SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA: The technology market has passed the tipping point with more than half of organisations today having adopted intelligent automation, as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) shift from emerging technologies to mainstream business solutions, according to a new analyst report by Futurum Research, commissioned by Automation Anywhere, an automation technology firm. The'Report for the State of RPA and Smart Automation' interviewed more than 1,000 business executives in North America and found that while 75.3% believe automation will make them more competitive, significant disparities exist between industries – with public sector and, surprisingly, technology companies lagging significantly when it comes to adoption. While more than half of businesses in North America have already implemented some type of automation solution, such as RPA and AI, the research uncovered notable differences between industries. For instance, nearly 9 out of 10 manufacturing organisations have already adopted some form of intelligent automation, compared to less than 3 in 10 public sector organisations. Despite these identified barriers to overcome, 9 in 10 organisations that have not yet implemented RPA and AI-based automation solutions report having sufficient internal technical competencies to do so, showing that technical implementation is no longer a significant hurdle for most organisations.

Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can predict the life expectancy of heart failure patients, an advance that may allow clinicians to make more informed decisions while caring for heart patients. The researchers, including those from the University of California (UC) at San Diego in the US, said while predicting mortality is important in patients with heart failure, current strategies for evaluating this risk are only modestly successful and can be subjective. They developed a risk score that determined low- and high-risk of death by identifying eight variables collected from the majority of patients with heart failure. Using these inputs, the researchers said, the newly developed model could accurately predict life expectancy 88 per cent of the time, and performed substantially better than other popular published models. "This tool gives us insight, for example, on the probability that a given patient will die from heart failure in the next three months or a year," said Eric Adler, co-author of the study from UC San Diego.

GitHub today launched the GitHub Security Lab, an ongoing effort to protect open source code projects. The GitHub Security Lab is aimed at bringing together security researchers from partner organizations like Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, Oracle, Uber, and HackerOne. Many open source projects form an underlying infrastructure for modern software such as programming languages like Ruby and Python, machine learning frameworks like TensorFlow, and Kubernetes for containerless apps and Microsoft's Visual Studio Code, the most popular open source repository on GitHub. To power the GitHub Security Lab, GitHub is open-sourcing CodeQL, variant analysis software from Semmle, a company it acquired in September to help GitHub better spot exploits in code. Semmle security software is used by companies like Google, Microsoft, and NASA.

At this year's Intel AI Summit, the chipmaker demonstrated its first-generation Neural Network Processors (NNP): NNP-T for training and NNP-I for inference. Both product lines are now in production and are being delivered to initial customers, two of which, Facebook and Baidu, showed up at the event to laud the new chippery. The purpose-built NNP devices represent Intel's deepest thrust into the AI market thus far, challenging Nvidia, AMD, and an array of startups aimed at customers who are deploying specialized silicon for artificial intelligence. In the case of the NNP products, that customer base is anchored by hyperscale companies – Google, Facebook, Amazon, and so on – whose businesses are now all powered by artificial intelligence. Naveen Rao, corporate vice president and general manager of the Artificial Intelligence Products Group at Intel, who presented the opening address at the AI Summit, says that the company's AI solutions are expected to generate more than $3.5 billion in revenue in 2019.

NEW YORK: Two paintings up for auction in New York highlight a growing interest in artificial intelligence-created works - a technique that could transform how art is made and viewed but is also stirring up passionate debate. The art world was stunned last year when an AI painting sold for $432,500, and auctioneers are keen to further test demand for computer-generated works. "Art is a true reflection of what our society, what our environment responds to," said Max Moore of Sotheby's. "And so it's just a natural continuation of the progression of art," he added. Sotheby's will put two paintings by the French art collective Obvious up for sale on Thursday, including'Le Baron De Belamy'.

Artificial intelligence is already making great strides forward, but taking it to the next level might require a more drastic approach. According to two researchers, we could try giving AI a sense of peril and the fragility of its own existence. For now, the machines we code don't have a sense of their own being, or the need to fight for life and for survival, as we humans do. If those feelings were developed, that might give robots a better sense of urgency. The idea is to instil a sense of homeostasis – that need to balance conditions, whether that's the temperature of an environment, or the need for food and drink, that are required to ensure survival.

Several companies are pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Hardware is becoming ever more sophisticated, reducing weight, improving flight times and bringing down prices. Last month DJI launched the Mavic Mini, a tiny 249-gram drone with a range of 4km that can shoot 2.7K video and fly for 30 minutes on a single battery. A feat of engineering and a measure of how far things have come in the last decade. October also saw the launch of another industry benchmark: Skydio's new drone, the Skydio 2. It's lighter, cheaper and more sophisticated than the original R1 – which is saying something.

Around the globe, a majority of Millennial parents say they are very likely to seek out a doctor using AI for cancer diagnoses should their child or a family member need such an evaluation. A majority of Millennial parents in China (94%), India (88%) and Brazil (78%) would be very likely to seek out a doctor using AI for cancer diagnoses for their child or a family member, while 59% of U.K. parents and 53% of U.S. parents are very likely to do so.

The IEEE Generation AI 2019: Third Annual Study of Millennial Parents and Generation Alpha Kids illuminates the trust Millennial parents in the U.S., U.K., India, China and Brazil with Generation Alpha children (nine years-old or younger) have in using AI and emerging technologies for the health and wellness of their children. Born from 2010-2025, Generation Alpha is considered to be the most tech-infused demographic to date. Explore below how the future of health and wellness technologies will transform our modern medical practices and impact the lives of families using them.

Microsoft AI chief Harry Shum is leaving after 23 years at the Redmond, Wash. Shum, the executive vice president in charge of Microsoft's AI and Research Group, will depart in Feb. 1, 2020, a Microsoft spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott will take over Shum's responsibilities while maintaining his previous work. The change is effective immediately. Shum, who also led Microsoft Research, will continue advising Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and co-founder Bill Gates, but it's unclear what else is on the horizon for Shum.