EPISODE SUMMARY Shir Meir Lador, data science team lead at Intuit in Israel, develops machine learning models for security, risk and fraud in products like Quickbooks, Turbo Tax and Mint. EPISODE NOTES In addition to her job at Intuit, Lador is a WiDS ambassador in Israel, has her own podcast about data science, and is a co-founder of PyData Tel Aviv meetups. Lador's team at Intuit focuses on machine learning in security and fraud applications to protect customers' sensitive financial data from fraudsters and hackers. She and her team use anomaly detection and semi-supervised methods to secure Intuit products and data. "In general, putting AI into products is not an easy task."

JL Tom Siegfried reports in Science News: In real life robots have no more feelings than a rock submerged in novocaine. There might be a way, though, to give robots feelings: build the robot with the ability to sense peril to its own existence. It would then have to develop feelings to guide the behaviors needed to ensure its own survival. This calls for machines designed to observe the biological principle that life must regulate itself to remain within a narrow range of suitable conditions -- like keeping temperature and chemical balances within the limits of viability. An intelligent machine's awareness of analogous features of its state would amount to the robotic version of feelings.

San Francisco: A team of researchers has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to turn two-dimensional (2D) images into stacks of virtual three-dimensional (3D) slices showing activity inside organisms. Using deep learning techniques, the team from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) devised a technique that extends the capabilities of fluorescence microscopy, which allows scientists to precisely label parts of living cells and tissue with dyes that glow under special lighting. In a study published in the journal Nature Methods, the scientists also reported that their framework, called "Deep-Z," was able to fix errors or aberrations in images, such as when a sample is tilted or curved. Further, they demonstrated that the system could take 2D images from one type of microscope and virtually create 3D images of the sample as if they were obtained by another, more advanced microscope. "This is a very powerful new method that is enabled by deep learning to perform 3D imaging of live specimens, with the least exposure to light, which can be toxic to samples," said senior author Aydogan Ozcan, UCLA chancellor s professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Former U.S. secretary of state, Henry Kissinger has said that he's convinced of AI's potential to fundamentally alter human consciousness--including changes in our self-perception and to our strategic decision-making. Kissinger also slammed AI developers for insufficiently thinking through the implications of their creations. Now 96, he was speaking to an audience attending the "Strength Through Innovation" conference currently being held at the Liaison Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C. The conference is being run by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, which was set up by Congress to evaluate the future of AI in the U.S. as it pertains to national security. Moderator Nadia Schadlow, who in 2018 served in the Trump administration as the Assistant to the President and as Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy, asked Kissinger about his take on powerful, militarized artificial intelligence and how it might affect global security and strategic decision-making.

Vladimir Putin has called for'moral rules' on the development of artificial intelligence - urging companies'technology must not be invented for the sake of technology'. Speaking at an event on AI technology in Moscow, Russia, on Saturday, the Russian president called for safeguards, setting out rules for how humans should interact with the robots. President Putin said: 'Discussion is currently underway on social aspects and implications of the use of artificial intelligence. It is a very important issue. 'I suggest that the professional community and companies should contemplate drawing up a set of moral rules for interaction between humans and artificial intelligence.

Have you ever matched with someone on a dating app that seems'too good to be true'? They may well be, according to an online dating consultant. Scammers have been letting'malicious bots' loose on dating apps in an attempt to convince people to part with their money, says online dating expert Steve Dean. He warned against'people' who open chats with'here's my phone number, you can call me here' with a link as soon as you swipe them on Tinder. Often these links take you to a scamming or live webcam site.

T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere has surfaced as the possible new CEO at WeWork, where he would follow the troubled tenure of co-founder Adam Neumann. The Wall Street Journal reported that Legere is in discussions with the office-sharing startup, which was bailed out recently by SoftBank Group. The topic of succession at T-Mobile came up during a sit-down Legere had with USA TODAY's Ed Baig last week, fresh off the announcements that T-Mobile would be flipping the switch on its 5G network on Dec. 6, Legere was joined in the conversation by T-Mobile president and COO Mike Sievert to discuss the remaining obstacles to T-Mobile's pending merger with Sprint and to make the case that the merger will result in more, not less competition, and more jobs. SoftBank already holds a major stake in Sprint. The Journal article stated that there's no guarantee Legere would take on the WeWork challenge.

But computer scientists have been working on alternative models, even as the public has grown weary of having their data used and abused. Dawn Song, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and one of the world's foremost experts in computer security and trustworthy artificial intelligence, envisions a new paradigm in which people control their data and are compensated for its use by corporations. While there have been many proposals for such a system, Professor Song is one actually building the platform to make it a reality. "As we talk about data as the new oil, it's particularly important to develop technologies that can utilize data in a privacy-preserving way," Professor Song said recently from her San Francisco office with an expansive view of the bay. It is an unlikely trajectory for Professor Song, who grew up in Dalian, China, a seaport in the northeastern province of Liaoning.

His work is focused on the ethics of technology, including such topics as artificial intelligence (AI) and ethics, the ethics of space exploration and use, the ethics of technological manipulation of humans, the ethics of mitigation of and adaptation towards risky emerging technologies, and various aspects of the impact of technology and engineering on human life and society, including the relationship of technology and religion, particularly the Catholic Church. He spoke to Charles Camosy.] Camosy: Can you tell us how you became interested and indeed expert in AI ethics? Green: My undergraduate degree was in genetics from the University of California, Davis, and I worked in molecular biology and biotech there, but ultimately I discovered that lab work was not for me. I had dreamed of being a scientist since I was a child, so this was very confusing and I didn't know what to do with myself, so I made what turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life and joined the Jesuit Volunteers International.

The TMLS initiative is dedicated to helping promote the development of AI/ML effectively, and responsibly across all Industries. As well, to help data practitioners, researchers and students fast-track their learning process and develop rewarding careers in the field of ML and AI.