We propose an end-to-end deep learning model for translating free-form natural language instructions to a high-level plan for behavioral robot navigation. The proposed model uses attention mechanisms to connect information from user instructions with a topological representation of the environment. To evaluate this model, we collected a new dataset for the translation problem containing 11,051 pairs of user instructions and navigation plans. Our results show that the proposed model outperforms baseline approaches on the new dataset. Overall, our work suggests that a topological map of the environment can serve as a relevant knowledge base for translating natural language instructions into a sequence of navigation behaviors.

I can't profess to fully understand all of the complexities of localizing services for various languages, nuances, accents and dialects where voice recognition is concerned. However, with Amazon's Alexa ambitions ramping up after its hardware event Thursday, it's worth questioning why the voice assistant's language support is so abysmal. Almost four years after launching, Alexa supports English, French, German and Japanese, with Italian and Spanish on the way. Compare that with Siri, which, within a year of launch, supported all of the above languages, along with Korean, Mandarin and Cantonese -- and some languages were tuned for local differences by that point, too. Apple's voice assistant is now available in 21 languages.

Internet of Things Release 3 is published by oneM2M, the worldwide Internet of Things interoperability standards initiative. The third set of specifications deals with 3GPP interworking, especially as it relates to cellular IoT connectivity, among other features. The release is said to enable seamless interworking with narrowband IoT and LTE-M connectivity through the 3GPP Service Capability Exposure Function. More information is available here. FogHorn Systems says its Lightning Edge Industrial IoT platform received Industrial Software Competency status from Amazon Web Services, attesting that the software is capable of working in product design, production design, production, and operations.

The science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein once wrote, "Each generation thinks it invented sex." He was presumably referring to the pride each generation takes in defining its own sexual practices and ethics. But his comment hit the mark in another sense: Every generation has to reinvent sex because the previous generation did a lousy job of teaching it. In the United States, the conversations we have with our children about sex are often awkward, limited, and brimming with euphemism. At school, if kids are lucky enough to live in a state that allows it, they'll get something like 10 total hours of sex education.1

"The question here is about the data," Ms. Vestager said, adding that the investigation was in its "very early days" and that her office has "no conclusions" about whether to open a formal probe. A spokesman for Amazon didn't have any immediate comment. As the EU's antitrust chief, Ms. Vestager has emerged as one of the world's major technology regulators, helping inspire investigations into tech companies from Brazil to the U.S. Most recently, she fined Alphabet Inc.'s Google twice, for a total of €6.76 billion ($7.9 billion), for allegedly abusing the dominance of its search engine and Android operating system to favor its own services--decisions the company has either appealed or said it would appeal. Under her watch, the EU also ruled that Amazon must pay some €250 million in allegedly unpaid taxes to Luxembourg, an order that the Seattle-based company has appealed. Amazon is also drawing increasing scrutiny in its home country.

Dating apps and online websites are plagued with fraudulent profiles, known as'catfishes'. 'Catfishing' originated as a term for the process of luring people into false relationships, however, it has also come to encompass people giving out false information about themselves more generally. These profiles often use images of another person to allow users to pretend to be someone else in order to get a date, or scam money from a lonelyheart. This is probably the most valuable tool for catching out a catfish and can be done via Google. To kickstart the process, people need only right-click the photos that are arousing their suspcions, copy the URL and paste it into images.google.com.

Where will you meet your next bae? If Facebook has anything to do with it, it'll be through its new dating feature, which it's now testing in Colombia. Announced back in May at the F8 developer's conference, Facebook wants to help its 200 million single users find more meaningful, deeper connections – and given its monopoly in online social interactions, it's pretty well-placed to do that. Online dating is hardly anything new, though, so what sets Facebook's dating feature apart from all the rest? Well, Facebook obviously has access to mountains of data on you that other dating sites don't. Your likes, the types of events you go to, the places you hang out, the circles you move in -- all of this intel will help glean better matches than apps that rely on looks, for example.

Facebook begins publicly testing its online-dating product, called Dating, in Colombia today. The service was first announced at the annual F8 conference in May this year, and will likely be available in other locations in the future. For now, users aged 18 and older in Colombia will be able to create dating profiles and, once those reach a critical mass, find some matches. WIRED got to preview an early version of the service, and it looks promising--especially for users looking for meaningful long-term relationships rather than hookups. In other words, you can expect to find exactly zero swiping.

A few years ago I had written an article about how technology is literally obliterating jobs and how to skill yourself up for this new economy. In this article I want to provide you with a renewed peek into what I believe is the road to success, should you want to be part of the artificial intelligence economy - which some are equating to the revolution nearly 120 years ago with electricity. But first, let's take a look at what digital disruption or the increased pervasiveness of new technology is doing to the job market. Last year, AP (Associated Press) ran a 3-part big story on "Technology and permanent job destruction," very real and a very chilling narrative of what is happening in the job market right now. We have never witnessed at jobless economic recovery ever!

China will be the world's dominant player in artificial intelligence by 2030. A State Council document, issued in July last year, resolved to position China as the world's pre-eminent practitioner of artificial intelligence (AI) in both research and application within the next 12 years. Governments across the world are rushing to support innovation in AI, but none has published as coherent a plan as China and – more importantly – has the ability to get things done: the Chinese government can implement policy in ways that are impossible in western democracies. Intent, however, is one thing: to paraphrase the boxer Mike Tyson, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. The Chinese not only have a strategy, they have a track record of delivering on large-scale, ambitious projects.