For the people most immersed in the tech sector, it's hard to think of a more controversial topic than the ultimate impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society. By eventually empowering machines with a level of superintelligence, there are many different possible outcomes ranging from Kurzweil's technological singularity to the more dire predictions popularized by Elon Musk. Despite this wide gap in potential outcomes, most technologists do agree on one thing: AI will have a profound impact on the society and the way we do business. Today's infographic comes from the Extraordinary Future 2017, a new conference in Vancouver, BC that focuses on emerging technologies such as AI, autonomous vehicles, fintech, and blockchain tech. In the below infographic, we look recent projections from PwC and Accenture regarding AI's economic impact, as well as the industries and countries that will be the most profoundly affected. According to PwC's most recent report on the topic, the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) will be transformative.

Today (or, yesterday, but today Australia time, where it's probably already tomorrow), 116 founders of robotics and artificial intelligence companies from 26 countries released an open letter urging the United Nations to ban lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS). This is a follow-up to the 2015 anti-"killer robots" UN letter that we covered extensively when it was released, but with a new focus on industry that attempts to help convince the UN to get something done. The press release accompanying the letter mentions that it was signed by Elon Musk, Mustafa Suleyman (founder and Head of Applied AI at Google's DeepMind), Esben Østergaard, (founder & CTO of Universal Robotics), and a bunch of other people who you may or may not have heard of. You can read the entire thing here, including all 116 signatories. For some context on this, we spoke with Toby Walsh, Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and one of the organizers of the letter. Why was it important to release this second open letter?

Once developed, [lethal autonomous weapons] will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend,

Welcome to California Inc., the weekly newsletter of the L.A. Times Business Section. Stocks took a pounding last week as the political turbulence in Washington and terror attacks in Spain caught up with the market. But closer to home employers statewide increased their payrolls by 82,600 jobs in July. Sectors that saw the most employment gains include government, which added 18,800 jobs; educational and health services, which saw an increase of 18,600; and leisure and hospitality, which was up 15,200 jobs. Dark day: The long-awaited solar eclipse sweeps across America on Monday.

A world where there are no car accidents, congestion is a thing of the past, and artificial intelligence (AI)and Internet of Things drive the future are no longer wishful thinking. It's a reality that German-based companies like Bosch is pushing and could be happening in as little as five years. At Bosch's annual press conference held earlier this year, Dr Volker Denner, chairman of the board of management for Bosch, outlined the company's future strategic plans for automated cars and the impact AI and the IoT will have on many things in the not-too-distant future. How serious is the company in pressing innovation in this space? This year the company added 500 more engineers to work on its automated driving projects, which means it has more than 3000 specialists working in this arena.

The world's leading artificial intelligence experts are sounding the alarm on killer robots. Tesla (TSLA) boss Elon Musk is among a group of 116 founders of robotics and artificial intelligence companies who are calling on the United Nations to ban autonomous weapons. "Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare. Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend," the experts warn in an open letter released Monday. "These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways," the letter says.

Killer robots should be urgently banned before a wave of weapons of mass destruction gets out of control, industry leaders say. Robotics and artificial intelligence experts have signed of an open letter demanding the UN prohibit the use of such weapons internationally. Among the 116 signatories are Tesla founder Elon Musk and Mustafa Suleyman, head of applied AI at Google's Deep Mind. The weapons, including lethal microdrone swarms, are on the edge of development with the potential to create global instability, they warn. Killer robots should be urgently banned before a wave of weapons of mass destruction gets out of control, industry leaders say.

Scientists and business leaders, including Professor Walsh, called for the use of lethal autonomous weapons, or'killer robots', to be outlawed. SYDNEY - Scientists from around the world have called for the United Nations (UN) to take action to stop the proliferation of "killer robots". At the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Melbourne on Monday, technology leaders congregated at the event and requested that the development of weaponry using artificial intelligence be halted as "once this Pandora's box is opened, it will be hard to close." As part of this open letter to the UN, the scientists and business leaders, including world-renowned AI expert Toby Walsh, Elon Musk of Tesla, and James Chow of China's UBTECH, called for the use of lethal autonomous weapons, or killer robots, to be outlawed much in the same way as chemical and biological weapons on the battlefield. "Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend. These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations," the letter said.

Some of the world's leading robotics and artificial intelligence pioneers are calling on the United Nations to ban the development and use of killer robots. Tesla's Elon Musk and Google's Mustafa Suleyman are leading a group of 116 specialists from across 26 countries who are calling for the ban on autonomous weapons. The UN recently voted to begin formal discussions on such weapons which include drones, tanks and automated machine guns. Ahead of this, the group of founders of AI and robotics companies have sent an open letter to the UN calling for it to prevent the arms race that is currently under way for killer robots. In their letter, the founders warn the review conference of the convention on conventional weapons that this arms race threatens to usher in the "third revolution in warfare" after gunpowder and nuclear arms.

A next revolution in warfare where killer robots, or autonomous weapons systems, are common in battlefields is about to start. Both scientists and industry are worried. The world's top artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics companies have used a conference in Melbourne to collectively urge the United Nations to ban killer robots or lethal autonomous weapons. An open letter by 116 founders of robotics and artificial intelligence companies from 26 countries was launched at the world's biggest artificial intelligence conference, the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), as the UN delays meeting until later this year to discuss the robot arms race. Toby Walsh, Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales, released the letter at the opening of the opening of the conference, the world's pre-eminent gathering of experts in artificial intelligence and robotics.