With its reckless and violent driving scenarios, you may not imagine playing Grand Theft Auto would be an ideal way to teach anyone or anything to drive in the real-world. But the popular game is being used to train computers capable of controlling self-driving cars of the future to navigate streets. GTA V is said to give researchers access to a realistic and diverse world for testing and developing artificial intelligence, without putting vehicles on real roads. With its reckless and violent driving scenarios, you may not imagine playing Grand Theft Auto would be an ideal way to teach anyone or anything to drive in the real-world. Video games are the latest of a number of tools being used to test computers that could one day control cars on our roads.

We are seeking a Java Developer / Java Engineer (Research, Machine Learning, Java) for our recently formed Oxford startup (three months old). Utilizing the top academic group for Machine Learning at Oxford University, we are creating the next generation of Applied Machine Learning tools and Artificial Intelligence technology. We are looking for an enthusiastic Java Developer / Java Engineer to join our team at this crucial beginning stage in our business. As a Java Developer / Java Engineer, you will be joining us in our brand new office amongst some of the brightest minds in the UK as you create technology that will shape the technology market worldwide for years to come. Working directly with researchers, as a Java Developer / Java Engineer you will be translating their ideas into award winning systems within Applied Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence that will revolutionise the computer science industry.

Globe Expert has also been described and used in different papers published in magazines and journals.

Artificial Intelligence provider RAVN Systems has appointed former Ashurst CIO David Lumsden as its new CEO. Lumsden, who is also formerly CEO of technology provider Tikit Group and who joined RAVN last year as chief strategy officer (CSO), replaces Peter Wallqvist, one of the founders of RAVN. Lumsden has more than 30 years' experience in the legal IT and professional services market. He was CEO of Tikit Group between 2000 and 2013 and spent seven years as CIO at Ashurst. "RAVN has a strong reputation in the markets we're currently operating in," said Lumsden.

At least, that's what Oscar Boykin says. He majored in physics at the Georgia Institute of Technology and in 2002 he finished a physics PhD at UCLA. But four years ago, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland discovered the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle first predicted in the 1960s. As Boykin points out, everyone expected it. It didn't change anything or give physcists anything new to strive for.

In August 2016, Econsultancy published a report in association with IBM called The Secrets of Elite Analytics Practices. Part of this wide ranging report seeks to discover just how automation and AI have changed analytics in marketing. Time was identified as a business's most precious resource. Being able to streamline the marketing function through automation and, in particular, the analytics portion, was something executives deemed hugely valuable. But is automation driving out innovation and originality?

In my series of articles last March, I noted that cognitive computing and related/overlapping concepts such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning had seen slow uptake in business intelligence (BI). As 2016 draws to a close, a second look is warranted, given the enormous hype and publicity the topic has drawn in the intervening months. Although there has been limited progress in AI for BI in the interim, several fascinating developments have emerged in AI research, particularly from the wide world of Google. Recent announcements suggest that the impressive advances seen in Google DeepMind AlphaGo's comprehensive defeat of Go world champion, Lee Se-dol, are only the first step on the journey. Until that moment, AI experts expected that it would still take some years before AI could outwit a world champion.

Technology is the future of retail. Digital data, machine learning, cloud-powered analytics and the Internet of Things will separate the wheat from the chaff in tomorrow's retail industry. A recent Sector Insights government report said that retailers will need to embrace the latest technology trends, such as big data, and have the skills to work with digital systems if they are to be successful in the future. The retail industry is on the whole a voracious adopter of modern data-centric technology, aping the manufacturing world by using big data analytics to streamline supply chains, and using smartphone apps and wireless beacons to harvest customer data to deliver better service. However, despite having the technology to collect and access large amounts of digital data, retailers fail to put it to effective use.

The World Economic Forum's "Global Risks Report 2017″ says tech firms must take responsibility for the disruption caused by their innovations. A new report by the World Economic Forum lists IoT hacking and weaponized AI among what they say will be the top security threats in 2017. The Global Risks Report 2017 surveyed business executives in the US, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, UEA and other countries across the globe. Those executives cited cyberattacks as the biggest risk facing their businesses. The report pointed out the risks involved with letting decision-making be taken over by AI applications and said both AI and robotics can be serious risks without proper regulation and governance.

Don't look now, but Canada might just join the likes of France and the UK in ushering in the courier drone era. Transport Canada has approved its first drone test range near the tiny village of Foremost, Alberta, clearing the way for Drone Delivery Canada to launch a robotic cargo service as soon as late 2017. The roughly 927 square miles will help DDC prove that its drones can haul goods across long distances using satellite guidance. Tests with the company's early partners should start sometime in the first quarter of the year. The drone delivery system could be more important for Canada than it would be for other nations.