CAIRO - 12 February 2020: "We are entering the cognitive age. Over the next 25 years, advanced AI [Artificial Intelligence] will be the central element of digital transformation that fundamentally changes how businesses operate," Executive Vice President of global consulting firm Protiviti, Cory Gunderson, once said. Protiviti argues in a report that artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are poised to help companies make dramatic shifts in performance, shareholder value and business development within the next two years. "AI opens the door to analyse massive amounts of data and deliver critical insights that organisations across a wide variety of industries can use to improve processes, drive profitability, and increase their competitive advantage," it stated. The research concluded that companies leading the charge with advanced AI are finding that it is a real game changer, while companies that are still lagging behind will soon experience a major disadvantages.

The "2020 Global Forecast for Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Chipsets (2021-2026 Outlook)-High Tech & Emerging Markets Report" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. This report contains timely and accurate market statistics and forecasts on the market for over 140 countries. Published annually, it provides a unique and accurate estimate on market sizing for this equipment/material using a proprietary economic model that integrates historical trends (horizontal analysis) and longitudinal analysis of incorporated industries (vertical analysis). Estimates on equipment or material sales (product shipments value) are published historically for 2013 to 2017, projections for 2016 to 2020 and forecasts for 2021 to 2026. Product shipments include the total value of all products produced and shipped by all producers.

Meet Spot, the first robot to get its own employee number at Norwegian oil producer Aker BP. Developed by Boston Dynamics, the robot is set to start patrolling Aker BP's oil and gas production vessel at the Skarv field in the Norwegian Sea this year, testing its ability to run inspections, detect hydrocarbon leaks, gather data and generate reports. The upshot for Aker BP, which is seeking to be a front-runner in the digitalization of the oil industry, is to make offshore operations safer and more efficient, the company said as it presented the robot at its capital markets day in Oslo on Tuesday. Aker BP will run the tests with Cognite, the software venture controlled by the oil company's main owner, Aker ASA. "These things never get tired, they have a larger ability to adapt and to gather data," Kjetel Digre, Aker BP's senior vice president for operations, said in an interview.

After the messy reporting of the Iowa caucus results, some who build tech for progressive causes say the approach to software development in this space needs rethinking. After the messy reporting of the Iowa caucus results, some who build tech for progressive causes say the approach to software development in this space needs rethinking. Democrats could avoid another tech meltdown like the one that afflicted the Iowa caucuses with a better strategy for building the tools they need, progressive technology specialists say. The origins of the Iowa debacle are in a boom-and-bust cycle that places technology in competition with other priorities as time-crunched campaigns grapple with how best to spend as they hurtle toward an election. "The easy way to spend money, that's reliable, is on advertising," says Evan Henshaw-Plath, a technologist who has built applications for progressive causes and was an early employee at Twitter.

A New York Times investigation has catapulted Clearview AI, a US-based facial recognition (FR) company, into the center of the privacy debate. Clearview AI identifies individuals from non-consensually collected images, which threatens to eradicate individual privacy in its entirety. The company has built a database of over one billion images taken from social media, without user consent, and contrary to the websites' terms of use. The tool can identify any individual on the street from just one image thus obliterating public privacy. The revelations should propel swift regulatory action.

Positive, reliable and human-centric artificial intelligence (AI) relies on the willingness of Europe as a whole to design a balanced and inclusive governance framework that would allow it to become a leader in the development of trustworthy AI technologies worldwide. That was the main conclusion reached in the frame of the high-level workshop organised by the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) on 29 January 2020 at the European Parliament in Brussels. The first STOA event for this parliamentary term (2019-2024) drew a full house with Members of the European Parliament, European Commission leaders, academic experts and representatives of international organisations debating how to strike the right balance on AI. Harnessing the numerous benefits that the transformative power of AI can bring needs to also take account of the necessity to mitigate a number of potential risks – from hampering people's fundamental rights, such as privacy or non-discrimination – to undermining European values such as democracy, human dignity and the right to assemble. The event proved to be a timely occasion to discuss how Europe could maximise the benefits and address the challenges of AI in a human-centric way, coming only a few days before the publication of the European Commission's legislative plans on AI in the form of a White Paper on 19 February 2020.

Within the next two years, annual spending on AI would rise to more than $2 billion and funding for quantum computing would increase to $860 million, according to the White House plan. The proposed increases in AI spending include more than $850 million at the National Science Foundation, $125 million at the Department of Energy's Office of Science and $100 million at the Agriculture Department, among other agencies. The budget also proposes $50 million in AI and quantum education and job training initiatives, including partnerships with community colleges. "Early-stage research is a high priority," Kelvin Droegemeier, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said about proposed AI and quantum funding on a media conference call Monday. U.S. Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios, also speaking on the call, said the country is facing a "global power competition" for AI, quantum computing and other critical technologies.

Fiat Chrysler, in partnership with Chinese-based AutoX, wants to launch robo-taxis in China later this year, according to an announcement. The automobile maker, one of the "Big Three" in Detroit, has been casting a wide net for autonomous vehicle tech, and wants to keep pace with rivals in Detroit. Hong Kong's AutoX said it plans to integrate self-driving vehicle tech into a fleet of Chrysler Pacifica minivans -- the same vehicle that Waymo, Alphabet's subsidiary known for its work on autonomous vehicles, has often chosen to use. The two companies said they plan to offer up the self-driving cars this year in numerous Chinese cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, later in 2020. AutoX -- a lesser-known startup than others in the field -- was founded in 2016 by Jianxiong Xiao, a former Princeton professor who specializes in 3D learning, computer vision and robotics. According to a Medium post by the company, he goes by the nickname Professor X. AutoX has attracted high-profile investors like China's Dongfeng Motor Group and eCommerce giant Alibaba.

Charlton McIlwain, a vice provost and a professor of media, culture and communication at NYU, said he believes the tech community isn't fully committed to diversifying its workforce. Diversity efforts have been under way for years, he said, speaking Thursday at an event in New York organized by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. However, he added, "we're still at the same place, if not a little bit behind. Because there's not a commitment to the long [process], from beginning to end about what has to be done to produce that kind of diverse workforce that [extends] from the bottom all the way up to the top, which is necessary." In an interview after his speech, Mr. McIlwain said increasing diversity starts with companies recognizing that a diverse workforce, especially in engineering positions, helps them "see a broader range of problems that affect a broader range of people."

Innovation Saskatchewan plans to use robots to help reduce the amount of solid waste that is placed in landfills. The group unveiled its new technology at Innovation Place on the University of Regina campus on Tuesday from its two winners of the 2019 Innovation Saskatchewan challenge. Prairie Robotics used artificial intelligence and cameras to capture waste data in real time while researchers at the U of R created a system designed to handle Saskatchewan's extreme weather all while being able to weigh moving vehicles. The province expects the two solutions to be beneficial in help to reduce sold waste dumped into landfills by 30 per cent by 2030. "Our tech community has developed a tracking and reporting mechanism using artificial intelligence which can reduce the expense of landfill operations and lead to long-term environmental efficiencies," Innovation Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor said.