Analysts are not employed by SDxCentral and the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in their content belong solely to the author and do not reflect the views of SDxCentral. Note: AvidThink is a separate organization, created by Roy Chua, that is not affiliated with SDxCentral. Coming off the craziness of MWC 2019 in Barcelona, Spain, with 5G, edge, artificial intelligence (AI), and yes, SD-WAN too, we at AvidThink were hoping for a change of landscape as we braved the halls of the recently upgraded Moscone Center in San Francisco. And to a certain extent, there was a refreshing change of pace: instead of the eight-plus halls, there were only two halls merged into one large indistinct blob thanks to Moscone's recent updates. And we were now in the land of malware, phishing, micro-segmentation, and security analytics – every aisle boasted one of these analytics companies.

Nearly half of the companies in Europe that call themselves AI start-ups don't in fact use artificial intelligence, a new report found. The research, published Tuesday by London-based venture capital firm MMC Ventures, found no evidence that artificial intelligence was an important part of the products offered by 40 percent of Europe's 2,830 AI start-ups. The report's authors individually reviewed the activities, functions and funding of start-ups across 13 EU countries. It did not name any of the start-ups involved in the study. The findings raise questions about how the term AI has become a blanket phrase for start-ups looking to attract investments and position themselves at the forefront of tech innovation.

Forrester Research has published a report summing up its impressions from the HIMSS19 Global Conference & Exhibition. Experts said they came away from the show convinced that big momentum is building behind interoperability, and it's not coming from the places one might expect. Health systems will need to do better with the management and sharing of more data than ever if they hope to stay competitive in a value-based care landscape where patients have more choice than ever about where they get their care, according to the study. WHY IT MATTERS As interoperability continues to gain steam, it's set to boost the profiles of an array of other key technologies, said Forrester researchers. At HIMSS19, it was clear that tools "supporting data management and interoperability, including cloud and AI, showcased their ability to add value and hit on the quadruple aim: improving the customer experience, driving better outcomes, lowering costs, and supporting the whole care team," they said.

In the past, the very idea of human-manufactured intelligence stood as an allegory from anything from the pitfalls of mankind itself to the dangers of playing god. Today, however, AI is very much a reality and perhaps shows how well early science-fiction writing predicted a future of digital intelligence. What remains is a tremendous responsibility on the shoulders of us humans to create intelligent, yet ethical, technology – but not everyone sees it that way. In the wrong hands, AI capabilities become an incredible weapon to fuel social unrest, political instability, support propaganda of authoritarian regimes, and even build an autonomous battlefield. In China alone there are over 200 million active surveillance cameras – nearly four times more than in the US.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. This soft gripper from MIT is based on an origami "magic-ball." It's a "magic-ball gripper," and that hyphen placement is absolutely critical to it functioning appropriately.

Spend your tax refund on something you actually want. If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA Today's newsroom and any business incentives. Doing your taxes might suck, but getting your tax refund back feels fantastic. It's as if you're getting free money added to your bank account (even thought it's really just money you earned that the government took too much of). Now, you just need to decide on what to spend it on. I mean, a tax refund is the perfect excuse to treat yourself. Instead of blowing your newfound money on some trendy piece of clothing or cool-looking gizmo, you might want to invest a high-quality product that will last you years to come. Here at Reviewed, it's our job to test and rate hundreds of products throughout the year, and we take it very seriously, so we know a thing or two about what's actually worth buying.

The University of Albany in Upstate New York recently unveiled a two-story, 1,700-square-foot drone lab. The College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) hosted an open house last month to launch the lab, located in the basement of Page Hall at the university's downtown campus. The space, enclosed with netting and rubber flooring, offers a controlled indoor environment for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight training, along with land-based robotics research and educational opportunities. According to a press release from UAlbany, last summer, Brandon Behlendorf, an assistant professor at CEHC, was leaving his office in Richardson Hall when he stumbled upon an aging stairwell on the north corner of the second floor. Wondering where it led, he made his way down five stories to a locked door in the basement.

Nvidia is all set to host its 10th annual GPU Technology Conference (Nvidia GTC 2019). Back when the company started it off in 2009, the focus was purely on solving computing problems through GPUs. However, over the years this has evolved into various other subjects. Nvidia GTC 2019 is all about Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning. Let us take a closer look at the Nvidia GTC 2019 conference – at all the major names and discussions which make the GTC one of the best events of the year!

It's 2019 and AI is well past the hype phase. The technology has advanced, with faster computing chips, smaller form factors, and improved power efficiency. As a result, there has been explosive growth in online AI training courses to get developers and data scientists started and advance their skills. Inboxes now flood with invitations to the newest AI conferences you "must attend." They offer a chaos of information on the newest advancements and resources to stay up to date.

Voicesense makes an intriguing promise to its clients: give us someone's voice, and we'll tell you what they will do. The Israeli company uses real-time voice analysis during calls to evaluate whether someone is likely to default on a bank loan, buy a more expensive product, or be the best candidate for a job. It's one of a crop of companies looking for the personal insights contained in our speech. In recent years, researchers and startups have taken note of the rich trove of information that can be mined from voice, especially as the popularity of home assistants like Amazon's Alexa make consumers increasingly comfortable talking to their devices. The voice technology market is growing and is expected to reach $15.5 billion by 2029, according to a report by business analytics firm IdTechEx.