The US Army wants to develop technology that gives its soldiers the ability to'see' through walls. In a request for information highlighted by Netxgov, the Army says it wants help from industry experts in developing a technology it calls Sense Through the Wall (STTW) System. That system would give soldiers the ability to identify important objects like improvised explosive devices or human combatants through sold surfaces, like a wall. The US Army wants its soldiers to be able to'see' through walls using a system that can sense objects and humans to help avoid IEDs and enemy combatants (stock image) 'The intent of this market survey is to identify potential man-portable systems that give the Soldier the ability to detect, identify, and monitor persons, animals, and materials behind multi-leveled obstruction(s) from a long standoff range,' reads the request sent out late last month. Among the system's abilities, according to the request, will be detecting and mapping the structure of'hidden rooms, passages, alcoves, caches, etc. including those underground.'

A team of Fugro employees has won a global competition in geotechnical machine-learning. Competing with 60 other teams from industry and academia around the world, the Fugro team came first in the pile-driving prediction event organised as part of the International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG) 2020 conference, which will be held in Austin, Texas, in August. The competition ran from April to December 2019, and ended on 1 January 2020, when it was announced that Fugro had won.

RPA works well for simple processes that operate in relatively high transaction volumes -- and finance and accounting are ripe with them, said Craig Le Clair, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. "One bank that I interviewed had 1,400 people closing the books monthly, quarterly, end of year, and they felt they could automate [the work of] about a third of those full-time employees with RPA." Imran Sabir, the senior manager of RPA at OZ, a consulting company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., agreed that RPA can improve an organization's end-of-year closing, which is the most hectic time for finance. The financial close and reporting process encompasses numerous tasks that involve many systems, departments and individuals, from closing out subledgers to creating and delivering financial filings to regulatory bodies, Sabir said. The process requires posting data from sources such as Microsoft Excel to these subledgers -- a tedious undertaking that RPA can mitigate and solve efficiently. Reporting is another common use case for RPA in finance, according to Sabir.

An artificial intelligence tool has been developed to help predict the structure of the universe and aid research into the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter. Researchers in Japan used two of the world's fastest astrophysical simulation supercomputers, known as ATERUI and ATERUI II, to create an aptly-named "Dark Emulator" tool, which is able to ingest vast quantities of data and produce analysis of the universe in seconds. The AI could play a role in studying the nature of dark energy, which seems to make up a large amount of the universe but remains an enigma. When observed from a distance, the team noted how the universe appears to consist of clusters of galaxies and massive voids that appear to be empty. But as noted by NASA, leading models of the universe indicate it is made of entities that cannot be seen.

This is a continuation of our series on machine learning methods that have been implemented in JASP (version 0.11 onwards). In this blog post we train a machine learning model to find clusters within our data set. The goal of a clustering task is to detect structures in the data. To do so, the algorithm needs to (1) identify the number of structures/groups in the data, and (2) figure out how the features are distributed in each group. For instance, clustering can be used to detect subgenres in electronic music, subgroups in a customer database, or to identify areas where there are greater incidences of particular types of crime.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai is calling for regulations on artificial intelligence, warning that the technology can bring both positive and negative consequences, AP reports. Why it matters: Lawmakers are largely scrambling to play catch-up on AI regulation as the technology continues to grow. Pichai did not provide specific proposals, but did urge while speaking at the Bruegel European economic think tank Monday that "international alignment" between the United States and the European Union will help ensure AI is used primarily for good.

Most organizations are well aware of what economists are calling the Fourth Industrial Revolution1 and what it could mean for the future of work.2 Up to an estimated 47 percent of US jobs face potential automation over the next 20 years, driven primarily by rapid advances in AI, cognitive computing, and automation of repetitive, rule-based tasks.3 Other disruptive forces seem to be shaping the future of work as well--many organizations are shifting to more team-based structures; workplaces are increasingly virtual, flexible, and geographically agnostic; the overall workforce is becoming more diverse, multigenerational, and dispersed; and most careers are morphing from following predictable road maps to constant reinvention. In the face of this, various leaders across industries are reimagining their workforce models to explore how they can use technology, expanded work settings, and alternative talent to address these disruptive forces. In addition, many are reevaluating their talent profiles, including how they measure the skill sets required for success in the future.

The technology arena is moving incredibly quickly. Therefore, I believe it's important to bring experts together to discuss, debate, and exchange ideas to help us all navigate the rapidly changing landscape. We organize and sponsor TechDebates.org to accomplish exactly this. Recently, we held a TechDebate in Chicago to discuss the best way to approach machine learning technology stacks. Dan Kirsche, head of software engineering for Enova, brought his rich experience to the discussion, and he shared some of his experiences across tech leadership roles.

The AI Pioneers in Investment Management report from CFA Institute explores global best practices in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data technology in the investment process. Since its launch last year, the report has inspired various compelling inquiries from readers and event participants that are worth addressing. Below are some of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) along with my responses. Please continue to send us your queries and comments by email or in the comments section below, and I will be sure to share and answer those that could benefit the wider audience. We believe an organization's competencies in investments and technology are complementary rather than competing.

You are typing an email and just before you realized, the system had automatically finished the sentence for you. How did your system know or predict your next choice of words? Now, as we kick off 2020, AI is showing signs of becoming even more ubiquitous. Enterprises are finally beginning to learn of AI's advantages and incorporate them into the mainstream, which is now especially evident in the areas of employee productivity and customer engagement. Learn more about the applications of AI and how you could potentially implement this in your projects or business. Nero is the dean of Penang School of AI, which is an AI learning and sharing community in Northern Malaysia.