There are only a handful of machine learning conferences in the world that attract the top brains in this field. One such conference, which I am an avid follower of, is the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML). Folks from top machine learning research companies, like Google AI, Facebook, Uber, etc. come together and present their latest research. It's a conference any data scientist would not want to miss. ICML 2019, held last week in Southern California, USA, saw records tumble in astounding fashion.

Since "2001: A Space Odyssey," people have wondered: could machines like HAL 9000 eventually exist that can process information with human-like intelligence? Researchers at Michigan State University say that true, human-level intelligence remains a long way off, but their new paper published in The American Naturalist explores how computers could begin to evolve learning in the same way as natural organisms did--with implications for many fields, including artificial intelligence. "We know that all organisms are capable of some form of learning, we just weren't sure how those abilities first evolved. Now we can watch these major evolutionary events unfold before us in a virtual world," said Anselmo Pontes, MSU computer science researcher and lead author. "Understanding how learning behavior evolved helps us figure out how it works and provides insights to other fields such as neuroscience, education, psychology, animal behavior, and even AI. It also supplies clues to how our brains work and could even lead to robots that learn from experiences as effectively as humans do."

The fDi Benchmark comparison analysis confirms that Montréal is the best place in North America to invest in AI and explains the amazing growth it has experienced in the past few years. In the past two years, Montréal International has supported more than 30 artificial intelligence projects in the region, with investments totalling $500 million. Methodological note: fDi Benchmark developed two site comparison models. One evaluates the quality of the industry sector and the other calculates the operating costs. The focus is on the vibrancy of the ecosystem and the availability of a skilled workforce, which represent 35% and 30% respectively of the total score.

London (CNN Business)It takes a certain nimbleness to pick a strawberry or a salad. While crops like wheat and potatoes have been harvested mechanically for decades, many fruits and vegetables have proved resistant to automation. They are too easily bruised, or too hard for heavy farm machinery to locate.

Dipanjan (DJ) Sarkar is a Data Scientist at Intel, leveraging data science, machine learning, and deep learning to build large-scale intelligent systems. He holds a master of technology degree with specializations in Data Science and Software Engineering. He has been an analytics practitioner for several years now, specializing in machine learning, NLP, statistical methods, and deep learning. He is passionate about education and also acts as a Data Science Mentor at various organizations like Springboard, helping people learn data science. He is also a key contributor and editor for Towards Data Science, a leading online journal on AI and Data Science.

Dr. Stephen Szabo, an OB/GYN with Pinehurst Surgical Clinic (PSC), reached a milestone on Thursday, Sept. 19 with his 805th robotic surgery -- a hysterectomy with sacrocolpopexy and bladder suspension. Dr. Szabo first performed a robotically-assisted surgery in 2006 after coming to Pinehurst Surgical in 1998. He and Pinehurst Surgical Urologists Dr. Robert Chamberlain and Dr. Greg Griewe, along with Dr. Walter Fasolak, from FirstHealth's Southern Pines Women's Center, formed the core group of physicians who spearheaded the introduction of robotic surgery in Moore County. With 805 surgeries complete, Dr. Szabo is now in the company of an elite and distinguished group of surgeons practicing the art of robotic-assisted healthcare. The minimally invasive approach means that advanced gynecologic surgeries, which would have resulted in a three-to-five-day hospital stay, now only require a stay of three to five hours -- and carry a reduced risk of complications or infection.

Our faith in almost everything is being tested these days. Everything is instant, yet nothing seems real. The news is apparently as fake as people on the take. Yet we're desperate to believe in someone -- or even something -- that'll help give our lives meaning. For many -- though, perhaps, a dwindling number -- religion provides answers.

When Built Robotics emerged out of stealth in October 2017, the company's self-driving excavators had completed a couple simple projects that included digging and moving dirt at a community garden and a California mountain bike trail. Since then, giant autonomous robots have been deployed on large commercial projects, such as digging the foundations for wind farms. The technology has also expanded to include bulldozers and skid steers, in addition to excavators. Today Built announced a $33 million Series B led by Next47, the new global venture fund backed by Siemens. This brings the company's total funding to $48 million.

When Built Robotics emerged out of stealth in October 2017, the company's self-driving excavators had completed a couple simple projects that included digging and moving dirt at a community garden and a California mountain bike trail. Since then, giant autonomous robots have been deployed on large commercial projects, such as digging the foundations for wind farms. The technology has also expanded to include bulldozers and skid steers, in addition to excavators. Today Built announced a $33 million Series B led by Next47, the new global venture fund backed by Siemens. This brings the company's total funding to $48 million.

With a black bowler hat and a chiffon white scarf, Berenson certainly looks the part of a stuffy art connoisseur -- so long as you ignore the neural network poking out from his suit. Meet the Art Critic 2.0, built from gleaming metal and sleek sensors, with equal parts smarts and snob. The sage art critic once commanded considerable power in creative spheres, making or breaking an artist's career with a simple smirk of disapproval or a punishing review in next day's paper. But today, as the number of full-time art critics dwindles in newsrooms, a growing force of high-tech art experts is starting to pick up the slack by methodically decoding art's finest details. In Canada, the Roomba-esque kulturBOT snaps photos at exhibitions and uses an algorithm-powered "stream of consciousness" to tweet out the images with often nonsensical captions like "panting with love of danger" or "streaked with the nocturnal vibration."