There is only one answer and that is asset performance visibility.Management thinker Peter Drucker once said, "you can't manage what you can't measure." You can't improve reliability or performance unless you have complete visibility with respect to asset performance. In the past, industry professionals spoke about asset visibility more in terms of tracking the physical location of critical assets. But in the digital age, it is possible to monitor location, status, and performance in real time.The business benefits of the asset visibility program are not limited to productivity and safety; they are more about reliability and profitability. The benefits could be as high as a 7% improvement in return on assets (ROA) and 11 % improvement in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

Machine learning is one of the most searched keyword on any search engine at this point of time. The reason is quite clear; the benefits of utilising it in any industry is beyond imagination. Machine learning is making computers learn from data to find patterns & generate business insights. In e-commerce, machine learning is even far more relevant because of digitally generated user-specific data points. Daily, we read so much about big companies using machine learning in their business decisions.

AI running in the cloud might be the solution to electric vehicles' battery woes, if Bosch is on the right track. The Stuttgart, Germany-based company this morning announced a new service -- Battery in the Cloud -- designed to supplement vehicles' battery management systems by implementing protections to reduce cell aging. It's able to cut down on wear and tear by as much as 20%, the company claims, through continuous analysis of battery status, optimization of recharging processes, and delivery of energy conservation tips to drivers via in-car displays. The first customer is Beijing-based mobility giant DiDi Chuxing, which as of 2018 had 550 million users and tens of millions of drivers on its platform. Bosch says DiDi will equip a pilot vehicle fleet with its battery services in the city of Xiamen.

In a recent blog post, Facebook has announced they have open-sourced AI Habitat, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) simulation platform that is designed to train embodied agents, such as virtual robots. Using this technology, robots can learn how to grab an object from an adjacent room or assist a visually-impaired person in navigating an unfamiliar transit system. The technology leverages embodied AI which focuses on interactive environments to train real-world systems. This is a different approach than relying upon static data sets which other researchers have traditionally used. A team of Facebook researchers, including Manos Savva, Abhishek Kadian, Oleksandr Maksymets and Dhruv Batra, have released a research paper that demonstrates the capabilities of Al Habitat.

It turns out that you don't need a computer to create an artificial intelligence. In fact, you don't even need electricity. In an extraordinary bit of left-field research, scientists from the University of Wisconsin–Madison have found a way to create artificially intelligent glass that can recognize images without any need for sensors, circuits, or even a power source -- and it could one day save your phone's battery life. "We're always thinking about how we provide vision for machines in the future, and imagining application specific, mission-driven technologies," researcher Zongfu Yu said in a press release. In a proof-of-concept study published on Monday in the journal Photonics Research, the researchers describe how they made a sheet of "smart" glass that could identify handwritten digits.

Welcome to My Unique House, a weekly video series that profiles the most unconventional homes around the country and their equally interesting owners. Check back next week for another wild story, from a mermaid-inspired bungalow, an old airplane transformed into the ultimate bachelor pad and an entire house dedicated to cats. This Washington, D.C. home is sleek in design, fully soundproof and crafted with the highest-end materials. Oh, and it was built in seven days. John Thompson, co-founder of Prefab Partners and the man behind Farmhouse Modern, explained to AOL Lifestyle how Aerospace Robotic Panelization is leading the way for architecture through the use of robots.

DUBAI: When it comes to man versus machine, many industries, including medical science, are at a critical juncture. Advancements in technology are creating a world where robots are performing tasks with speed and efficiency unmatched by their human counterparts. Increasingly, robots are becoming a familiar presence in operating theaters, especially in the Gulf. Experts predict that the region could become the leader in the field of robotic surgery. In June, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare (JHAH) -- the result of a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Johns Hopkins Medicine -- became the first hospital in the Kingdom to perform a robot-assisted hysterectomy.

People will be able to get expert health advice using Amazon Alexa devices under a partnership with the NHS, the government has announced. From this week, the voice-assisted technology is automatically searching the NHS Choices website when UK users ask for health-related advice. Previously the device provided information from a range of sources. The Department of Health in England said it could provide valuable support and even reduce demand on the NHS. The partnership was first announced last year and now talks are under way with other companies, including Microsoft, to set up similar arrangements.

Ravi N. Raj is the CEO & Co-founder of Passage AI, a company that develops a natural language understanding and processing (NLU/NLP) platform that can be used to create a deep conversational interface for any website or business to interact with their customers. In this interview Mr. Raj shares insights on conversational AI, the opportunities it brings to enterprises and the future of human interaction with voice-enabled interfaces. This interview has been featured in the Conversational AI Initiative 2019. Prior to co-founding Passage AI, I was VP of @WalmartLabs, Walmart's hub for innovation around social, mobile and retail. I came to Walmart through the acquisition of a startup called Kosmix where I was their VP & GM.

Should your Roomba need a W-2? Probably not, but it's an amusing thought when debating the more serious topic of whether or not a robot should have to pay taxes -- and how to do it. During the June MIT Technology Review EmTech Next event, two experts argued both sides of the question before an audience at the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ryan Abbott, professor of law and health sciences at the University of Surrey, argued in favor of taxing robots, while Ryan Avent, economics columnist for The Economist, argued against the idea. Both agreed there needs to be a shift in tax burden from labor to capital. Avent, however, carried the most audience votes by the end of the debate. Here are some highlights from each of the men's arguments.