry has benefited from the advent of "big data," but what does that really mean for real estate? Together, these factors mean we're now able to access and analyze higher volumes of data more quickly. As a result, real estate data companies can now deliver more insightful information to the investment community faster, allowing investors to make better decisions.

On a recent Saturday morning, my wife, Susan, and I slipped into the city to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a place we hadn't gone together since before our sons were born. The crowds hadn't yet descended and for an hour or so we wandered around and absorbed the cavernous hush of art. We separated for a bit, together but apart; while Susan roamed among the Manets and Van Goghs I slipped into a small side gallery, not much larger than a subway car, that held a series of glass cases with small bronze sculptures by Degas. There were a few busts and several horses in stride and the figure of a woman stretching, a small bronze rising to her feet and curling her left arm upward as if waking from a long nap. At the end of the gallery, in one long case, were two dozen ballerinas in various states of motion or repose.

The UK's revenge porn helpline is set to close next month, according to Labour MP Sarah Champion. The helpline, which launched in February 2015, offers support to men and women affected by revenge porn, where explicit images or videos of them have been shared without their consent. Speaking in the House of Commons today, Ms Champion, the Labour MP for Rotherham, asked why the government was cutting funding for the helpline. 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.

Facebook has launched Recommendations in the UK, making it easier for users to seek advice from their online friends. The social network will automatically convert a status update or Group post it identifies as a request for advice into a Recommendation post, which your connections will be able to respond to with their own guidance and suggestions. For instance, you could ask your friends to recommend a restaurant or a barber shop. Just like a status update, you can also control who actually sees your Recommendations, to ensure that your least tasteful friends don't get the chance to influence your decision. 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.