One person unsurprised by the unfolding data scandals surrounding Cambridge Analytica and Facebook is Cathy O'Neil. In 2016 Cathy published her book Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. In the book O'Neil reveals how a silent bureaucracy governed by algorithms and big data is emerging across every corner of society. This new bureaucracy is increasingly deciding who gets a job, who gets credit (and at what rate), who goes to prison and what information people read. Some of these systems may be making accurate decisions. However, Cathy argues that accuracy and efficiency alone are not sufficient metrics for success. Fairness, equity and other social considerations need to be built into the algorithms.

In the two months since Richard Watson strapped 200 remote-control-sized transmitters around his cows' necks, an artificial-intelligence system named Ida has pinged his phone with helpful alerts -- when his cows are chewing the cud, when they're feeling sick, when they're ready for insemination. "There may be 10 animals out there that have a real problem, but could you pick them?" he said one morning, standing among a grazing herd of dairy cattle wearing what he calls "cow Fitbits." But on the neighboring pastures here in rural Georgia, other farmers say they aren't that impressed. When a cow's in heat, they know she'll start getting mounted by her bovine sisters, so they smear paint on the cows' backsides and then just look for the incriminating smudge. "I can spot a cow across a room that don't feel great just by looking in her eyes," said Mark Rodgers, a fourth-generation dairy farmer in Dearing, Ga., whose dad still drives a tractor at 82. "The good Lord said, 'This is what you can do.' I can't draw, paint or anything else, but I can watch cows," he said.

In the two months since Richard Watson strapped 200 remote-control-sized transmitters around his cows' necks, an artificial intelligence system named Ida has pinged his phone with helpful alerts: when his cows are chewing the cud, when they're feeling sick, when they're ready for insemination. "There may be 10 animals out there that have a real problem, but could you pick them?" he said one morning, standing among a grazing herd of dairy cattle wearing what he calls "cow Fitbits." But on the neighboring pastures here in rural Georgia, other farmers say they aren't that impressed. When a cow's in heat, they know she'll start getting mounted by her bovine sisters, so they smear paint on the cows' backsides and then just look for the incriminating smudge. "I can spot a cow across a room that don't feel great just by looking in her eyes," said Mark Rodgers, a fourth-generation dairy farmer in Dearing, Georgia, whose dad still drives a tractor at 82. "The good Lord said, 'This is what you can do.' I can't draw, paint or anything else, but I can watch cows."

Machine Learning algorithms can predict patterns based on previous experiences. The overarching practice of Machine Learning includes both robotics (dealing with the real world) and the processing of data (the computer's equivalent of thinking). These algorithms find predictable, repeatable patterns that can be applied to eCommerce, Data Management, and new technologies such as driverless cars. The full impact of Machine Learning is just starting to be felt, and may significantly alter the way products are created, and the way people earn a living. Machine Learning algorithms are trained with large amounts of data, allowing the "robot" to learn and anticipate problems and patterns.

According to the Sun, scientists at a high level South Korean university are developing an army of killer robots that could wipe out humanity. The university is called KAIST and they launched their robot weapons program in February. Science professors from around the world are calling for an end to this program already. A professor named Toby Walsh from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia has organized a boycott of the program that now includes 49 other researchers. Everyone wants the hottest new tech.

New technologies are often touted as the solutions to our problems, as well as decried as the cause of all manner of social ills. We are told that increasing automation of jobs will mean more of us spending less time working, with ever greater responsibility handed over to software, sensors and the cloud. This week we visited some experimental projects that could offer a glimpse of our future, to see how people are grappling with the possibilities and problems of technological innovation. Reducing our working hours, while ensuring sufficient pay and essential services, is often floated as the best model for boosting productivity. It is also a seemingly inevitable byproduct of the rise of the robot worker.

I've given a few runs of my presentation on Driverless Cars in #Australia, #Malaysia and #NewZealand. One thing I've noticed is how engaged and excited the audience become when they see a #Tesla Model S, driving itself for the first time. So, what I wanted to achieve in this blog, is to share with you some of this magic and to show you some of the graphics and features I present to the audience. The key to the driverless car is the Tesla Enhanced Autopilot system which provides a number of different automatic features. Basically, new features are added as software upgrades, with the Autopilot hardware already set to support years of automation ahead.

For all the joking we do about Skynet-scenarios and killer robots, there's some truth to the worrisome creations. To prevent Terminators from becoming a real threat, some 50 robotics experts are boycotting the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a university in South Korea, given its decision to open an artificial intelligence weapons lab, according to Financial Times. The fear is that it'll trigger a next-gen arms race and that ultimately, any safeguards put in place will be circumvented by terrorists and, more specifically, North Korea. Since February, FT says KAIST has been working on a quartet of experiments at the Research Center for the Convergence of National Defense and Artificial Intelligence: AI-based command-and-decision systems, navigation algorithms for underwater drones, smart aircraft-training systems (with AI) and AI-based object tracking and recognition tech. While this might sounds normal for an academic setting, KAIST has a partnership with Korean arms company Hanwha Systems, whose parent company has apparently been blacklisted by the UN for making cluster munitions.

AI experts have warned that a South Korean University is in the process of developing a secret robot army that could destroy humanity. Top academics claim the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kaist) is working with weapons manufacturer Hanwha Systems to develop the technology. More than 50 leading academics from 30 different countries have now signed a letter boycotting the institution and expressing concern about its AI plans. Calling it a'Pandora's box', the experts believe AI and automated killing droids should not be used as weapons of war. Experts are distressed at the possibility of AI robots being developed for malicious purposes and claim it could lead to a third revolution in warfare.

A diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef may have unlocked a new way to build a GPS-like sensor that works underwater. The device is based on recent scientific understanding of how marine animals sense their geolocation based on the signature polarization patterns of light entering the water. A few years ago, U.S. and Australian researchers developed a special camera inspired by the eyes of mantis shrimp that can see the polarization patterns of light waves, which resemble those in a rope being waved up and down. That means the bio-inspired camera can detect how light polarization patterns change once the light enters the water and gets deflected or scattered. Those researchers now realize that they can use those underwater polarization patterns to deduce the sun's position--and use that to figure out the location of the camera itself.