There's been much talk about how artificial intelligence will benefit society, but what about the potential impacts that AI has when the system is poorly designed and creates problems? This is a question several researchers and OpenAI, a non-profit artificial intelligence research company, tackled in a recent paper. The paper was written by researchers from Google Brain, Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, as well as John Schulman, research scientist at OpenAI. It's titled Concrete Problems in AI Safety, and it looks at research problems around ensuring that modern machine learning systems operate as intended. Researchers have started to focus on safety research in the machine learning community, including a recent paper from DeepMind and the Future of Humanity Institute that looked at how to make sure that human interventions during the learning process would not induce a bias toward undesirable behaviors in machine learning robots. But, according to a blog post by OpenAI, many machine learning researchers are wondering just how much safety research can be done today.

Carlton was listening to the radio while he worked, and at that particular time he was in the Municipal Library of Salt City, Utah. Not Salt Lake City, that was an hour's drive away, but Salt City, a fabulous new feat of architectural brilliance. Not long from now but still a ways away the sustainability movement completed its greatest ever achievement: A city-sized municipal infrastructure that was completely self-sufficient for energy, water and food. It was called Salt City, and it was made up of geodesic domes built in the salt flats not far from Salt Lake City, Utah. Each dome was one mile in diameter, towering half a mile into the sky.

Which kinds of knowledge workers are at high risk of job loss thanks to smart machines? Usually we don't love getting that question, because the answer isn't the simple one interviewers are seeking. Many jobs include tasks that can and will be automated, but by the same token, almost all jobs have major elements that -- for the foreseeable future -- won't be possible for computers to handle. Our advice therefore can't boil down to a clear "avoid careers in a, b, and c" or "apply for jobs x, y, or z." And yet, we have to admit that there are some knowledge-work jobs that will simply succumb to the rise of the robots.

This AI-created short is proof that original sci-fi films still exist, assuming you are okay with something as comprehensible as Terrence Malick's works. Sunspring, a short film that debuted on Ars Technica, was written entirely by an artificially intelligent system named Benjamin. It looks and feels like a sci-fi thriller, but makes absolutely no sense. The dialogue is so incomprehensible that, when paired with the film's delightfully talented and dedicated actors, provides more comedy than plot. But hidden behind the laughter is a deeply disturbing thriller with images of suicide, the coughing up of body parts, and loss.

DeepMind, the artificial intelligence research lab acquired by Google for a reported 400 million in 2014, has called on the UK government to consider funding degree courses that focus on machine learning, which is a subfield of AI. The company -- cofounded by Demis Hassabis, Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman in 2011 -- said the government needs to support the next generation of machine learning experts if it wants the UK to cement its position as a world leader in AI. Writing in evidence submitted to a parliamentary inquiry into robotics and AI last month, DeepMind said: "The government should consider funding for machine learning masters and PhD programmes at British universities, to encourage more research in the field and nurture the next generation of scientists who will help preserve the UK's preeminent position." The company added: "This funding could also include direct support for modules within programmes that train machine learning researchers in the ethics of data science and increasingly autonomous decision-making, to ensure that the pursuit of beneficial outcomes is embedded in the science of machine learning at every level." Machine learning masters degrees and PhDs can cost individuals upwards of 10,000 at the top universities.

You, client! may not be science fiction for much longer. On both sides of the Atlantic and elsewhere, British authors Richard and Daniel Susskind and others predict Artificial Intelligence is on the cusp of changing the legal profession more than any other technology. We've already seen the transformation triggered by word-processing, the Internet and e-mail, but the high hourly rates of legal professionals and the exorbitant expense of court time demand more reform. The B.C. government has been an early adopter of software solutions and the province already has a handful of dispute-resolution and legal platforms intended to make access to legal services and justice easier and cheaper. The next development, however, is heralded by the arrival of "digital legal advisers" -- the progeny of Deep Blue, which destroyed the chess hegemony of humanity, and Watson, which ruined Jeopardy!

Remember the Jetsons' robot maid, Rosie? Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers think her future real-life incarnations can learn a thing or two from Steve Carell and other sitcom stars. MIT says a computer that binge-watched YouTube videos and TV shows such as The Office, Big Bang Theory and Desperate Housewives learned how to predict whether the actors were about to hug, kiss, shake hands or slap high fives -- advances that eventually could help the next generation of artificial intelligence function less clumsily. "It could help a robot move more fluidly through your living space," lead researcher Carl Vondrick told The Associated Press in an interview. "The robot won't want to start pouring milk if it thinks you're about to pull the glass away."

EXPERTS warn that "the substitution of machinery for human labour" may "render the population redundant". They worry that "the discovery of this mighty power" has come "before we knew how to employ it rightly". Such fears are expressed today by those who worry that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could destroy millions of jobs and pose a "Terminator"-style threat to humanity. But these are in fact the words of commentators discussing mechanisation and steam power two centuries ago. Back then the controversy over the dangers posed by machines was known as the "machinery question".

A robot that is claimed to be so intelligent it can think for itself is set to be scrapped because it keeps escaping from the laboratory it lives in. Last week the Promobot IR77 made a bid for freedom through the streets of the Russian city of Perm where it was developed. The bot, who I'll call Roger, was only captured after he ran out of battery life after escaping through a gate from the exercise yard he was exploring. He had caused chaos as the traffic was forced to swerve to avoid him. Roger is part of a series of robots that have been equipped with artificial intelligence, meaning they learn from their experiences and surroundings.

The future is folding, if the exhibits at a major New York tech exhibition are to be believed. Pocket size drones, 3D printers, phone accessories and cutting-edge wearables all took center stage at CE Week, which kicks off today. CE Week is designed to showcase products and services set to launch in the second half of 2016, which all focus around the world of technology. 'This is the year that a new ecosystem of products that communicate with other products, immersive entertainment systems and emerging technologies will really begin to take hold,' said Eric Schwartz, executive producer, CE Week. 'CE Week is a way for those most passionate about technology to see the future, now.' 'New York City, with its burgeoning finance, media and high tech industries provides a great backdrop.'