AI is trying to decide if you get a job, AI is deciding if you get access to medical treatment -- and if we get that wrong, you have real world consequences. Those were funny cases you mentioned. I just hope that I never have to go through it. By the way, how far do you think we are from something Hollywood-ish in terms of AI? The tech is far from advanced, at least in the US and in Europe where 24/7 public surveillance isn't (yet) a thing.

BEIRUT – Israeli drones bombed a Palestinian base in eastern Lebanon near the border with Syria early Monday amid rising tensions in the Middle East, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency and a Palestinian official said. The strike came a day after an alleged Israeli drone crashed in a stronghold of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in southern Beirut while another exploded and crashed nearby. Lebanese President Michel Aoun told the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon, Jan Kubis, that the attacks violate a U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. "What happened is equal to a declaration of war and gives us the right to defend our sovereignty, independence, and the safety of our land," Aoun said in comments released by his office Monday. "We are people who seek peace and not war, and we don't accept that anyone to threatens us though any means."

A new model developed at MIT can help predict if patients at risk for Alzheimer's disease will experience clinically significant cognitive decline due to the disease, by predicting their cognition test scores up to two years in the future. The model could be used to improve the selection of candidate drugs and participant cohorts for clinical trials, which have been notoriously unsuccessful thus far. It would also let patients know they may experience rapid cognitive decline in the coming months and years, so they and their loved ones can prepare. Pharmaceutical firms over the past two decades have injected hundreds of billions of dollars into Alzheimer's research. Yet the field has been plagued with failure: Between 1998 and 2017, there were 146 unsuccessful attempts to develop drugs to treat or prevent the disease, according to a 2018 report from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

"Deep Labs, Inc., the leader in persona-based artificial intelligence, has announced it successfully helped the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) more effectively identify potential fraud and abuse. The pilot project was managed by prime contractor Visual Connections." "Visual Connections and Deep Labs partnered to conceive, develop and implement a successful artificial intelligence pilot, utilizing deep visioning and learning techniques and tools for CMS's Medicare Part D program, which covers prescriptions for over 39 million beneficiaries. This project was designed to discover potentially fraudulent activity before it occurs, and to enhance CMS's ability to proactively identify and investigate potential fraud by providing visualization of CMS data, allowing for improved decisioning." Source: Deep Labs Partners On AI Project That Helps Medicare Office More Effectively Identify and Prevent Fraud & Abuse – August 19, 2019.

Data scientists used the opportunity to learn advanced trends in artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning methods in genomic prediction models. A deeper understanding of advanced trends in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and deep learning methods in genomic prediction models is critical to the success of smallholder agriculture. AI and ML algorithms are now being used to reduce risks in agriculture while also making it possible to forecast pest and disease outbreaks and alert farmers in advance. The annual collaborative workshop for Bioinformatics & Biometrics Community of Practices (CoP) under Excellence in Breeding (EiB) Platform Module 5, held in July in Montpellier, France, discussed the untapped potential of deep learning methods to make a significant impact on farming. With the theme: "Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning with Genomic Selection Use Cases", the workshop served as a platform for data scientists across CGIAR institutions to explore using advanced agricultural research ML algorithms for genomics including prediction of plant phenotype, image identification, disease identification, and annotation of DNA sequences.

PROS, a provider of AI-powered solutions that optimize selling in the digital economy, today announced it has acquired Travelaer SAS, a digital innovator for the travel industry, for approximately $12 million. With Travelaer, PROS further extends its comprehensive portfolio to enable airlines to transform the traveler's digital experience across all retail channels: airline.com, "We are thrilled to welcome Travelaer to the PROS family," said President and Chief Executive Officer Andres Reiner, at PROS. "With Travelaer, PROS is uniquely positioned to provide an end-to-end solution that transforms the digital selling experience for airlines, from revenue management, through offer personalization and optimization, to supporting excellence in retail channels. This acquisition accelerates our ability to deliver airlines flexible, configurable retail capabilities yielding an optimal customer experience every time. Our combined teams will drive even greater innovation, accelerating the digital transformation our airline customers need today."

I interviewed the Nr. 2 intelligence official, Kari Bingen at the Pentagon recently. Bingen and I have known each other for more than a decade while she was one of the top space and intelligence staffers on Capitol Hill. She ended her career there as the HASC policy director for the GOP. This is the first interview Bingen has granted since being confirmed two years ago. BD: This is Colin Clark, editor of Breaking Defense.

The explosion of digital technologies is an essential ingredient to boost innovation, accelerating the creative process to develop new solutions for a world that is increasingly data-driven, connected, immersive and reliant on autonomous systems. Thales has an important role to play in accelerating the digital transformation of its partners around the world. Working with CENTECH, Thales will support projects created by start-ups in the field of artificial intelligence, which is one of Thales' four key digital technologies, alongside connectivity, big data and cybersecurity. CENTECH has been recognised by the University Business Network (UBI) as one of the most effective accelerators in the world. Through the AI@CENTECH programme, actively supported by the Thales Digital Factory, Thales plans to accelerate the development of more than 10 start-ups a year, providing business advice, technology expertise and infrastructure services, as well as access to the Group's five core markets in the aerospace, space, transport, defence and security sectors to promote the use of artificial intelligence in critical decision support.

Ongoing research initiatives are showing that artificial intelligence may be able to predict a person's likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease with a high level of accuracy. As the population ages, the specter of Alzheimer's disease becomes all the more ominous. It's like a dark cloud on the horizon, threatening a massive and devastating storm that is coming our way. In reality, this storm has already begun. Today, 5.8 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has proven to be useful in many applications from automating cars to providing customer service responses. However, though many firms want to take advantage of AI to improve marketing, they lack a process by which to execute a Marketing AI project. This article discusses the use of AI to provide support for marketing decisions. Based on the established Cross-Industry Standard Process for Data Mining (CRISP-DM) framework, it creates a process for managers to use when executing a Marketing AI project and discusses issues that might arise. It explores how this framework was used to develop three cutting-edge Marketing AI applications. Based on the article "Letting the Computers Take Over: Using AI to Solve Marketing Problems" by Gijs Overgoor, Manuel Chica, William Rand, and Anthony Weishampel https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125619859318