Apple is once again looking to Asia to turbocharge its research and development process, this time to improve its artificial intelligence efforts. In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review, CEO Tim Cook said the future of the iPhone is AI, which will be supported by its new research and development center that will open by the end of the year in Yokohama, Japan. Cook seemed to suggest that AI in the iPhone would move beyond Siri and would actually help increase your battery life through resource management. It would also recommend music more skillfully, and perform other background tasks. As is typical with Apple, Cook stayed tight-lipped on specifics but said the Yokohama team will deal with "deep engineering" and be quite different from its planned R&D effort in China.

Ryan Lochte's robbery tales weren't the only lies he concocted in Rio. As the "Dancing with the Stars" contestant revealed to New York magazine, he was contractually obligated to say he was single during the Olympics in August -- though Lochte didn't spill which company made that stipulation. The 32-year-old swimmer boasted about using dating apps during the Games to help the myth he was unattached. The bizarre admission comes days after Lochte proposed to his Playboy model girlfriend, Kayla Rae Reid, after 10 months of dating. Lochte, who was dropped by several prestigious sponsors after admitting he lied about being held up at gunpoint during a night of drunken debauchery, has kept quiet about how he first met Reid.

Apple will celebrate the iPhone's 10th anniversary next year, but in chief executive Tim Cook's view, the technology is anything but mature. The Nikkei Asian Review caught up with Cook aboard a bullet train last week and asked him about artificial intelligence, his plans for Asia, and the experience of succeeding Steve Jobs. Cook, who was visiting Japan for the first time as CEO, said Apple will open a research and development base in Yokohama, near Tokyo, later this year. The facility -- the first of its kind outside the U.S. -- will develop AI and other technologies. Cook described it as a center for "deep engineering" and said it will be "very different" from the R&D base Apple plans to build in China. "I cannot tell you the specifics," he said.

We are entering an extremely critical time in history where society will change dramatically – how we work, live and play. Science fiction is morphing into reality. Flying cars exist, cars that drive themselves are on the road, and artificial intelligence that automates our lives is here. And you? what do you think about?

To the editor: I empathize with Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck and his officers, who are reluctant to quickly release information and videos taken of police shootings. As imperfect human beings, none of us appreciates being exposed to intense public scrutiny. On the other hand, L.A.'s finest should learn from examples set by departments in cities like Las Vegas, where officers quickly post information about shootings online. First, bad things grow in the dark, and you can't set a behavioral standard without oversight. Opening up will create more support for genuine peace officers, who will then be reassured that the public has their back.

For many people, Google is simply the gateway to a vast archive of facts and memories. For those who pay closer attention to its business dealings, the company also invests billions to find new ways to use the power of computers: it's developing robots, virtual reality gear and self-driving cars. Remember all the hubbub about Google Glass? Google has been using the same approach in sustainability – spreading its wealth in a variety of projects to cut its waste and carbon footprint, initiatives which may one day generate profits. During the SXSW Eco conference this week, I caught up with Google's sustainability officer, Kate Brandt, to find out more.

Do you think if we ever do develop AI with true intelligence, it will inevitably come with the kinds of problems the show seems poised to explore: robots with growing self-awareness and a desire to act in a way that goes against their programming? You would think that those challenges would very likely come up. We're talking about something that has never been done and may never be done. There is definitely a group of very smart people who are focused on that and, in particular, are very concerned about the potential existential threat from artificial intelligence, if we ever do build machines that can think for themselves and make decisions for themselves.

IT'S HARD TO think of a single technology that will shape our world more in the next 50 years than artificial intelligence. As machine learning enables our computers to teach themselves, a wealth of breakthroughs emerge, ranging from medical diagnostics to cars that drive themselves. A whole lot of worry emerges as well. Will it take over our jobs? President Obama was eager to address these concerns.

As artificial intelligence software has grown in prominence in recent months, one fear has flowed beneath the surface of many discussions: What will the technology's effect be on jobs? In some cases, AI applications are being designed to automate specific jobs, like that of customer service agents. More broadly, some commentators have suggested the technology could become general enough to perform most tasks currently being performed by workers, whether blue collar or white collar. But Matt Gould, founder and chief strategy officer at Arria NLG, a software company that uses a flavor of AI to produce business reports in natural language, says we have nothing to fear from the coming artificially intelligent future. In this interview, he explains why workers stand to gain far more than they may lose as more and more enterprises adopt AI applications.