"Artificial intelligence has some way to go before we see systems and robots as portrayed in the creative arts such as Star Wars. At present, 'AI machines' have narrow and specific roles, such as in voice-recognition or playing the board game'Go'. But science fiction is slowly becoming science fact, and robotics and AI look destined to play an increasing role in our lives over the coming decades. It is too soon to set down sector-wide regulations for this nascent field but it is vital that careful scrutiny of the ethical, legal and societal ramifications of artificially intelligent systems begins now." AI systems are starting to have transformational impacts on everyday life: from driverless cars and supercomputers that can assist doctors with medical diagnoses, to intelligent tutoring systems that can tailor lessons to meet a student's individual cognitive needs.

If you're a video game fan of a certain age, you may remember Edge magazine's controversial review of the bloody sci-fi shooting game, Doom. Perhaps you enjoyed a good laugh, as many first-person shooter fans have, at the writer's much-mocked assertion: "if only you could talk to these creatures, then perhaps you could try and make friends with them, form alliances ... Now that would be interesting." Of course, we all know what happened. There would be no room in the Doom series, nor any subsequent first-person blast-'em-up, for such socio-psychological niceties. Instead, we enjoyed 20 years of shooting, bludgeoning and stabbing, the ludicrous idea of diplomacy cast roughly aside. But during this era, something else was happening in game design, and in academic thinking around video games and artificial intelligence. Buoyed by advances in AI research and aided by increasingly powerful computer processors, developers were beginning to think about the possibilities of non-player characters (NPCs) who could think and act in a more complex and human way – who could provide the emotional feedback that the Edge reviewer was thinking about.

The UK government does not have a clear strategy on how to maximise AI and robotics for economic benefit, according to the Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology. This conclusion was published today in a report by the committee, which earlier this year launched an inquiry into Blighty's take up of artificial intelligence. After calling on the expertise of industry and research leaders – including bods at Google DeepMind in London – the committee highlighted the government's inadequacy to deal with the emerging technology of robotics and automated systems (RAS). The UK government promised to establish a RAS Leadership council to kickstart the development of skills and investment needed for AI and robotics to grow in March 2015. Since that pledge was made, however, there has been "no sign" of the government delivering on its promise, causing the UK to fall behind other countries in using robotics and AI for increased productivity.

FILE- In this March 1, 2013 file photo, anti-Syrian President Bashar Assad protesters hold the Jabhat al-Nusra flag, as they shout slogans during a demonstration, at Kafranbel town, in Idlib province, northern Syria. Insurgent groups like Hezbollah and the Islamic State group in Syria have learned how to weaponize surveillance drones and use them against each other, adding a new twist to the country's civil war, a U.S. military official and others say. FILE- In this March 1, 2013 file photo, anti-Syrian President Bashar Assad protesters hold the Jabhat al-Nusra flag, as they shout slogans during a demonstration, at Kafranbel town, in Idlib province, northern Syria. Insurgent groups like Hezbollah and the Islamic State group in Syria have learned how to weaponize surveillance drones and use them against each other, adding a new twist to the country's civil war, a U.S. military official and others say. WASHINGTON (AP) -- Militant groups like Hezbollah and the Islamic State group have learned how to weaponize surveillance drones and use them against each other, adding a new twist to Syria's civil war, a U.S. military official and others say.

Schools are not preparing children to succeed in a world where intelligent robots have transformed the workforce, MPs have warned. A report by the cross-party Science and Technology Committee suggests that the education system should be adapted to "focus on things that machines will be less good at for longer," rather than skills that are rapidly becoming obsolete. The committee also warned that while "robots as portrayed in films like Star Wars" remain some way off, the government's role in preparing for major social change is lacking. Dr Tania Mathias, acting chairwoman of the committee and Conservative MP for Twickenham, said: "Science fiction is slowly becoming science fact, and robotics and AI look destined to play an increasing role in our lives over the coming decades." Mathias told ttold the Guardian that the school curriculum, particularly in secondary schools, did not reflect the "fourth industrial revolution" in robotics and AI that is underway.

Intel has introduced a company-branded commercial drone, the Falcon 8, for North American markets, with the aim to lead in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market, particularly in the commercial segment. The chip maker has been looking at new opportunities for its silicon and other technologies outside its traditional markets like PCs, more so after its lackluster performance in the smartphone market. It has already dabbled in the consumer drone market through Yuneec's Typhoon H, which uses Intel's RealSense computer vision platform for intelligent obstacle navigation. Intel has also introduced the Intel Aero Platform for developers to build their own drones. The opportunity for Intel is that many countries including the U.S. are slowly liberalizing rules for the use of commercial and consumer drones.

Recognizing the central role that technology now plays in the global economy, the World Economic Forum is establishing a new center in San Francisco to connect tech companies and policymakers in the heart of the world's technology industry. Building off the Forum's thesis of a "Fourth Industrial Revolution," the new facility will focus on bringing government officials and tech companies together to create frameworks for more productive legislative policies that can be implemented worldwide. "Depending on the collective choices we make -– as consumers, as communities, as business, government, and civil society leaders -– these technological breakthroughs could give us the power to move into a world that is even more prosperous, while being more sustainable and more inclusive," reads an early version of remarks prepared by World Economic Forum founder and chairman, Klaus Schwab. "Alternatively, we could end up in a world where our economic, political and social systems are more rigid, more unequal and more conflicted." Despite their deep roots in government-funded research, the relationship between policymakers and the tech companies that have sprung from the civic-minded seeds they nurtured with financing has always been a thorny or even openly antagonistic one (cf.

Technology has shaped labour markets in the past and it will continue to do so in the future. According to a report from Citi and the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, 85 percent of jobs in Ethiopia are at risk of automation. In the United States, just under half of jobs are at risk of being replaced by machines. This chart shows the risk of jobs being replaced by automation in selected countries in 2016.

Last summer, British police scanned the faces of people attending the Download music festival, to see if they could find known criminals in attendance. Faced with public outcry and without a clear procedure for what to do with the pictures of faces, the police deleted the whole lot of them. As for the Russian concertgoers who submitted selfies to NTechLabs, their faces have likely already been fed into the algorithm, so that any cameras hooked up to the same software can identify them again, wherever they are.

The industry is worth billions (circa 60bn in 2013) and around 150,000 VAT registered UK companies are dependent on road transport to trade effectively. As transport costs are typically between 3-10 per cent of a company's turnover, they are an important factor for both individual organisations and the economy as a whole. One of the long held aims of the industry has been to reduce the number of freight vehicles on the road. As such a significant part of the GDP in both the UK and the rest of Europe, the prospect of being able to remove 30-40 per cent of freight vehicles from the roads has massive environmental and economic implications for all of us. So what is the best way of achieving this ambitious target?