Big data overload is already beginning, but analytics can't do everything. So focus on business needs, experiment, and look for actionable insights, say government's data experts. How DIBP is using AI to measure risk. The astounding possibilities of the big data era and the internet of things are only just beginning to emerge and already there is a problem: data overload. Artificial intelligence is a big part of successful new data-driven approaches to public sector challenges, like the Department of Immigration and Border Protection's Border Risk Identification System, and might also be the key to extracting business value from the data deluge.

The risk that your job will be automated out of existence depends, of course, on the job you do. For many, that's already happened--typically in roles and industries where the name of the game is eliminating human error and improving efficiency. But in order for artificial intelligence to take a much bigger bite out of the knowledge-economy workforce, the technology may need to start behaving more like humans, not less. And that will mean mastering one key behavior: small talk. Sociolinguists involved in the Language in the Workplace Project at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand have discovered that people switch naturally between "transactional" talk--such as discussing a business goal--and "interactional" talk, like when you encourage or show concern for a distressed coworker.

Curious to know what an Australian soldier fighting in WWI had for brekkie? Now you can ask him yourself, along with anything else that comes to mind. The Wizeline bots team has partnered News Corp Australia to launch the AnzacLive chatbot, an innovative way to share history with a modern audience. The chatbot was created to commemorate Anzac Day, which recognizes the anniversary of the first major military action fought by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. in WWI -- namely the historic battles of Fromelles and Pozieres in July 1916. How did our bots team create a cross-century AMA? Journals from one of the soldiers, Archie Barwick, have been powered by technology.

Going on a date with someone you have met online can be a daunting experience. While taking a friend with you might seem strange, this is exactly the aim of Tinder's latest feature. Some have pointed out these activities may not be as innocent as they seem, describing it as a'group sex' feature. But Tinder Social says the tool is not designed for this, and simply enables users to create groups, meet new people and plan activities together. After downloading the latest update, Tinder users can now choose to'unlock' Tinder Social to gain access to the feature.

Tinder Social came about after a test in Australia that proved a glut of the app's users have been looking for a feature to aid in planning out their night, their hangouts, and ways to meet new people for concerts and other friendly excursions aside from romantic encounters. When using the feature, Tinder users can "unlock" Tinder Social to create a group of 1-3 friends with a sole focus, like attending a movie or hitting up a bar. The group access can be turned on or off at any time. When users swipe right on a group they like, the groups will combine and offer up a group chat for planning the event. The feature is available in the US, UK and select other areas around the world.

The rise of the bot has been one of the dominant tech trends of 2016, but apart from ordering you flowers or an Uber, the automated systems could also deliver a history lesson. News Corp Australia has launched a chatbot on Facebook Messenger that allows users to interact with Tasmanian soldier Archie Barwick, who fought in World War I. The chatbot was created by AnzacLive, an interactive project that helps users learn more about the personal experiences of Australians on the frontline. While the project has so far allowed people to interact with veterans, including nurses and soldiers, via Facebook posts, the chatbot will allow for a more private conversation with Barwick as he battles on the Western Front. "We did it to mark the July 1916 battles of Pozieres and Fromelles, the Australians' first major clashes on the Western Front," Justin Lees, editor of AnzacLive, told Mumbrella.

Someone grabbed my wrist and pointed sharply below us: 'Quick, look down!' I swam to face the seabed and gasped through my snorkel. A shark stretching some 8m long, as long as a bus, had moved silently underneath us -- and I hadn't noticed it at all. The whale shark, a beautiful creature, a filter-feeder whose giant mouth gives it a benign look, is good at escaping detection. It's still not known how large the global population of whale sharks is, how they migrate across the oceans, and where they give birth, despite being the largest fish species alive today. For a few minutes off the coast of Ningaloo in Western Australia, I was able to swim with one such shark, before it disappeared off into the Indian Ocean, too deep and too fast for humans to follow.

According to a new release, "Zendesk, Inc. today announced the launch of Automatic Answers, a feature powered by machine learning within Zendesk that helps customers solve their inquiries faster and enables businesses to have more efficient support teams. Zendesk is one of the first customer service platforms implementing machine learning to natively auto-respond to customer tickets with relevant knowledge base articles, helping solve and deflect customer inquiries before they ever reach an agent. Automatic Answers was developed in Australia by Zendesk's Melbourne-based development team, who previously brought Satisfaction Prediction to market and was awarded the 2016 Victorian iAward for Big Data Innovation of the Year."

We are currently looking for an exceptionally talented and passionate Senior Data Scientist to work closely with product engineering teams to identify development opportunities, strategies and architect plans, and develop algorithmic solutions. We are looking for someone who can generate valuable and actionable insights by utilising advanced statistical techniques and data mining approaches to improve decision making. Also analysing and interpreting the results of new product development experiments, with the ability to communicate the findings to key stakeholders, gaining support and'buy in' for any recommendations. The role As a Senior Data Scientist you will build well maintained models of customer behaviours that influence programmatic decision making. Then evolve and enhance systems and tools for agile data analysis and visualisation.

From Pandora to Spotify to Uber to ebay, new companies are disrupting the old with a key platform to enable change: a shift out of the world of enterprise data warehousing and towards a new platform based on machine learning, big & fast data and open source technologies. These changes are allowing new companies to get closer to the insights of their customers, to adapt their business to minute changes and to react and make decisions in real time. This engaging talk will bring some ideas that can help organizations shape their big data journey and adapt to the coming machine learning age.