This paper introduces RoTipBot, a novel robotic system for handling thin, flexible objects. Different from previous works that are limited to singulating them using suction cups or soft grippers, RoTipBot can grasp and count multiple layers simultaneously, emulating human handling in various environments. Specifically, we develop a novel vision-based tactile sensor named RoTip that can rotate and sense contact information around its tip. Equipped with two RoTip sensors, RoTipBot feeds multiple layers of thin, flexible objects into the centre between its fingers, enabling effective grasping and counting. RoTip's tactile sensing ensures both fingers maintain good contact with the object, and an adjustment approach is designed to allow the gripper to adapt to changes in the object. Extensive experiments demonstrate the efficacy of the RoTip sensor and the RoTipBot approach. The results show that RoTipBot not only achieves a higher success rate but also grasps and counts multiple layers simultaneously -- capabilities not possible with previous methods. Furthermore, RoTipBot operates up to three times faster than state-of-the-art methods. The success of RoTipBot paves the way for future research in object manipulation using mobilised tactile sensors. All the materials used in this paper are available at \url{https://sites.google.com/view/rotipbot}.

Human-like intelligence in a machine is a contentious subject. Whether mankind should or should not pursue the creation of artificial general intelligence is hotly debated. As well, researchers have aligned in opposing factions according to whether mankind can create it. For our purposes, we assume mankind can and will do so. Thus, it becomes necessary to contemplate how to do so in a safe and trusted manner -- enter the idea of boxing or containment. As part of such thinking, we wonder how a phenomenology might be detected given the operational constraints imposed by any potential containment system. Accordingly, this work provides an analysis of existing measures of phenomenology through qualia and extends those ideas into the context of a contained artificial general intelligence.

When most people think of the connection between technology and jobs, they think of robots and automation taking over relatively unskilled jobs like factory work. And thus, the biggest toll from these technological advances would be on already hard-hit manufacturing regions of the Rust Belt. But a new wave of developments in artificial intelligence may have a greater effect on high-skilled jobs and high-tech knowledge regions. The study by Mark Muro, Jacob Whiton, and Robert Maxim takes a close look at the potential of artificial intelligence--or AI--to automate tasks that until now have required human intelligence and decision-making. As they put it: "Unlike robotics (associated with the factory floor) and computers (associated with routine office activities), AI has a distinctly white-collar bent."

FILE - In this May 13, 2018, file photo, MLB umpire Joe West, right, talks with a player in the ninth inning during a baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Washington Nationals in Phoenix. West, who has umpired more than 5,000 big league games, said the 2016 TrackMan computer system test was far from perfect. NEW YORK – Get ready for strikes by robots. Computers will be used for ball/strike calls starting April 25 in the independent Atlantic League, where the distance between home and first will be shortened by 3 inches. The ground between the mound and home plate will lengthen by 2 feet for the second half of the season beginning July 12.

Get ready for strikes by robots. Computers will be used for ball/strike calls starting April 25 in the independent Atlantic League, where the distance between home and first will be shortened by 3 inches. The ground between the mound and home plate will lengthen by 2 feet for the second half of the season beginning July 12. The 60-foot-6-inch distance between the front of the pitching rubber and the back point of home plate has been standard since 1893, but Major League Baseball reached a three-year deal to experiment in the Atlantic League, an eight-team circuit that occasionally produces big leaguers. Infield defensive shifts will be limited.