Rest assured that despite the constant Matrix-like scenarios, we're actually big fans of AI technology. But we're also sci-fi geeks, so we have to get it out somewhere. Earlier this year, I wrote about the basics of how machine learning works, and how we've been using it to train computer programs to beat us at the Chinese strategy game, Go. You'd think that teaching a computer how to think strategically and crush their opponents beneath their cybernetic heel would be enough for researchers, but they've decided to raise the bar again. Now, they want to teach computers just what it is that humans fear.

Fifa, Madden and Battlefield have all stopped working online. Players are unable to get onto the EA servers at all because of a problem with the company's servers. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar.

Much of the software now revolutionizing the financial services industry depends on algorithms that apply artificial intelligence (AI)--and increasingly, machine learning--to automate everything from simple, rote tasks to activities requiring sophisticated judgment. These algorithms and the analyses that undergird them have become progressively more sophisticated as the pool of potentially meaningful variables within the Big Data universe continues to proliferate. When properly implemented, algorithmic and AI systems increase processing speed, reduce mistakes due to human error and minimize labor costs, all while improving customer satisfaction rates. Creditscoring algorithms, for example, not only help financial institutions optimize default and prepayment rates, but also streamline the application process, allowing for leaner staffing and an enhanced customer experience. When effective, these algorithms enable lenders to tweak approval criteria quickly and continually, responding in real time to both market conditions and customer needs. Both lenders and borrowers stand to benefit. For decades, financial services companies have used different types of algorithms to trade securities, predict financial markets, identify prospective employees and assess potential customers. Although AIdriven algorithms seek to avoid the failures of rigid instructions-based models of the past--such as those linked to the 1987 "Black Monday" stock market crash or 2010's "Flash Crash"--these models continue to present potential financial, reputational and legal risks for financial services companies.

Shopping in the future may feel a lot like shoplifting does today -- without the risk of getting nabbed -- if two artificial intelligence startups have their way. New Zealand's IMAGR and Silicon Valley's Mashgin aim to make checking out of grocery stores and company cafeterias a walk in the park. Many supermarkets offer self-checkout to save shoppers time. IMAGR founder William Chomley wants to skip the checkout altogether, so you can just walk right out the door. It's similar to the idea behind Amazon Go, being tested in a grocery store in downtown Seattle, which lets customers shop without ever stopping at a cashier on the way out.

A week after President Donald Trump's inauguration, George Orwell's '1984' is the best-selling book on Amazon.com. The hearts of a thousand English teachers must be warmed as people flock to a novel published in 1949 for ways to think about their present moment. Orwell set his story in Oceania, one of three blocs or mega-states fighting over the globe in 1984. A week after President Donald Trump's inauguration, George Orwell's '1984' is the best-selling book on Amazon.com, as many are comparing it to today's America. Orwell could not have imagined the internet and its role in distributing alternative facts.

An artificial intelligence watchdog should be set up to make sure people are not discriminated against by the automated computer systems making important decisions about their lives, say experts. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to an explosion in the number of algorithms that are used by employers, banks, police forces and others, but the systems can, and do, make bad decisions that seriously impact people's lives. But because technology companies are so secretive about how their algorithms work – to prevent other firms from copying them – they rarely disclose any detailed information about how AIs have made particular decisions. In a new report, Sandra Wachter, Brent Mittelstadt, and Luciano Floridi, a research team at the Alan Turing Institute in London and the University of Oxford, call for a trusted third party body that can investigate AI decisions for people who believe they have been discriminated against. "What we'd like to see is a trusted third party, perhaps a regulatory or supervisory body, that would have the power to scrutinise and audit algorithms, so they could go in and see whether the system is actually transparent and fair," said Wachter.

It is supposed to be the futuristic household tool catering to the demands and whims of tech-savvy homeowners. But to those named Alexa, it appears the Amazon Echo makes life decidedly more frustrating. The gadget, which perform tasks including ordering shopping online through simple voice commands, has become the focus of annoyance to Alexas across the globe – because that is precisely the name to which the device answers. Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled smart speaker that works alongside a smartphone app. Using a virtual assistant called Alexa, the speaker can respond to voice commands from the user, such as setting an alarm or ordering a cab.

If at first you don't succeed, try again. It took YouTuber Val JP 32,873 attempts to get to the end of a minute-long level he had designed for Super Mario Maker, a 2015 Nintendo game that lets you craft your own levels and upload them for others to play. Val JP is known for making extremely difficult levels, stuffed with spike traps, fire pits and floating enemies that thwart anyone with less than pixel-perfect reflexes. This time he might have gone too far, however. Before you can upload a home-made level, you must prove that it is playable – and that means completing it at least once yourself.

Sage has integrated its Pegg chat bot with Sage One, adding artificial intelligence technology to the company's cloud-based accounting software. The U.K.-based company is launching the capability in the U.S. first before marketing it in other countries. Sage showed off the technology last year during its Sage Summit conference in Chicago (see Accounting bot launched at Sage Summit). The bot, developed in collaboration with Gupshup, a San Francisco-based developer, uses AI technology to provide a "virtual accounting assistant." Pegg allows users to submit expenses and track receipts, and see who is late on paying an invoice, via mobile messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger and Slack. According to Sage, 20,000 customers in 110 countries have already begun using Pegg as early adopters since it launched six months ago.

Meanwhile the leader of Communist China rebranded his prickly protectionist power as the defender of globalisation and shared values. So after week one in this upside down new world, how stands China's bid for global leadership? A week is just a week, but when it comes to strategic focus, China is on course. It's easier to look laser sharp when the competition is in disarray. Here the internal difficulties of the US and the European Union are helpful to China.