While automation and the idea that a machine could take a person's job are certainly not new concepts, recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI)--in particular the development of so-called'self-learning' machines--have changed the ballpark completely. This leap forward in machine intelligence has moved the debate away from machines doing manual jobs in place of humans and into a whole new sphere of possibilities and sophistication. For the risk transfer business, it raises many new possibilities which are either opportunities or threats depending on your perspective and your current role in an organisation. In some ways, this fear is nothing new. A 2013 report published by Oxford University, The Future of Employment, suggested that about 47 percent of total US employment is at risk, based on the probability of computerisation for 702 detailed occupations.

Maybe you would like to turn on the radio with a shimmy. Or shut off your desk lamp when you close your book at night. Neither of these is a particularly complicated interaction, yet each would involve developing all sorts of special hardware and software to make happen. Unless you have an Objectifier. Developed by Bjørn Karmann as a graduate project at the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design, the Objectifier is a camera that plugs into any electronic device.

AI is the next big thing, and I am not just referring here to my company brand. I mean artificial intelligence, or so-called machine learning technologies. The impact for financial advice and advisers is positive, profound and, I have to say, imminent. When global information technology research firm Gartner issued its strategic technology predictions for 2017 last October, artificial intelligence and advanced machine learning themes led the top 10. As Gartner's report states: "During the next 10 years, virtually every app, application and service will incorporate some level of AI in much the same way as consumer appliances have incorporated microprocessors. "Some of these apps will be obvious intelligent apps that could not exist without AI and machine learning.

The dirty little secret is out about artificial intelligence. This one is more insidious. Data scientists, AI experts and others have long suspected it would be a problem. But it's only within the last couple of years, as AI or some version of machine learning has become nearly ubiquitous in our lives, that the issue has come to the forefront. Name an -ism, and more likely than not, the results produced by our machines have a bias in one or more ways.

Autonomous ships will likely be on the water before 2020 and frequently used within 15 years, according to Oskar Levander, Vice President of Innovation, Engineering, and Technology at Rolls Royce. The marine branch of Rolls Royce is joining Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications in Finland to continue to develop the technology necessary to complete this transition. While most current shipping vessels are able to run purely off GPS, they still have crews aboard to ensure nothing goes awry. Autonomous or remote controlled ships would take away the need for shipping companies to hire crews. Shipping companies are creating more advanced technology and claim there aren't enough people familiar with the developments to run their ships.

We're getting really close to completely automated deliveries. Ocado Technology, the research division of Ocado, a large UK online grocery delivery company, today showed off a robot concept that it has been working on with a range of European universities and Disney Research's Zurich office. The robot is essentially a soft, malleable hand attached to a relatively standard industrial robotic arm that can be used to grip produce without damaging it. The fingers and palm of the "soft hand", which was developed by the Technical University of Berlin, are pieces of expandable rubber that are controlled by forcing air through them. The hand can adjust its shape around the object it's gripping, allowing it to pick up small objects, like an apple, as well as larger objects, like a bag of limes. Ocado said in a blog post that it's still developing its idea--in the video, the bot was able to pick up the fruit in front of it (which was actually fake), but can't yet pick up the objects on its own.

President Donald Trump's executive order barring citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries has prompted nationwide protests and led tech companies, including Amazon, to consider legal action because of potential business impacts. But for some tech companies around the world, the ban has already thrown operations into chaos. "Until the executive order, we didn't really care about who's from where or what religion they were, we didn't ask, but all these things have been a distraction and worrying," said Husayn Kassai, the CEO and co-founder of London-based startup Onfido. The company, which uses artificial intelligence to help clients carry out complex background checks, boasts a 145-person staff representing 41 different nationalities. Kassai was born in Manchester, U.K., but holds dual citizenship in Iran and the U.K.

Researchers have been using brain-computer interfaces to interact with patients suffering from locked-in syndrome for a few years now. But a new system from the Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Switzerland may finally allow even the most immobile patients communicate with the outside world. There are degrees to locked-in syndrome. The lesser variety only allows those suffering from it to raise or lower their eyes and blink, they're fully paralyzed otherwise. Fully locked-in syndrome prohibits even that degree of movement.

Millions around the globe may have taken to the streets in recent years to protest against the impact of globalisation on their jobs and communities - but this backlash is only likely to grow as globalisation itself becomes more disruptive. The stark warning comes from Richard Baldwin, president of the Centre for Economic Policy Research think-tank, who has been studying global trade for the past 30 years. Technological advances could now mean white-collar, office-based workers and professionals are at risk of losing their jobs, Prof Baldwin argues. In the US, voter anger with globalisation may have led to Donald Trump's election victory, but those who voted for him could be disappointed as his aim of bringing back jobs is unlikely to work, says Prof Baldwin, who also worked as an economist under President George HW Bush. Protectionist trade barriers won't work in the 21st Century, he says.