'Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the science of mimicking human intelligence inside a computer.' In that case, if AI computers are being used in manufacturing, there's a need to protect those assets, right?

Dr. Abdalla Kablan is an entrepreneur and academic specialising in machine intelligence, big data analytics and computational Finance. He is the founder of Scheduit – a business oriented social network that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to match relevant business professionals with each other. Abdalla is also a lecturer and researcher of Computational Finance at the University of Malta. He obtained his PhD degree in Computational Finance from University of Essex, UK where he was a candidate at the Centre for Computational Finance and Economic Agents (CCFEA). His PhD thesis title was (The Use of Fuzzy Logic Applications for High frequency Trading).

Despite the altogether likely Robot Apocalypse that's looming, it's fun to pretend that we -- the humans -- are in control of the machines. As robotics bleed further into the mainstream with autonomous cars and low-cost Arduino kits, we're seeing an influx of laboratories designed to incubate ever more astonishing things. Though most sit on the campuses of universities, many technology firms are investing in labs of their own. Below, we've rounded up five that are changing the world in the here and now. Enjoy, and keep your head on a swivel.

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence IoT Briefing subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. Switzerland-based agricultural tech Gamaya announced yesterday that it had raised 3.2 million in funding to combine drones and artificial intelligence to improve farmers' yields, according to Fortune. Gamaya was spun out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, a research university in Switzerland, and received funding from Nestle's Chairman, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Swiss venture capital firm VI Partners, and others. The startup uses drones equipped with hyperspectral cameras that can capture changes in water and fertilizer use, crop yields, and pests.

Last month we discussed the fact that officials had approved the latest Five Year Plan for China's economy. The ultimate goal of the plan is to overtake Germany, Japan, and the United States in terms of manufacturing sophistication by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. To make that happen, the government needs Chinese manufacturers to adopt robots by the millions. It also wants Chinese companies to start producing more of these robots,, and to enable that there is an initiative making billions of yuan available for manufacturers to upgrade to technologies including advanced machinery and robots. The manufacturing hub for the electronics industry, Kunshan, in Jiangsu province is proving that that initiative is well underway.

German sportswear manufacturer Adidas announced Tuesday that it would resume production of shoes in Germany more than 20 years after it stopped making them in its home country. Completely overhauling the way it produces shoes, the world's second-largest sportswear maker said its new "Speedfactory" will use robots, as opposed to the manual process the company employs in its manufacturing hubs in Asia. In a statement, Adidas said "the first pairs of high-performance footwear to come out of the Adidas Speedfactory will be revealed later this year." However, the still under-construction "Speedfactory facility will begin large-scale production in 2017." The new production facility is being designed to speed up manufacturing and also bring it closer to the company's big European markets.

Technological advances and artificial intelligence (AI) are going to totally transform the way healthcare is delivered over the next five to 10 years. This is the view of Tony Young, National Clinical Director for Innovation at NHS England. But he warns that with the advent of life-changing technologies, we must not lose sight of what it means to be human. As with the arrival of the printing press 500 years ago which gave everyone access to the written word, medicine today is having its own "Gutenberg moment". Technology, such as smartphones and wearables, is giving patients access to medical knowledge and empowering them to take charge of their health and well-being.

Toyota and Volkswagen are the latest automakers to forge alliances with ride-hailing companies, deals that could see the car makers not only sell cars to drivers of the app companies but also develop jointly on-demand mobility technologies. On Wednesday, Toyota said it was making a strategic investment in Uber Technologies as part of a bigger partnership that would include leasing of its cars to Uber drivers. Car purchasers can lease their vehicles from Toyota Financial Services and cover their payments through earnings generated as Uber drivers, the Japanese car giant said in a statement. Toyota said it will also explore collaboration in a variety of other areas, such as developing in-car apps that support Uber drivers, sharing knowledge and accelerating research efforts. Uber already has an autonomous car project, though it isn't clear whether the collaboration between Toyota and Uber will include the development of these types of vehicles.

Before refined robots such as ASIMO and C-3PO inspired the world, there was Eric -- the first "almost perfect man." The robot was relegated to the dustbin of history after touring Europe and the U.S. in the 1920s. But now, after stumbling upon the original plans for Eric, the Science Museum in London has launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring this man of steel back to life. As of Wednesday, the museum was still short of its more than 50,000 goal. But the hope, the museum said, is to have a robot replica ready in October so they can display him at a new "Robots" exhibition next February and send him off to travel the world like his predecessor. Related: Google's'Next Generation' Atlas Robot Turns Heads "As the U.K.'s first robot, Eric holds a unique place in our history," lead curator Ben Russell said in a statement.

Over the weekend, a senior researcher at Google spoke about how he and his team are trying to build a computer that can be creative. Douglas Eck, part of Google Brain, a deep-learning research project explained at Moogfest, a four-day music and technology festival in the US that he and his team are using TensorFlow, an open-source library for machine intelligence to investigate whether AI systems can be taught to create original pieces of music, art or even video. Our biggest ever edition of TNW Conference is fast approaching! The inspiration behind the project, Eck explained, was to create a computer system that could create entirely new pieces of music on a regular basis. While an impressive engineering feat, it completely misses the point of what creativity is, and its importance in helping us interpret, challenge and add meaning to our existence.