Artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and automation are possibly the most fascinating topics for those dealing with technology (and sourcing) matters. They raise a lot of interesting questions and scenarios. Even the few official legal documents about these subjects refer to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Pygmalion, Prague's Golem – and the more obvious Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics (see the EU Parliament Draft Report with recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics). But this is not only about philosophy and futuristic settings. There is already no doubt that robots, androids and all other forms of artificial intelligence are already playing a fundamental role in the new Internet of Things (IoT) "smart" industrial revolution, which will affect most if not all industrial sectors and countries.

The cashiers' demands were simple: management must remove the tracking software they had installed in the checkout terminals, or the cashiers would refuse to return to work. The technology that tracked their every movement – their speed, efficiency, etc – had been installed without their knowledge, they asserted, and was an invasion of privacy. While this seems like something one might see today, this happened nearly 40 years ago at the biggest supermarket chain in Denmark. It is easy to see these cashiers as luddites, anti-progress and anti-technology, but like the original luddites they had valid concerns about the way that new technologies are used by employers. New technologies can not only lead to jobs lost through automation, but can also change the nature of work itself in detrimental ways.

Natural language generation, a field in artificial intelligence which automatically turns facts and statistics into coherent English and other languages, offers important advantages for finance and accounting, according to Robert Dale, a longtime expert in the technology. Gain a deeper understanding of how your business can benefit from IT and finance working cooperatively towards a unified goal. This email address is already registered. By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent. By submitting your email address, you agree to receive emails regarding relevant topic offers from TechTarget and its partners.

The Times Bayer bets the farm in 66 billion Monsanto deal: An American pioneer of genetically modified seeds has struck a 66 billion takeover deal with Bayer, the German chemicals giant, in the latest round of megadeal consolidations in agricultural production. Lawyers set to pass M&A paperwork to machines: Luminance, a start-up backed by Mike Lynch, the British technology investor, is aiming to reduce the time taken on due diligence that accompanies multimillion-pound M&A deals from weeks to days or even hours using a new form of artificial intelligence. Public sector job numbers plunge to record low: Employment in the public sector has fallen to a record low as private sector jobs surge ahead despite Brexit, official figures have shown. Mortgage lending falls in wake of Brexit vote: The number of mortgages advanced for house purchases fell in the first month after Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Miner in'bribery scandal' intends to quit AIM: An Africa-focused mining company that has been caught up in a bribery scandal is planning to delist its shares.

Is your firm prepared to welcome in an era of legal practice using artificial intelligence (AI)? Where is this technology headed and why must law firm leaders fully understand how cognitive computing works in order to benefit from it? With the vast amounts of structured and unstructured data firms have to deal with, there is increasing pressure from nimble technologies and clients to attract AI and cognitive technologies. Understanding the market implications of digital business information and trends is now key to attaining the best possible performance, revenue gains and cost savings. Berwin Leighton Paisner was one of the first firms to embrace AI in the UK, developing its'contract robot' which promised to complete work in seconds that would have otherwise taken a team of paralegals months to do.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

A former Philippine militiaman testified before a Senate panel on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was mayor of a southern city, ordered him and other members of a liquidation squad to kill criminals and political opponents in gangland-style assaults that left about 1,000 dead. Edgar Matobato, 57, told the nationally televised Senate committee hearing that he heard Duterte order some of the killings and acknowledged that he himself carried out about 50 of the abductions and deadly assaults in Davao, including one in which they fed a man to a crocodile in 2007. The Senate committee inquiry was being led by Sen. Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte's antidrug campaign that is believed to have killed more than 3,000 suspected drug users and dealers since he assumed the presidency in June. Duterte has accused De Lima of involvement in illegal drugs, alleging that she used to have a driver who took money from detained drug lords. She has denied the allegations.

The first thing that might come to mind thinking of drones is their military application. Unmanned flying weaponry, however, is not a new approach. In the 1860s, balloons loaded with explosives and sent with the prevailing winds towards enemy targets, were used as the first drones. Today, they have become such an innovative technology that its use has extended to the civilian and commercial sector, becoming a part of our everyday life. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or by the public referred as drones, have the potential to solve problems, improve safety and save costs across a number of industries, throughout the developing world and in disaster relief scenarios.

Attorneys defending Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's order to bar agencies from helping Syrian refugees resettle in his state faced unusually fierce questioning before a federal appeals court Wednesday, suggesting the panel might side with a lower court that found the order discriminatory. A three-judge panel for the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago zeroed in on the intelligence and intent behind the Republican vice presidential candidate's order, which a federal judge said in February "clearly discriminates" against refugees from the war-torn nation. Judges suggested that Indiana could've had a stronger argument for opting out of the refugee program -- in which states disperse federal money to resettlement organizations -- instead of excluding Syrians. "If you're in, you play by the government's rules," Judge Frank Easterbrook said. The oral arguments came the same day the White House announced that the refugee program will be expanded in the next year as concern continues about the refugee crisis stemming from Syria's civil war and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.