People who use Facebook live longer, according to a new study. Using the site to stay in touch with people appears to suggest that using the site is associated with living longer. Scientists have long known that people have stronger social networks and relationships also tend to live longer. The new study shows that the same is true of the online world. "Interacting online seems to be healthy when the online activity is moderate and complements interactions offline," said author William Hobbs in a statement.

Spending on cognitive systems and artificial intelligence (AI) across a broad range of industries will drive worldwide revenues from nearly $8.0 billion in 2016 to more than $47 billion in 2020. In its Worldwide Semiannual Cognitive/Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide IDC said the market for cognitive/AI solutions will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 55.1 per cent over the 2016-2020 forecast period. According to David Schubmehl, research director, Cognitive Systems and Content Analytics at IDC, "Software developers and end user organizations have already begun the process of embedding and deploying cognitive/artificial intelligence into almost every kind of enterprise application or process" "Recent announcements by several large technology vendors and the booming venture capital market for AI startups illustrate the need for organizations to be planning and undertaking strategies that incorporate these wide-ranging technologies," he said. Schubmehl said identifying, understanding, and acting on the use cases, technologies, and growth opportunities for cognitive/AI systems will be a differentiating factor for most enterprises and the digital disruption caused by these technologies will be significant. The ability to recognize and respond to data flows using algorithms and rule-based logic enables cognitive/AI systems to automate a broad range of functions across many industries.

According to Yoshiyuki Matsumoto, who heads up the automaker's research division, the move is expected to happen next year. Matsumoto said in an interview that it is hoped bringing the teams together will allow closer co-operation between Honda's scientists and engineers, leading to new AI-enabled products being made available to the public. AI is crucial in the development of autonomous cars, Matsumoto said, acting as the brain that combines elements of robotics, sensing, navigation, and connectivity. Japan has a strong track record developing new hardware, but has arguably lagged behind in software. Matsumoto feels basing its efforts in Japan will allow Honda to progress quicker.

Apple is trying to introduce wireless charging into the next iPhone, according to reports. Rumours have long swirled around the iPhone 8 – even before the iPhone 7 was released this year. Reports have suggested that Apple is planning a major redesign for the new handset, which will mark the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, which might include an entirely glass body and a screen that takes up all of the front of the phone. And new reports suggest that Apple is currently exploring the possibility of adding wireless charging modules to the next phone, too. That would mean that it would just need to be set down on a special surface to charge it – in keeping with Apple's commitment to keep moving towards a wireless future, which it stressed when it dropped the headphone jack from the iPhone.

The three men who anchored the massively successful "Top Gear" automotive TV show will bring their large personalities back to the small screen Nov. 18, when Amazon Prime debuts the new series "The Grand Tour." Starring Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, the first season will include 12 one-hour episodes, shot in exotic locations, where the three men drive, discuss and destroy various motor vehicles to comic effect. As in "Top Gear," which ended a 12-year syndicated run when the BBC declined to renew Clarkson's contract following a series of friction-causing incidents involving the outspoken former auto journalist, "The Grand Tour" features globe-trotting hi-jinks laced with boyish jibes. It will be different from "Top Gear," the men said during a visit to The Times -- but not much. "Well, it has us three hosting it," Clarkson said. "(May) is slow and lost and (Hammond) is short and I am bombastic and tall, and fat," Clarkson concluded.

A team of researchers in the UK have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) program that can predict the outcome of human rights cases involving torture, degrading treatment, and privacy. The AI -- developed by researchers at University College London (UCL) and the University of Sheffield, alongside Dr Daniel Preoţiuc-Pietro from the University of Pennsylvania -- successfully predicted the verdicts for 79% of 584 cases at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). In order to reach a decision, the AI analysed case text using a machine learning algorithm, the researchers said. The algorithm looked for patterns in the text and was able to classify each case either as a "violation" or a "non-violation". To prevent bias and mislearning, the team selected an equal number of violation and non-violation cases.

UK-based Graphcore announced that it's raised USD 30 million from investors in a Series A financing round after two years in stealth mode. The investors include Bosch, Samsung, Amadeus Capital, C4 Ventures, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital & Pitango Capital. Graphcore is developing processors aimed at improving machine learning. The technology looks to reduce the cost of accelerating AI applications in the cloud and bring AI to low-power consumer devices. GPUs have been used in deep learning to date because they are the only commercially-available parallel processors that have come close to delivering the high compute density required, according to the company.

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."

I keep hearing Data Scientists say that'Statistics is Dead', and they even have big debates about it attended by the good and great of Data Science. Interestingly, there seem to be very few actual statisticians at these debates. So why do Data Scientists think that stats is dead? Where does the notion that there is no longer any need for statistical analysis come from? I guess that really we should start at the beginning by asking the question'What Is Statistics?'.

From time to time, a new product appears and redefines what we think is possible regarding digital experiences. It's been a month since Amazon launched Amazon Echo in the UK and Germany. As I love all the new gadgets, especially those that can make my life easier (which is the first premise of Amazon Echo) and was available at £50-off for pre-ordering Prime members, I thought, why not try it? Let's see what I learned from my experience living with Alexa this last month. Amazon Echo has 7 built-in microphones using'Far Field Voice Recognition' technology that sends our message directly to the cloud, where the brain of Alexa lies.