Consumer protections to such attacks on computers are slowly emerging in a patchwork fashion. Twice in the space of six weeks, the world has suffered major attacks of ransomware -- malicious software that locks up photos and other files stored on your computer, then demands money to release them. It's clear that the world needs better defenses, and fortunately those are starting to emerge, if slowly and in patchwork fashion. When they arrive, we may have artificial intelligence to thank. Ransomware isn't necessarily trickier or more dangerous than other malware that sneaks onto your computer, but it can be much more aggravating, and at times devastating.

Twice in the space of six weeks, the world has suffered major attacks of ransomware -- malicious software that locks up photos and other files stored on your computer, then demands money to release them. It's clear that the world needs better defenses, and fortunately those are starting to emerge, if slowly and in patchwork fashion. When they arrive, we may have artificial intelligence to thank. Ransomware isn't necessary trickier or more dangerous than other malware that sneaks onto your computer, but it can be much more aggravating, and at times devastating. Most such infections don't get in your face about taking your digital stuff away from you the way ransomware does, nor do they shake you down for hundreds of dollars or more. Both recent ransomware attacks walloped those who failed to install a Windows update released a few months earlier.

Twice in the space of six weeks, the world has suffered major attacks of ransomware--malicious software that locks up photos and other files stored on your computer, then demands money to release them. It's clear that the world needs better defenses, and fortunately those are starting to emerge, if slowly and in patchwork fashion. When they arrive, we may have artificial intelligence to thank. Ransomware isn't necessary trickier or more dangerous than other malware that sneaks onto your computer, but it can be much more aggravating, and at times devastating. Most such infections don't get in your face about taking your digital stuff away from you the way ransomware does, nor do they shake you down for hundreds of dollars or more.

Twice in the space of six weeks, the world has suffered major attacks of ransomware - malicious software that locks up photos and other files stored on your computer, then demands money to release them. It's clear that the world needs better defenses, and fortunately those are starting to emerge, if slowly and in patchwork fashion. When they arrive, we may have artificial intelligence to thank. Employees watch electronic boards to monitor possible ransomware cyberattacks at the Korea Internet and Security Agency in Seoul, South Korea. Unable to rely on good human behavior, computer security experts are developing software techniques to fight ransomware. But getting these protections in the hands of users is challenging.

'The robot at the remote site has different force, humidity and temperature sensors, all capturing information that a doctor would get when they are directly palpating (physically examining) a patient,' explains Professor Angelika Peer, a robotics researcher at the University of the West of England, UK. Prof. Peer is also the project coordinator of the EU-funded ReMeDi project, which is developing the robotic doctor to allow medical professionals to examine patients over huge distances. Through a specially designed surface mounted on a robotic arm, stiffness data of the patient's abdomen is displayed to the human, allowing the doctor to feel what the remote robot feels. This is made possible thanks to a tool called a haptic device, which has a soft surface reminiscent of skin that can recreate the sense of touch through force and changing its shape. During the examination, the doctor sits at a desk facing three screens, one showing the doctor's hand on the faraway patient and a second for teleconferencing with the patient, which will remain an essential part of the exchange.

Looking blindly for matches on Tinder can be tedious, but a new feature for the infamous dating app aims to make things easier. Tinder is testing an even more premium version of its Tinder Plus paid service, called Tinder Gold, that will let you scroll through people who have already liked you. Gold members opening up the app will have the option to jump to a section that shows them a grid of everyone who has already swiped right on their profile. Tinder is testing several price points for its Gold feature. Trials begin in Australia, Argentina, Mexico, and Canada this week.

Recent events clearly suggest fast food fans will be very well catered for once full-fledged drone delivery services get off the ground. Oscar Mayer is the latest to join the party, this week unveiling the WienerDrone as part of its WienerFleet, which of course includes its famous WienerMobile. It can fly up to 1200 feet from the ground, too, which Oscar Mayer helpfully informs us is a distance equivalent to "2400 hot dogs end-to-end." The unique quadcopter looks a lot like the WienerMobile, only smaller and with propellers attached. If we're honest, the delivery method looks rather haphazard and could result in a messy rearrangement of any sauces slathered on your snack.

I've heard that in the future computerized AIs will become so much smarter than us that they will take all our jobs and resources, and humans will go extinct. That's the most common question I get whenever I give a talk about AI. The questioners are earnest; their worry stems in part from some experts who are asking themselves the same thing. These folks are some of the smartest people alive today, such as Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, Max Tegmark, Sam Harris, and Bill Gates, and they believe this scenario very likely could be true. Recently at a conference convened to discuss these AI issues, a panel of nine of the most informed gurus on AI all agreed this superhuman intelligence was inevitable and not far away. Yet buried in this scenario of a takeover of superhuman artificial intelligence are five assumptions which, when examined closely, are not based on any evidence. These claims might be true in the future, but there is no evidence to date to support them. In contradistinction to this orthodoxy, I find the following five heresies to have more evidence to support them. If the expectation of a superhuman AI takeover is built on five key assumptions that have no basis in evidence, then this idea is more akin to a religious belief -- a myth. In the following paragraphs I expand my evidence for each of these five counter-assumptions, and make the case that, indeed, a superhuman AI is a kind of myth. The most common misconception about artificial intelligence begins with the common misconception about natural intelligence.

The price tag still holds sway in our major shops and departments stores -- but the retail sector is moving away from fixed prices, and online businesses are leading the way. Prices already fluctuate online for certain products and services like airline fares, hotel rooms and ride-sharing services like Uber. One day you score a great deal, the next you end up paying a bit more than you wanted. Most people focus on the positive -- the bargain they got. But what if such flexibility and uncertainty was a feature of all your shopping? Until now, those variations have been dictated by the laws of supply and demand: a price surge algorithm detects a spike in demand and ups the charge -- following the fundamental logic of the market.

"Connected to other part," my iPhone says to me as I stand somewhere in London's Soho, trying to decipher the letter on the top of a bus stop. "Hello?" says an American woman, reminding me of Scarlett Johansson's disembodied artificially intelligent character from the sci-fi film Her. "Hey, er … can you give me a hand by reading the letter on the bus stop?" "Sure … can you move your phone a bit more up, and to the left … Ya! I thank her, end the session, pull up Citymapper and navigate my way onto the 453 going to New Cross. I have a little bit of vision, but only enough to see motion and movement. I am using an app called Be My Eyes, an app that connects blind and visually impaired people to sighted volunteers via a remote video connection. Through the phone's camera, the blind person is able to show the sighted individual what they are looking at in the real world, allowing the volunteer to assist them with any of their vision-related problems. I began to lose my sight in the summer of 2013 to a rare genetic mitochondrial disease called Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy and was soon registered blind. I consequently found myself relying on an assortment of assistive technologies to do the simplest of tasks. Be My Eyes has just over 35,000 visually-impaired users registered for the app and over half a million volunteers. Whenever a visually impaired user requests assistance a sighted volunteer receives a notification and a video connection is established. Jose Ranola, a 55-year-old from the Philippines who works in construction and has retinitis pigmentosa, said: "I use it to help me identify medicine and read printed materials and also to describe places and objects." He adds: "All my experiences were good.