Axsis robot uses flexible robotic arms, each just 1.8 millimetres in diameter Movements are controlled by cables roughly the width of a human hair To operate system, surgeon uses two haptic joysticks, which provide feedback It's also equipped with sensing algorithms minimize the risk of human error. Axsis robot uses flexible robotic arms, each just 1.8 millimetres in diameter It's also equipped with sensing algorithms minimize the risk of human error. A robot equipped with tiny, tentacle-like instruments could soon be used to perform surgery on human eyes. Try the brain training game that could boost your vision:... Fault near Kathmandu could produce magnitude 8 or greater... BMW employees use remote locking technology to trap car... The REAL paleo diet: More than 9,000 plant remains reveal... Try the brain training game that could boost your vision:... Fault near Kathmandu could produce magnitude 8 or greater... BMW employees use remote locking technology to trap car...

Hoping to teach AI agents the common sense they need to solve arbitrary tasks without specific training, OpenAI on Monday will introduce Universe, a collection of virtualized video games, browser interfaces, and applications that serve as a training ground for code-based decision making. Universe is open-source middleware that supports Gym, the organization's toolkit for developing and evaluating reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms. RL is used to train software perform specific actions, such as playing a videogame or making a 3D model walk, under a framework that prioritizes actions through a reward scheme. Universe aims to accelerate the education of AI agents by broadening the number of available training resources. Previously, according to OpenAI, the largest RL resource consisted of 55 Atari games, the Atari Learning Environment.

Researchers from Google's DeepMind and the University of Oxford developed a deep learning system that outperformed a professional lip reader. Using a TITAN X GPU, CUDA and the TensorFlow deep learning framework, the team trained their models on over 100,000 sentences from nearly 5,000 hours of BBC programs. By looking at each speaker's lips, the system accurately deciphered entire phrases, with examples including "We know there will be hundreds of journalists here as well" and "According to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics". The AI system annotated about 50% of the words without any errors, compared to the professional who annotated just 12.4%. "We believe that machine lip readers have enormous practical potential, with applications in improved hearing aids, silent dictation in public spaces (Siri will never have to hear your voice again) and speech recognition in noisy environments," says Yannis Assael, who is working on a similar deep learning system called LipNet which is being trained on an NVIDIA DGX-1.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is usually built into the software we use, from automatic tagging on Facebook to chatbots in Google and Apple's mobile operating systems. Instead of injecting AI into software, a new tool from OpenAI teaches algorithms to control a computer the way a human would: by looking at pixels and using a virtual keyboard and mouse. The tool, called Universe, is meant to be a one-stop shop for a popular flavor of AI research called reinforcement learning, where an AI agent tries to accomplish a task, learning from its mistakes over thousands or millions of iterations. With it, researchers could teach an algorithm to theoretically master any task a human could complete on a computer, from video games to browsing the internet looking for information. Universe also acts as a standardized benchmark for AI, as it can compare human and machine performance on certain tasks.

Digital models of humans can be uncannily accurate these days, but there's at least one area where they fall short: teeth. Unless you're willing to scan the inside of someone's mouth, you aren't going to get a very faithful representation of someone's pearly whites. Disney Research and ETH Zurich, however, have a far easier solution. They've just developed a technique to digitally recreate teeth beyond the gum line using little more than source data and everyday imagery. The team used 86 3D scans to create a model for an "average" set of teeth, and wrote an algorithm that adapts that model based on what it sees in the contours of teeth in photos and videos.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), last winter more than 3,000 flights in and out of the UK were delayed for over three hours. This year, flight delays are predicted to affect thousands of passengers over Christmas. Amidst this disruption, airlines are increasingly looking to the quality of their customer service offering. Busy periods put tremendous pressure on customer service, where speed of response has to be balanced with detailed regulatory compliance. Over 85 per cent of the customer requests arising from flights being delayed, rescheduled or cancelled require agents to go through detailed fare rules in order to calculate compensation.

Watch out, Uber! BMW seeks to be'coolest' ride-hailing firm as it reveals driverless cars will be tested next year BMW will test autonomous vehicles in Munich next year as it seeks to keep up with ride-hailing firms like Uber, which have spent billions on pay-per-use personal transport. The German carmaker will have about 40 vehicles with self-driving functions in Munich's inner city Computer programmer claims... Stunning image shows eerie tentacles of dust emerge as an... Area 51 revealed: Aerial timelapse of America's mysterious... Morgan Freeman, Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner host the... Computer programmer claims... Stunning image shows eerie tentacles of dust emerge as an... Area 51 revealed: Aerial timelapse of America's mysterious... Morgan Freeman, Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner host the... Uber's rapid growth has prompted BMW to consider how autonomous vehicles may help them accelerate their own push into pay-per-use transport. Man punches kangaroo in the face to save dog being strangled Mob storm police station and lynch suspected paedophile The hunt for Hillary Clinton on Saturday Night Live Moment judge gets slapped in the face at 2016 IFBB Diamond Cup Boy shows amazing talent impersonating Winifred from Hocus Pocus Heart-stopping moment child climbs on tracks in front of train 100 special police agents protect suspected paedophile from mob Watch the original 1972 trailer for'Last Tango in Paris' 73-year-old ex-Marine punches bear in the face to save his dogs Which body types do women like best? MailOnline investigates Adorable baby'sings' along with Dutch champion beatboxer B-Art Which body types do women like best? Adorable baby'sings' along with Dutch champion beatboxer B-Art'Don't believe a thing you hear, unless it comes from me':... EXCLUSIVE: The'arrogant' man behind illegal artist enclave... Is Europe's Brexit revolution over?

Amazon has unveiled a convince store in downtown Seattle that replaces cashiers and lines with technology found in self-driving cars. The app uses a range of sensors that detect what shoppers take off shelves and bills it to their Amazon account if they don't put it back Malaria caused'widespread death' in ancient Rome: DNA... Area 51 revealed: Aerial timelapse of America's mysterious... Watch out, Uber! BMW seeks to be'coolest' ride-hailing firm... Malaria caused'widespread death' in ancient Rome: DNA... Area 51 revealed: Aerial timelapse of America's mysterious... Watch out, Uber! BMW seeks to be'coolest' ride-hailing firm... The store, called Amazon Go', lets customers enter using an accompanied app, grab the items they need and are able to walk out without stopping at a register To enter the store, customers simply open the Amazon Go app and place it to a sensor located on what appears to be a turnstyle in the entrance way. This futuristic store uses the same types of technologies found in self-driving cars – computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning. When you decide not to purchase and item you've grabbed, just put it back and the technology will automatically remove it from your virtual cart The 1,800-square-foot Amazon Go store is located at 2131 7th Ave, Seattle, WA, on the corner of 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street.

Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to buy startup Geometric Intelligence Inc. to help the ride-hailing company create a new artificial-intelligence research lab. The startup had 15 employees and was developing new machine-learning techniques inspired by cognitive science that rely on less data. Chief Executive Officer Gary Marcus, an author and professor of psychology and neural science at New York University, will head the new research effort, called Uber AI Labs. The lab will report to Jeff Holden, Uber's chief product officer. It will try to improve the algorithms Uber uses to match drivers with passengers, and seek new techniques for building self-driving cars. An Uber spokesman declined to say how much the company spent to acquire the startup.

Not a day goes by when we do not hear about the threat of AI taking over the jobs of everyone from truck drivers to accountants to radiologists. An analysis coming out of McKinsey suggested that "currently demonstrated technologies could automate 45 percent of the activities people are paid to perform." There are even online tools based on research from the University of Oxford to estimate the probability that various jobs will be automated. This concern that progress in AI will make most human labor obsolete has led some to call for a (universal) basic income, in which all citizens periodically and unconditionally receive money from the state (see "Basic Income: A Sellout of the American Dream"). Y Combinator, a prominent startup incubator in Silicon Valley, will run a pilot study of basic income in Oakland, California, and its president has stated that "at some point in the future, as technology continues to eliminate traditional jobs and massive new wealth gets created, we're going to see some version of this at a national scale."