Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just another technology but also could be a powerful disruptive tool for public welfare as has been demonstrated by Chinese tech major Baidu. The company has used AI in China to find nearly 9,700 missing people and also help visually-impaired people. Its successes can be replicated in India. In a talk at IIT-Madras' tech fest, Shaastra 2020, titled'Innovation in the age of AI' last week, Robin Li, Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman of Baidu, had said: "In China, we have already found over 9,000 missing people using AI technology, pretty much facial recognition technology -- even after a person is missing for more than 20-years. We had a case where a boy was lost at the age of four, and at the age 25 he was identified as that missing person." Elaborating on this, a company official said that Baidu AI Xunren, launched at the end of 2016, uses the AI technology to identify missing persons.

LAS VEGAS--The White House on Tuesday proposed regulatory principles to govern the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at limiting authorities' "overreach," and said it wants European officials to likewise avoid aggressive approaches. In a fact sheet, the White House said federal agencies should "conduct risk assessment and cost-benefit analyses prior to any regulatory action on AI, with a focus on establishing flexible frameworks rather than one-size-fits-all regulation." The comments come at a time when companies are racing to integrate AI and deep machine learning into their businesses to remain competitive. However, the technology raises ethical concerns about control, privacy, cyber security, and the future of work, companies and experts have said. Michael Kratsios, chief technology officer of the United States, said at a Web Summit in Lisbon on Nov. 7, 2019: "The Chinese government has built an advanced authoritarian state by twisting technology to put censorship over free expression and citizen control over empowerment. Through their massive system of censorship, the Great Firewall, the Chinese government violates the privacy of every person in their country by monitoring online communications and blocking access to information. Yet, he added, "despite this and other grave and documented actions that run counter to the values of America, Europe, and our allies, countries around the world continue to consider opening their arms to Chinese companies in order to build critical infrastructure, like 5G, or develop key technology, like artificial intelligence.

When you get Jack Ma and Elon Musk on the same stage debating the impact of AI, you get a study in contrasts. Musk is CEO of Tesla and Ma is chairman of Alibaba Group Holding. The two shared a stage recently at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. Regarding AI, Musk said, "People underestimate the capability of AI. They sort of think like it's a smart human. Ma said, "I never in my life say human beings will be controlled by machines, it's impossible…Human beings can never create another thing that is smarter than human beings." Musk said, "I very much disagree with that." In another contrasting exchange, Ma said, "I'm quite optimistic and I don't think artificial intelligence is a threat." Musk's retort included the phrase, "famous last words." This debate epitomizes the clash between the "narrow" AI embedded in GPS systems and Amazon recommendations, and the goal of artificial general intelligence, a self-teaching system able to outperform humans across a range of disciplines. This is known as the "singularity,' which some scientists believe is 30 years away, if it is ever achieved.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Technology companies transformed smartphones and televisions into continuous fountains of revenue. Now, big tech wants to work with automakers to do the same thing for your car. With the widespread rollout of autonomous vehicles still years away, the two industries have converged on the idea of cars providing services and features delivered "over the air" - that is, over the same wireless data networks used by smart phones. Those services - streaming video, vehicle performance upgrades, dashboard commerce - could answer a pressing need for automakers. They need to learn how to milk their hardware for revenue long after vehicles roll off dealers' lots.

Machine-learning models based on neural networks are behind many recent technological advances, including high-accuracy translations of text and self-driving cars. They are also increasingly used by researchers to help solve physics problems [1]. Neural networks have identified new phases of matter (see Q&A: A Condensed Matter Theorist Embraces AI) [2], detected interesting outliers in data from high-energy physics experiments [3], and found astronomical objects known as gravitational lenses in maps of the night sky (see Q&A: Paving A Path for AI in Physics Research) [4]. But, while the results obtained by neural networks proliferate, the inner workings of this tool remain elusive, and it is often unclear exactly how the network processes information in order to solve a problem. Now a team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich has demonstrated a way to find this information [5].

Cells nestled in the outermost layers of the human brain generate a special kind of electrical signal that might grant them an extra boost of computing power, new research suggests. What's more, this signal may be unique to humans -- and may explain our unique intelligence, according to the study authors. Brain cells, or neurons, link up through long, branching wires and shuttle messages along these cables to communicate with each other. Each neuron has both an outgoing wire, called an axon, and a wire that receives incoming messages, known as a dendrite. The dendrite passes on information to the rest of the neuron through bursts of electrical activity.

It had already been an eventful day in Iran: The country had just launched missiles at United States forces based in Iraq and an airliner carrying at least 176 people crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday, killing everyone on board. Then just before dawn, a 4.5-magnitude earthquake struck southern Iran at a depth of about six miles, the United States Geological Survey reported, in the same region as the troubled Bushehr nuclear power plant. It struck just as Iranian leaders were trumpeting their strike on two Iraqi bases housing United States forces, in retaliation for last week's American drone strike that killed Maj. No casualties were immediately reported, but rescue teams were working at the site, Jahangir Dehqani, managing director of the Bushehr crisis management agency, told the state-run IRNA news agency. The quake was reported about 30 miles from the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant.

An insistent pattern has quietly taken hold in my household. I will order some consumer product online. I will open the package, extract the thing from its protective wrappings, and retrieve the instruction manual. I will examine the product briefly, then begin to read the instruction manual. And then I will go to YouTube.

It's a lazy attempt to emulate diversity, but like all emulation it's not quite the real thing." Ivanka Trump spoke with CTA President Gary Shapiro for nearly 40 minutes, highlighting work the administration has done with tech companies to retrain their workers for new skills. She has worked on skills-training initiatives at the White House. Companies including Google have joined that effort. There was no mention of the pushback about her appearance at the show. The hall was full, and she was met with applause. Organizers declined to say how many people were in the audience. Shapiro told The Associated Press that Ivanka Trump is fighting for workers at a time when robots are filling warehouses and factories and self-driving vehicles are worrying truck drivers. "We've had politicians speak before, cabinet secretaries and others who've come in," Shapiro said ahead of the talk. Ivanka Trump said the event offered a chance to talk "about the way jobs are evolving and changing." "People need to be thinking about investing in their workforce so that they can enable those people to do their same job using different equipment tomorrow," she said. Many people who tweeted the hashtag #BoycottCES on Tuesday in protest of Trump's appearance also took issue with the administration's border detention policies and various actions of the president himself. The technology industry has especially important issues pending with the U.S. government, including antitrust investigations into Facebook and Google, the trade war with China, immigration, election security and misinformation on social media. Government officials have long made regular appearances at CES. This year, for instance, the speaker roster includes both Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Secretary of Energy Dan Bouillette. Other female speakers include Meg Whitman of video streaming startup Quibi and Linda Yaccarino, chairman of advertising and partnerships for NBCUniversal. Ivanka Trump is "taking this slot at this conference where women have been saying for so long, 'Hey, we are being overlooked,'" said Rachel Sklar, a tech commentator and founder of a professional network for women. "The whole category of women being overlooked are still being overlooked." "Clearly they are not putting much effort into finding women in tech who can speak," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies, who is at CES. Last year, CES caused an uproar when it revoked an innovation award presented to a female-led sex device company. CES reversed its decision and has allowed sex tech into the show for a one-year trial. Conference organizers also brought in an official "equality partner," The Female Quotient, to help ensure gender diversity. "Was there nobody else available?

There truly is something for everyone, from new and improved products and services announced by major corporations to truly innovative ideas made real by entrepreneurial spirits. Still, it's difficult to figure out what's worth one's time and what products and services are simply a flash in the pan, never to be seen again. So we did the hard work for you to find the most intriguing and exciting gadgets of CES, from accessories you can buy right now to concept devices charting the future of the industry. Without further ado, here is TIME's Best of CES 2020. Samsung's Ballie is an interesting combination between smart home device and robotic companion.