Australia's Macquarie Bank has deployed a new digital banking service, inspired by the data strategies used at the likes of Spotify and Netflix and tapping DataStax Enterprise and the NoSQL database. This includes search-how-you-speak technology; the ability to tag and track transactions; upload receipts and warranties; set saving and spending goals; and automatically categorise spending through machine learning technology. "We looked at the experience consumers receive from popular social media sites, search engines and video and music streaming services, and saw an opportunity to use leading edge technology to bring the same personalised and intuitive experience to banking," says Luis Uguina, Chief Digital Officer for Macquarie's Banking and Financial Services Group, who joined the FI in 2014 from Spain's BBVA. "To do this, we needed a scalable technology platform able to provide real-time value, and working with DataStax Enterprise has enabled us to be more nimble and utilise the most up-to-date technological capabilities available."

The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) has partnered with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in a bid to see businesses increase their presence in Australian schools. The Ai Group, which represents more than 60,000 businesses, wants the number of industry professionals showcasing real-life science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills and associated careers in schools to increase, hoping to generate interest and motivation in STEM through real-world exposure. With 75 percent of the fastest growing occupations requiring STEM knowledge and skills, the Ai Group said the number of students leaving university is not keeping up with the demand. CSIRO Education Manager Mary Mulcahy said Australia needs to tackle the decreasing interest in STEM subjects early on in schooling to ensure the future workforce pipeline can meet future demand. "Our evidence shows that bringing real-life, hands-on STEM into classrooms results in students being more engaged in these subjects," Mulcahy said.

Sydney fintech startup Stockspot has become the first robo-advice platform in Australia to integrate AI and machine learning functions into financial advice. The company has today announced the launch of its new digital financial assistant to help clients optimise their investment behaviour. The digital financial assistant works by analysing thousands of clients and making targeted recommendations. As it learns, the technology will provide consumers with intuitive assistance to help investors optimise their profile and coach them to make better investment decisions. Instead of being a financial advisor that makes recommendations through listening to clients, Stockspot will now give advice based on consumer behaviour and actions.

Researchers have filmed an extremely rare white southern right whale calf off the coast of Western Australia.

Work on a new project by Deakin University and Melbourne-based software company Ytek has begun, aimed to develop skills of those training in the emergency response, defence, and aerospace sectors using machine learning algorithms. Dr James Zhang, a researcher from Deakin University's Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation, is working with Ytek to develop simulation solutions used to train surgeons, emergency workers, soldiers, and pilots. As part of the project, Zhang and Ytek will research how machine learning algorithms can help monitor and evaluate a trainee's conduct in mission-critical simulations by using sensors on training tools, such as manikins, to evaluate how trainers can assess students in practical training. Ytek CEO Richard Yanieri said the desired outcome of the project is to improve the practical training for students. "We've been working with Deakin's School of Medicine to understand their needs so that we can tailor a solution that works for this industry," he said.

Neota Logic has extended its law school partnership programme, this time with the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Australia. The legal AI and expert systems company's most recent outreach venture will see 20 UTS students develop AI applications to improve the delivery of social justice, which in this case centres around working with not-for-profits. The project, that launches next Spring is also supported by Australian law firm, Allens, whose partners will be involved directly in the programme. Allens is also the alliance partner of UK Magic Circle law firm, Linklaters. The latest educational venture follows on from several others, including last October's partnership with Melbourne Law School, where the aim was to build websites to provide legal help to the public. The programme dealt with common legal problems including inaccurate credit reports, handling and managing fines, and assessing employment rights.

The possibility that the impending robot revolution could well take most of the jobs away from humanity, leaving us as empty, directionless husks as we search for meaning in a world without toil has been widely discussed and debated. But it looks like it might be worse than we feared: Even our dogs are going to lose their jobs. Researchers from the University of Sydney and the Australian Centre for Field Robotics are working on a new robot that can monitor and herd farm animals, and keep an eye on farmers' crops, entirely on its own, according to Smithsonian Magazine. They recently put the bot through a series of tests on a farm, including running it over rough terrain and through streams, and herding cows and horses, to see if it could stand up to the task of working on its own on a farm. The jauntily named SwagBot was designed by the researchers to aid ranchers in some of Australia's more remote areas, where towns and neighbors can be hours apart, to herd livestock more effectively.

They say'beauty is in the eye of the beholder', but in a new event the beholders are robots. The Beauty.AI beauty contest used five algorithms to evaluate youthfulness, face symmetry, skin and other parameters, and then compare them to models and actors in a database. Now, the systems have announced the winners from more than 6,000 user-submitted selfies of individuals who live all over the world and range in ages of 18 to 69. The Beauty.AI beauty contest put together of robot judges to determine the winners. More than 6,000 people from around the world submitted head shots to be analyzed by the algorithms.

Technology around us will provide an "augmented intelligence" that will help humans to make smarter decisions, improve business models and solve problems that were previously intractable. "The ways in which we are able to interact with computers is going to make people a lot more efficient and more effective, and build digital models." This, says Richard Paris, senior data scientist at KPMG New Zealand, is the future of digital. We are increasingly seeing the digital world interact in our everyday lives, says Paris, who spoke at the inaugural KPMG Technology Series in Auckland. People interact with smartphones and these devices are becoming our intelligent assistants.

The "Floor is Lava" game (which some people just call "Hot Lava") has been around for so long, it's amazing no one's made a full video game out of it yet. But that changes with Hot Lava (which some people just call "The Floor is Lava"), which has a full trailer out from Klei Entertainment, known for their 2013 survival game Don't Starve. The game takes the concept quite literally, as your house and school fill with lava for you to jump over. The gameplay seems to be a first person parkour style similar to the Mirror's Edge series as you hop from chairs to countertops, running around with life-size action figures from some Saturday morning cartoon. It's currently in beta, but you can sign up to test it early. Drone footage of Uluru reveals the beauty of Australia's red centre