That "galaxy, far, far away" in the famed opening lines of "Star Wars" flicks actually is part of "our reality," according to a commentary released on a key site, KurzweilAI, that deals with artificial intelligence and the like. It's because the newest chapter of the long-running series, "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," has a robot as a key character. The robot previously was part of the "Imperial Empire" but was captured and reprogrammed to become part of the rebel group that sets out to steal plans for the "Death Star" and uncover a fatal flaw. Jonathan Roberts, a professor of robotics at Queensland University of Technology, warns that robotic technology used in military conflicts could be turned back against those who created and released it. "Without giving away too many spoilers, K-2SO is part of the Rebellion freedom fighter group that are tasked with stealing the plans to the first Death Star, the infamous moon-sized battle station from the original Star Wars movie," he said. "Some robotics engineers and researchers are working on exactly this and have started to develop the algorithms that will enable autonomous military robots to be ethical.

Microsoft Director of Strategic Investments, Limor Lahiani, speaks at Geektime's Techfest in November 2016. Microsoft's director of strategic engagements shows off company's work applying NLP to genetics and other issues impacting humanity Microsoft's director of strategic engagements shows off company's work applying NLP to genetics and other issues impacting humanity The hall of several hundred people listened attentively as the speaker explained in perfectly summarized, yet pointed detail how big data was turning over the biotech industry. She was showing off the way that one of her startups, Miroculus, had begun to use natural language processing (NLP) to match microRNA -- a fraction of DNA that prevents protein production, thus triggering certain genes. "In order to have these genes observable and expressed, there are processes," Limor Lahiani recently said on stage at Geektime's DevFest, describing the process of developing APIs to analyze the corpus of data, manage the extraction, and then classify the information. Lahiani is director of strategic engagements and manager of Microsoft's Partner Catalyst program, a partnership scheme with startups and promising developers to work on cutting edge tech projects.

REVOLVING DOOR -- "Trump appoints his business attorney to manage international negotiations," by CNN's Elise Labott and Teddy Schleifer: "Jason Greenblatt, the executive vice president and chief legal officer for Trump's business empire, will take on the title of special representative for international negotiations. A source familiar with the appointment told CNN that Greenblatt will primarily will be working on Israel-Palestinian peace process, the American relationship with Cuba and trade agreements."

We all love video games, products of the ever-rising entertainment industry that allow us to enjoy our free time without having to leave our homes. Computer games demand intensive computing power, and that's why GPUs exist. But this time AMD, one of the two dominant companies in the sector, has decided to unveil a GPU and software solution to accelerate the cutting-edge AI, machine learning sector. The Sunnyvale-based company will offer a product range comprised of professional-grade GPUs to enter a market that promises to innovate in fields such as transport, logistics, and even art. AMD will release three new solutions during 2017.

Microsoft India is launching a research group that will leverage artificial intelligence to deliver large-scale eye care in collaboration with Hyderabad-based L V Prasad Eye Institute. The Microsoft Intelligent Network for Eyecare (MINE) will work with a consortium of research and technology institutions around the world, including the University of Miami, Federal University of Sao Paulo and Australia's Brien Holden Vision Institute. The idea is similar to Google DeepMind's project, which targets the UK and works with their National Health Services to use artificial intelligence to detect and treat blindness-causing eye diseases. India is a logical jumping-off point for the project, as it is home to some 55 million of the world's 285 million people living with vision impairment. Using Microsoft's cloud platform technology Cortana Intelligence Suite, MINE will collaborate and work from datasets of patients around the world to develop machine learning predictive models for vision impairment and eye disease, with the ultimate goal of eliminating avoidable blindness and scaling worldwide delivery of eye care services.

Where appropriate, we brought back trends from previous reports, once they had hit tipping point or promised new value.We looked ahead to predict which consumer segments will be most affected by the trend, how it will evolve, and identified brands that are leading the way. They are the early adopters of new technology. Millennials – those born after 1982 – are adept at making the most of technology to create a world of difference for themselves. Technology has given them the freedom to redefine the way they work, play, shop and to take control of their daily activities. Their dependence on their smartphones and other new technologies sets their expectations for how they want to engage with brands. Generation Z – defined loosely as those born after the late 1990s – are the first true digital native generation, and are the native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the internet.

Humanity has a major food problem. The world's population is expected to increase significantly over the next three decades, but our capacity for food production will struggle to keep pace. Although global fertility rates are actually falling, a general increase in life expectancy will mean a steady increase in headcount during our lifetimes. One 2015 UN DESA report claims the world's population will hit 9.7 billion by 2050 – an increase of some 2.3 billion over today. Of course, a general rise in life expectancy reflects a higher standard of living for more of the world, which is cause for celebration.

SVKM's NMIMS University is all set to organise International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare on 27-28th December, 2016 at its Shirpur campus in Northern Maharashtra. The conference aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare. It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, says Dr R.S. Gaud, Chairman of the conference. The conference will be inaugurated by Dr Shailendra Saraf, Vice President of Pharmacy Council of India, New Delhi. About 12 speakers from the national and international universities and research centres will deliver their scientific lectures in the two-day international conference.

Year 1999, The Matrix introduced your neighbor, your dad, and pretty much every hacky-sacking college kid in the country to the idea that the real world around us … might not be so real. In the film, our trenchcoated protagonist Neo discovers that the world as he knows it is only an illusion, piped into his brain while his body sits submerged in a gooey chemical broth. The idea that we are not really here at all -- that life is just an illusion – is as old as Plato's Allegory of the Cave. But The Matrix had that special sauce that made this mind-bending concept palatable to high schoolers shuffling around in JNCO jeans: guns, Keanu Reeves, and a soundtrack anchored by Rage Against the Machine. "Entering the Matrix" became pop-culture shorthand for the notion that technology could eventually deliver us from our mind-numbing reality and allow us to live in a faux universe of our own creation. Want to learn kung fu in seconds? Just take the red pill. A kid born in 1999 is just now old enough to rent the R-rated Matrix -- or more likely, stream it. Yet in those intervening 17 years, entering the Matrix has gone from a dystopian sci-fi dream to a waking reality. These days, a pair of $800 goggles can convince you to duck as dinosaurs shamble over you, drop the pit of your stomach as you peer off the ledge of an artificial skyscraper, and make you puke -- in real life -- after one too many loops in a computer-generated space fighter. And yup, you can freeze time and stop bullets, too.

It's been a year of change in the enterprise software market. SaaS providers are fighting to compete with one another, machine learning is becoming a reality for businesses at a larger scale, and containers are growing in popularity. Here are some of the top trends from 2016 that we'll likely still be talking about next year. As more and more companies adopt software-as-a-service products like Office 365, Slack, and Box, there is increasing pressure to collaborate for companies that compete with each another. After all, nobody wants to be stuck using a service that doesn't work with the other critical systems they have.