Vital: The Future of Healthcare is an anthology of short stories. Vital has already gathered stories from leading futurist writers, weaving together disparate visions of what comes next in health and health science. Our visions of the future -- whether dark or hopeful, thrilling or mundane -- have always challenged us to examine our world. What challenges will we face? Vital: The Future of Healthcare aims to explore these questions as they relate to humanity's physical and mental well-being.

Artificial intelligence will never replace a doctor. However, researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have taken a big step toward the day when AI can help physicians predict medical events. A new approach developed by PNNL scientists improves the accuracy of patient diagnosis up to 20 percent when compared to other embedding approaches. The PNNL approach seeks to capture and re-create the types of connections physicians do naturally when they apply a lifetime of learning and knowledge to the patient standing in front of them in the exam room. The goal: Use the laboratory's robust AI capabilities in machine learning and deep learning to improve patient care and save lives.

Newswire) VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp. (CSE: VSBY) (5VS.F) (VSBGF) ("VSBLTY"), a leading retail software technology company, and Energetika, an international provider of "intelligent lighting" solutions, have begun deployment of their smart city security contract which combines Energetika's smart lighting with VSBLTY's crowd analytics and facial recognition to help keep Mexico City's neighborhoods safe. Energetika CEO Rodrigo Calderon said, "We have begun phase one deployment of security kits covering up to 40,000 endpoints throughout 56 communities in Mexico City beginning in the boroughs of Miguel Hidalgo, Cuajimalpa, Benito Juarez and Cuauhtemoc. Each neighborhood security kit consists of high definition cameras equipped with VSBLTY facial recognition and analytics, wireless alarms, motion sensors and panic buttons integrated with high LED facade light fixtures. This low cost system runs off local citizens' internet service and is accessible on their mobile devices in real time. With this unique security kit deployment model perfected, we have introduced this program to other Central and South American municipalities whose needs are equally compelling and where this cost-efficient solution can be installed in three million security cameras or more."

Korean telecommunications company KT announced plans to invest 300 billion won ($257 million) over the next four years to become an artificial intelligence (AI) company, Korean press reported. The Korean telco also said it aims to hire nearly 1,000 specialists in the AI field with the aim of creating new value propositions in line with the deployment of 5G networks in the country. KT rolled out its AI-based service, called Giga Genie, in January of 2017. This AI service was initially offered in the form of a television set-top box. The company has been recently expanding the application of the AI-based service to speakers, apartments, hotels and cars.

Although AIs are entering new areas every day, a handful of AI laboratories that still focus on artificial intelligence are still consuming large amounts of cash and have made not much progress on AI. According to the documents submitted to the UK Companies Registry in August, only the Alphabet-owned AGI Lab DeepMind lost $570 million in 2018 alone. Another AI Lab, OpenAI, which aims to create AGI, had to abandon its non-profit organisation to find investors in its expensive research. Both labs have achieved extraordinary success, including the creation of robots that can play complex board games and video games. But they are still far from creating artificial intelligence.

In addition to being designed particularly for the French markets of Canada, the company is trying to lure customers with enterprise-centred options such as customization, review by human translators, and cybersecurity. Kalaci says the technology, which is not affiliated with Amazon's Alexa, is hosted on Canadian servers and the text is destroyed once it is translated. There is also an option for firms to use their data to train a customised tool. Either way, he says, is an improvement over free services offered on the web. "Most web-based tools you use, have a disclosure wherein they say, 'Any content you put in here, we keep.' And that's how they keep improving their tools," says Kalaci.

In addition to being designed particularly for the French markets of Canada, the company is trying to lure customers with enterprise-centred options such as customization, review by human translators, and cybersecurity. Kalaci says the technology, which is not affiliated with Amazon's Alexa, is hosted on Canadian servers and the text is destroyed once it is translated. There is also an option for firms to use their data to train a customised tool. Either way, he says, is an improvement over free services offered on the web. "Most web-based tools you use, have a disclosure wherein they say, 'Any content you put in here, we keep.' And that's how they keep improving their tools," says Kalaci.

A terminally-ill British scientist dying from a muscle wasting disease says has fully completed his transition into the world's first full CYBORG -- called'Peter 2.0'. Peter Scott-Morgan, 61, decided to challenge what it meant to be human when he refused to accept his fate following a diagnosis of motor neurone disease in 2017. He said he wanted to push the boundaries of what science can achieve so decided to extend his life and become fully robotic. And this week the world-renowned roboticist returned to his home in Torquay, Devon, after 24 days in intensive care, with all medical procedures now complete and able to begin his re-booted life. But the evolution of his machine-like existence doesn't end there -- and he joked he had more upgrades scheduled than Microsoft.

How ready are we as banks to adopt AI and applied technologies for the various relevant use cases in our business and organization? Let me try and draw a parallel and take you a few years back in time. About half a decade ago, if any one spoke of Cloud as a technology in the banking context and scenario, most bankers would typically cringe and say, "Do they even understand banking as an industry, the restrictions and the risks? Cloud cannot be a reality in the world of banking, especially with respect to business-critical systems." This belief now sounds more archaic than it is. In just a period of 5 years, banks not only seem to have got past their stern reluctance but also the initial apprehensions surrounding cloud adoption.