Although the average consumer may not be familiar with the concept of machine learning, it's already a big part of our daily lives. Tom Schlebusch, the co-founder and chief executive of NMRQL Research, a local fintech player offering South Africa's first machine-learning-powered unit trust fund, says machine learning has a big role to play in how we invest our money. Amid the explosion of data and the exponential advancement of technology, investors are beginning to realise the benefits of machine learning in investment management. Schlebusch says that, when Amazon or Netflix makes recommendations that appeal to us, it's because machine learning was used to analyse our behaviour. "All social media platforms use machine learning to provide personalised feedback based on behaviour patterns and relationships with other users.

Algorithms drive more efficient investment decisions, says co-founder of South Africa's first machine-learning-powered unit trust fund.

Microsoft has announced an expansion to its AI for Earth program, committing an additional $50 million to organizations that are working to solve the climate change crisis. The tech giant first announced AI for Earth back in June, and the initiative promised to provide a bunch of cloud-based tools and AI services to organizations looking to tackle problems relating to climate change. At the time, Microsoft said it was putting $2 million into the program, in addition to other add-ons, such as providing training on the use of AI. Today, the company announced an "expanded strategic plan" and a further $50 million over the next five years to "put artificial intelligence technology in the hands of individuals and organizations around the world who are working to protect our planet," according to Microsoft president and chief legal officer, Brad Smith. The news comes on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement, which was adopted by nearly 200 countries around the world in December, 2015.

To further enhance its research capabilities Eco Marine Power announced today that it will begin using the Neural Network Console provided by Sony Network Communications Inc., as part of a strategy to incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into various ongoing ship related technology projects including the further development of the patented Aquarius MRE (Marine Renewable Energy) and EnergySail. The Neural Network Console is an integrated development environment using deep learning for AI creation and has been used in deep learning applied technology development within Sony since 2015. Various functions are included such as recognition technology and a full-fledged GUI (graphical user interface) and these allow for deep learning programs to be developed. Deep learning refers to a form of machine learning that uses neural networks modelled after the human brain and is notable for its high versatility with applications in a wide variety of fields including signal processing, and robotics. An initial area of focus will be on studying how the Neural Network Console and AI can assist with the development of the automated control system for EMP's EnergySail.

PALO ALTO, Calif., December 11, 2017 -- Cloudera, Inc., (NYSE: CLDR), the modern platform for machine learning and analytics optimized for the cloud, announced its ranking as one of the fastest growing companies in North America on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 . "We continue to demonstrate sustained growth and penetration in machine learning and analytics, as we add more solutions for the cloud by developing innovative technology that gives our enterprise customers the solutions they need in the age of digital transformation," said Tom Reilly, chief executive officer at Cloudera. "An example of this focus on innovation is our acquisition earlier this year of a recognized leader in machine learning applied research, development, and solutions, Fast Forward Labs." In addition to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 recognition, Cloudera has won multiple awards this year including Datanami Editors' Choice Award, IoT & Innovation Award, Big Data 50 award, and 2017 Stratus Award, to name a few. Awardees of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 are selected for this honor based on percentage fiscal year revenue growth from 2013 to 2016.

Amazon SageMaker is a fully managed service for developers and data scientists to quickly build, train, deploy, and manage their own machine learning models. AWS also introduced AWS DeepLens, a deep learning-enabled wireless video camera that can run real-time computer vision models to give developers hands-on experience with machine learning. And, AWS announced four new application services that allow developers to build applications that emulate human-like cognition: Amazon Transcribe for converting speech to text; Amazon Translate for translating text between languages; Amazon Comprehend for understanding natural language; and, Amazon Rekognition Video, a new computer vision service for analyzing videos in batches and in real-time. Today, implementing machine learning is complex, involves a great deal of trial and error, and requires specialized skills. Developers and data scientists must first visualize, transform, and pre-process data to get it into a format that an algorithm can use to train a model.

WIRE)--Alteryx, Inc. (NYSE: AYX), a leader in self-service data analytics, today announced that customers can take advantage of one-click, self-service predictive model deployment capabilities of the Alteryx solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS). Alteryx has also achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Machine Learning (ML) Competency status. The designation recognizes Alteryx for providing business analysts, data scientists and ML practitioners with automated, cutting-edge tools to create and deploy predictive models on AWS. Deployment of predictive models continues to be a major challenge for many companies, with only 13% of data scientists surveyed by Rexer Analytics saying their models always get deployed. Alteryx Promote was designed to help customers address the labor-intensive process of getting models into production by providing an end-to-end data science system for developing, deploying and managing predictive models and real-time decision APIs.

ODSC brings together some of the brightest minds shaping the future of AI and data science at conferences around the world, including Boston, London, and San Francisco. Artificial intelligence and data science are poised to dominate the technology market over the next few years. Data scientists and AI experts are leveraging this technology to make autonomous machines, conversational AI, machine vision and many related technologies ubiquitous. Companies moving quickly to exploit the competitive advantages made possible by these technologies will undoubtedly dominate their industries. However, unlike some of the technologies of the past, much of AI and data science does not lend itself easily to turn-key solutions.

Bitcoin Press Release: Signals Network provides sophisticated machine learning algorithms to help cryptotraders build their investment strategies. November 22, 2017, Prague, Czech Republic -- Crypto trading strategies are about to become a lot smarter. Signals, a Prague based startup, is building a platform to connect traders with data scientists. Signals will have an interface where traders will be able to assemble machine learning-powered trading strategy with a few clicks. Signals is going to offer sophisticated machine learning algorithms to anyone, and its team wants to achieve that by building a network open to cryptotraders and data science developers.

BootstrapLabs is pleased to announce that its annual Applied Artificial Intelligence Conference will return for the third year on April 12, 2018 in San Francisco. The one day conference brings together the brightest and most experienced professionals in the field of AI for an immersive day of learning, discussion, and connection. This year's agenda will focus on the latest and future impact of AI applications and commercialization across a breadth of sectors, including Transportation, Healthcare, Finance, Future of Work and Cybersecurity. Inviting world class perspectives from research, entrepreneurship, investing, and business transformation, the event aims to capture the deepest insights available in the AI landscape today. You'll have access to practical wisdom and methodologies on how to take advantage of AI's powerful potential.