Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an increasingly valuable tool for diagnostics and drug development and is being used to make medical devices more adaptive. However, the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 decision in Alice has made it difficult to patent inventions involving AI, seeing as the court's derived test for Section 101 of the Patent Act prevents abstract ideas from being patented. Interestingly enough, the court's decision failed to define what an abstract idea is, resulting in Section 101 often being applied unevenly. Nimalka Wickramasekera, an Intellectual Property litigator and Los Angeles partner, discusses in BioWorld's article "Supreme Court's Alice Decision Leaves Drug, Device Firms in AI Wonderland" that Section 101 proves to be a big hurdle for evolving technology, and AI specifically, "since people are still wrapping their heads around what they're claiming as the invention." She added that she "wouldn't be surprised if every patent application based on AI has had at least one rejection at the USPTO…To get around the court's prohibition on patents for abstract ideas, AI inventors must go beyond the algorithm and its application in computing devices."

What is your view of the risks of facial recognition technology and its impact on civil liberties? There is a clear divergence of opinion in this area. The largest tensions, perhaps, sit between those who consider that this is a necessary exception to privacy, at least for law enforcement versus those who consider the technology sits far too far on the side of invasiveness, even where it will improve efficiencies and accuracies around law enforcement. That debate is stronger in certain countries. I envisage there will be continuing tensions – justification and/or legitimate interest will be important.

Reach out if you want to talk about digital & AI ethics in your organization-- Email: e-bruce@manydoors.net If you work for an organization that uses data--and just about all organizations do, or will before long--even if your job isn't specifically about data, your ability to make decisions using data, and decision about data, is becoming more and more important. An important subset of these decisions that involves everyone--decisionmakers, employees, and customers alike--falls under the general category of digital ethics, which can encompass how data is collected, stored, used, and shared. To illustrate, lets look at two examples of digital ethics in action, one surprisingly successful, and one disastrous. My friend Aaron Reich is basically the futurist in residence at Avanade, the global technology consulting firm. From the vantage point of his high level insight into many of their consulting projects, last year he called out a few examples where companies achieved remarkable improvement in ways that they can help their customers using data and artificial intelligence.

John Halamka thinks the digital health industry is still "emerging." But it has come a long way and is starting to deliver after years of hype. Halamka, a Boston-based physician and healthcare technology expert, says that's thanks to several coalescing factors: improved technology, more favorable financial incentives for using digital products in healthcare, and growing demand from patients accustomed to tech-enabled convenience in other areas of their lives. "In 2019, the tech is better, but also the alignment of incentives is better," says Halamka, who leads innovation at Beth Israel Lahey Health system and is a Harvard Medical School professor. Over his 30-year career in medicine, Halamka has had a front row seat to advances in healthcare technology, and at times has helped drive them.

Minnesota experts are already calling for billions of dollars in infrastructure improvements to pave the way for autonomous vehicles to crowd city streets -- the latest state to stake a claim in the country's driverless future. So far legislatures in 29 other states enacted laws permitting automotive companies to test self-driving cars in public -- Nevada was the first to do so in 2o11 -- evidence that autonomous vehicles are going to be the latest bill of goods sold to the public by car makers. Minnesota is the latest state to get in on the action: Last month, the Department of Transportation released an 88-page strategic plan with 65 specific recommendations about how the Gopher State should update its laws, enable vehicle testing in cold-weather environments, and accommodate even more automobiles through extensive capital investments on and around their roadways in the next five years. "Minnesota has a vested interest in promoting this technology, but the majority of testing is happening in Arizona, California, and Nevada and they don't have the same climate we do," said Kristen White,the report's co-author and innovation director for the Minnesota DOT's Office of Connected and Automated Vehicles. The plan notes that fleets of driverless cars won't be fully deployed anytime soon.

On December 11th 2017, President Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1, refocusing NASA's efforts in human space exploration. In March 2019, Vice President Mike Pence made the surprising announcement that America would be returning astronauts to the Moon in just 5 years time. This Lunar mission, known as Artemis which stands for "Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon's Interaction with the Sun", is hoping to leave more than just a flag and footprints this time. NASA aims to establish a base on the Moon and in orbit by 2028, providing a foundation for where scientists will eventually power a mission to Mars and beyond. The Artemis mission has left many questioning whether it is possible to send human's back to the Moon in just five years time, with a report claiming that NASA would need an annual increase of $4-$5 billion on top of its $22.6 billion 2020 budget.

The days of debating if artificial intelligence (AI) will impact the music industry are over. Artificial intelligence is already used in many ways. Now it's time to consider how much it will influence how we create and consume music. Just as it does for other industries, in the music industry, AI automates services, discovers patterns and insights in enormous data sets, and helps create efficiencies. Companies in the music industry need to accept and prepare for how AI can transform business; those that won't will be left behind.

SILICON SLOPES, Utah, Aug. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pluralsight, Inc. (NASDAQ:PS), the enterprise technology skills platform, today announced updates and enhancements for its industry-leading skill development solutions at Pluralsight LIVE. These updates include the introduction of Pluralsight Skills - the new name for its core skill development product; the initial integration of its GitPrime acquisition into its Skills product; expansion of its industry-leading cloud skills offering; and expansion of skills development courses in other core technology segments such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, data, and security. "Enterprises worldwide are turning to Pluralsight as their partner to help their teams develop and maintain the technology skills they need to accelerate revenue growth, acquire customers, expand into new markets, and reduce development cycles," said Aaron Skonnard, co-founder and CEO of Pluralsight. "We are keeping pace with the acceleration of advancements in new technologies for developers and IT practitioners by rapidly expanding the availability of fresh content in core technology areas that matter to our customers, giving tech leaders the fastest path to transform tech skills at scale." At the conference, Pluralsight announced the introduction of Flow, the new name for GitPrime's suite of solutions.

The UK government is waging a war on traffic. Yesterday, it announced plans to open up data on congestion, repair works and any other scheduled disruptions to Britain's road network. To make this data accessible to any technology firm that wants it, enabling such companies to develop AI-powered apps that provide drivers with not only real-time traffic info, but also ahead-of-time info. Traffic is an economic disease, and as a problem it's being made more acute by the growing number of vehicles on the road. In the UK, motorists lost 178 hours to road congestion in 2018, costing £1,317 per person and setting back the UK economy almost £8 billion overall.

This is the official Chicago book launch event for Alex Castrounis' new O'Reilly book, AI for People and Business (book description below). Alex will present an overview of his book and the conceptual frameworks and models that the book covers, which can help people understand and leverage AI and machine learning successfully. The presentation will be followed by a networking session where 20 free copies of AI for People and Business will be given away and signed (see below for how to qualify for a book)! Alex will also sign copies that you bring, so feel free to grab a copy in advance from Amazon at https://amzn.to/31HnEpp Light refreshments (not a full dinner) will be provided.