We arrive a few minutes late, thanks to a traffic jam that is now routine on the Outer Ring Road in Bengaluru. In the lobby of a hotel in Cessna Business Park, which houses Cisco, Flipkart and InMobi, D J Patil settles into a chat with my colleague Sriram Sharma. Patil comes across as an easygoing guy for a scientist. He was the first chief data scientist at the White House, handpicked by then US president Barack Obama. Patil and Jeff Hammerbacher coined the term "data scientist" in 2008.

A musician improvises alongside A.I. Duet, software developed in part by Google's Magenta That's a question bordering on the philosophical, but artificial intelligence (AI) can certainly make music and artwork that people find pleasing. Last year, Google launched Magenta, a research project aimed at pushing the limits of what AI can do in the arts. Science spoke with Douglas Eck, the team's lead in San Francisco, California, about the past, present, and future of creative AI. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Q: How does Magenta compose music?

A company can have the best technology in the world. It can have the strongest talent. It can have the coolest product ideas. But to train the algorithms that will deliver the intelligence to transform our cities, it needs data. Sign up to get Backchannel's weekly newsletter. That's why earlier this year, after leaving Microsoft the previous fall, legendary engineer Qi Lu headed to Beijing to become Baidu's chief operating officer. At his former job, he was, among other things, CEO Satya Nadella's top deputy in helping to lead the company's AI strategy. Clearly, he saw more opportunity across the Pacific: In China, 731 million people--nearly twice the entire population of the United States--are online.

Andrew Ng, one of the world's best-known artificial-intelligence experts, is launching an online effort to create millions more AI experts across a range of industries. Ng, an early pioneer in online learning, hopes his new deep-learning course on Coursera will train people to use the most powerful idea to have emerged in AI in recent years. AI experts have become some of the most sought-after and well-paid employees in today's tech economy. Deep learning involves teaching a machine to perform a complex task using large amounts of data along with a large simulated neural network. The technique has typically required deep technical knowledge and expertise to master (see "10 Breakthrough Technologies 2013: Deep Learning").

Say Machine Learning to someone, and if they recognize the term, they'll probably think, "tech company." But while the origin stories of transformative technologies like machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence often seem to take root in Silicon Valley, the truth is these are industry-agnostic innovations. Their impact is being felt across countless fields you might never have thought of as being ripe for technological advancement. Think about it like this: If you were a farmer, and someone came to you and said, there's a technology out there that can accurately predict your crop yields, would you be interested? Well, this is exactly what Descartes Labs does.

Andrew Ng, one of the world's best-known artificial-intelligence experts, is launching an online effort to create millions more AI experts across a range of industries. Ng, an early pioneer in online learning, hopes his new deep-learning course on Coursera will train people to use the most powerful idea to have emerged in AI in recent years. AI experts have become some of the most sought-after and well-paid employees in today's tech economy. Deep learning involves teaching a machine to perform a complex task using large amounts of data along with a large simulated neural network. The technique has typically required deep technical knowledge and expertise to master (see "10 Breakthrough Technologies 2013: Deep Learning").

Over the last few years, AI assistants have been on the rise. First, as a fun feature set, now ingrained as part of our daily lives. The personal brand experience, that is, how you interact with technology and brands is rapidly transforming. But will AI assistants and voice platforms rule the space? What do you think about the voice platform?

With organizations like the Partnership on AI, we're already starting to see signs that companies recognize and want to address the dangers of an AI race. But for now, the Partnership is comprised mainly of western organizations, while companies in many countries and especially China are vying to catch up to ― and perhaps "beat" ― companies in the U.S. and Europe. How can we encourage organizations and research teams worldwide to cooperate and develop safety standards together? How can we help teams to monitor their work and ensure proper safety procedures are always in place? AI research teams will need the feedback and insight of other teams to ensure that they don't overlook potential risks, but how will this collaboration work without forcing companies to reveal trade secrets? What do you think of the Race Avoidance Principle?

Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL 0.58% is pitching an idea to store power from renewable energy in tanks of molten salt and cold liquid, an example of the tech giant trying to marry its far-reaching ambitions with business demand. Alphabet's research lab, dubbed X, said Monday that it has developed plans to store electricity generated from solar panels or wind turbines as thermal energy in hot salt and cold liquids, such as antifreeze. The lab is seeking partners in the energy industry, including power-plant developers and utilities, to build a prototype to plug into the electrical grid. Whether the project, called Malta, ever comes to market depends as much on a sound business model as it does on science. Academics said the technology is likely years away from market, if it ever makes it.

Alibaba's chairman and founder, Jack Ma, thinks that new technologies could be a threat to more than just jobs. During an interview with CNBC's David Faber on Wednesday, Ma said that new technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence could lead to the third World War. "The first technology revolution caused World War I," Ma told CNBC. "The second technology revolution caused World War II. This is the third technology revolution."