Veritone's Aaron Edell explains how data scientists can best harness artificial intelligence and machine learning. Data science, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are all massive areas that are undergoing growth in the tech industry and attracting increasing amounts of attention. But what about the jobs of the future that will combine all three? Although there are plenty of possibilities to consider in this area, his main advice is to always maintain sight of the problem that needs to be tackled and keep the customer in mind. With machine learning, business process scalability has made leaps and bounds, but it's important not to get side-tracked by that, according to Edell.

Our multiple tracks offer a diverse selection of trending topics, including Artificial Intelligence & Automation, Big Data and Infrastructure, Machine Learning and Deep Learning, Data Visualizations, Data Analytics, Healthcare & IOT, Business Practice, and Data Security. The topics covered will involve many industries, including Healthcare, FinTech, Retail, Media, Manufacturing, Insurance, Education, E-Commerce, and more. Both industry-leading companies and startup firms will present at the conference and demonstrate innovative data analytics technologies. Previous featured speakers included those from IBM, Intel, Capital One, City of Los Angeles, Caltech, Alibaba, Accenture AI, and several other industry-leading companies.

Take, for example, pork prices in China, which have more than doubled this year. The retroactive explanation seems simple. An outbreak of African swine fever has dramatically reduced the supply of Chinese pigs, driving more price-sensitive buyers out of the market. But price forecasting is seldom so simple, particularly over long-term periods. To predict Chinese pork prices over several years, you would first need to solve several component problems which are all interrelated.

Farmers in Colombia's maize-growing region of Córdoba had seen it all: too much rain one year, a searing drought the next.

Workers in India (89%) and China (88%) are more trusting of robots over their managers, followed by Singapore (83%), Brazil (78%), Japan (76%), UAE (74%), Australia/New Zealand (58%), the U.S. (57%), the U.K. (54%), and France (56%). More men (56%) than women (44%) have turned to AI over their managers.

Although artificial intelligence (AI) has already made its way into our daily lives, one of the biggest problems with this emerging technology is that few people really understand how it works or how it could affect their future. To help businesses and consumers alike better understand AI, Samsung has launched a new initiative called FAIR Future with the aim of involving everyone in AI by making it easier to understand. TechRadar Pro spoke with Samsung's director of connected living (AI & IoT) for the UK and Ireland, Teg Dosanjh who provided further insight on the firm's new report and explained how businesses can take an ethical approach to implementing AI. First, we found people aren't quite as concerned about AI overlords as we expected. In fact, around half of people believe that AI will be a force for good in society, and just a fifth believe it is dangerous.

Farming and advanced AI may seem antithetical, but they're not. The venerable farm equipment company has not only long embraced advanced technologies, the company for years has evangelized adoption of high performance clusters and simulation software for product design. And Deere freely states it's an extremely complex undertaking. In a recent article in IEEE, Deere's Julian Sanchez, who heads the Moline, IL, company's intelligent vehicles strategy, said that while the company is working on autonomous driving, "it's not just about driving tractors around." The more difficult problem, he said, is crop classification.

We may listen to facts from Siri or Alexa, or directions from Google Maps or Waze, but would we let a virtual agent enabled by artificial intelligence help mediate conflict among team members? A new study says not just yet. Researchers from the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of Denver created a simulation in which a three-person team was supported by a virtual agent avatar on screen in a mission that was designed to ensure failure and elicit conflict. The study was designed to look at virtual agents as potential mediators to improve team collaboration during conflict mediation. But in the heat of the moment, will we listen to virtual agents?

Google introduced a revamped version of its entry-level smart speaker at a press event in New York Tuesday: The new $49 Nest Mini speaker effectively replaces its Home Mini predecessor with bigger sound, a built-in machine learning chip for faster responses, ultrasound for proximity detection and the ability to pair 2 speakers for inexpensive stereo sound. The Nest Mini pulls all of this off while staying true to the Home Mini's size and shape, with a bit of a twist: Google decided to rely on 35% post-consumer plastic for the Nest Mini's enclosure, and make the speaker's fabric cover out of 100% recycled material derived from old plastic bottles. The company also added a hook to the back to give consumers an option to wall-mount the Nest Mini. And in addition to the three existing colors (white, black and red), the Nest Mini is now also available in light blue (pictured above). But the biggest two new features are the sound improvements, as well as the addition of on-device machine-learning.

IMAGE: This is a maize field in Colombia. Farmers in Colombia's maize-growing region of Córdoba had seen it all: too much rain one year, a searing drought the next. Yields were down and their livelihoods hung in the balance. The situation called for a new approach. They needed information services that would help them decide what varieties to plant, when they should sow and how they should manage their crops.