Facebook has almost 2B active users. At a developer conference today, the company announced plans to connect even more, and Mark Zuckerberg hinted at a near-future scenario where AI-controlled bots will answer basic questions via the Messenger app. Why is that such a big announcement? Because 2016 is the year of the chatbots, a turning point when the AI that drives these machines can imitate human speech, respond to queries, help you find the right product online, and troubleshoot problems. In fact, while there is no way to prove it, there's a good chance you have already chatted online with a customer service bot--say, at one of those pop-ups you see at an online store or when you visit a big-name brand site.

WIRE)--How do our brains learn and understand the world? That question is of paramount importance to both neuroscientists and technologists who want to build intelligent machines. It has been understood for over a hundred years that the inputs and outputs of the brain are constantly changing sequences of patterns and therefore learning and recalling sequences must be a fundamental operation of neurons. Numerous proposals have been made for how neural networks might learn sequences. However, these proposals did not match the anatomy and function observed in the brain.

The initial collection on Megapixl.com is curated based on editor's feedback and customer behaviors that rate images and place them within certain ranks in the collection. Once the site is launched, the machine learning platform will take gathered user data into account and offer refinements to the Dreamstime.com Content on the site includes photos, vector art, and video content representing several categories including abstract, business, people, editorial, 2D & 3D Animation, Video Production Elements, Technology, and Travel. "By launching MegaPixl we give users access to an incredible collection that is curated by humans and then further improved and customized by machine learning tools that learn past behaviors to make dynamic recommendations," said Serban Enache, CEO and co-founder, Dreamstime. "The initial collection on Megapixl is already curated because we've accounted for user's actions so we know how images will be rated and placed within the collection. Megapixl is designed as a first stop for designers because we are effectively using the designer community to help itself by basing the collection on designer behaviors. Users will come to the site to find the right image quickly – giving them more time to focus on their designs."

Emerald Medical Applications Corp. (OTCQB: MRLA), an Israeli-based company engaged in the development and sale of its proprietary DermaCompare cloud-based, artificial intelligence technology for the early diagnosis of Melanoma/skin cancer, today announced entry into a cooperation agreement with Terem, one of Israel's largest community-based, emergency healthcare providers with 17 medical facilities, serving over 700,000 patients throughout Israel. Starting in April 2016, Emerald will begin to offer its DermaCompare technology at each of Terem's clinics throughout Israel, offering advanced dermatological examinations, diagnosisand treatment led by a leading professional Dermatologists. DermaCompare is Emerald's cloud-based, artificial, intelligence technology using Total Body Photography imaging which is capable of being automatically compared to a patient's previous images to diagnose and detect the presence of Melanoma in its earliest stages. Lior Wayn, Emerald's CEO, stated that "DermaCompare, Emerald's FDA approved, HIPPA compliant software technology, which can be downloaded from any Mac or Android based App store, enables physicians andtheir patients, using virtually any digital camera, including cell phones, iPads, tablets and other similar devices, to take Total Body Photography images and, in real-time, transmit these images for dermatological evaluation and identification of suspicious moles, lesions and other skin conditions. These images are then compared using Emerald's cloud database, as well as the patients previous Total Body Photography images, which will dramatically enhance a physician's ability to detect Melanoma earlier, more accurately and more efficient than other means of diagnosis."

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Artificial Intelligence (Ai) Market By Technology (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing (Nlp), Image Processing, And Speech Recognition), Application & Geography - Global Forecast To 2020" report to their offering. The author forecasts the artificial intelligence market to grow from USD 419.7 Million in 2014 to USD 5.05 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 53.65% from 2015 to 2020. The major factors driving the growth of this market include diversified application areas of AI, improved productivity, and increased level of customer satisfaction. In addition, the rising demand for intelligent systems is expected to propel the growth of the market in the next five years. The scope of this report covers the artificial intelligence market by technology, application, and region.

NVIDIA today unveiled the NVIDIA DGX-1, the world's first deep learning supercomputer to meet the unlimited computing demands of artificial intelligence. The NVIDIA DGX-1 is the first system designed specifically for deep learning -- it comes fully integrated with hardware, deep learning software and development tools for quick, easy deployment. It is a turnkey system that contains a new generation of GPU accelerators, delivering the equivalent throughput of 250 x86 servers.1 The DGX-1 deep learning system enables researchers and data scientists to easily harness the power of GPU-accelerated computing to create a new class of intelligent machines that learn, see and perceive the world as humans do. It delivers unprecedented levels of computing power to drive next-generation AI applications, allowing researchers to dramatically reduce the time to train larger, more sophisticated deep neural networks. NVIDIA designed the DGX-1 for a new computing model to power the AI revolution that is sweeping across science, enterprises and increasingly all aspects of daily life.

Amazon has acquired PhotoTime creator Orbeus, an artificial intelligence startup that specializes in photo-recognition technology. The acquisition took place in the fall of 2015, according to sources familiar with the matter. This would be the latest in a string of acquisitions in the area of deep learning, with deals already completed for high-performance computing company Nice and video processing company Elemental Technologies. Orbeus developed photo-recognition technology based on a powerful type of AI called neural networks. It automatically identifies people and objects in photos and videos.

Tokyo, April 8, 2016 - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501) today announced the development of "EMIEW3," a humanoid robot, and its "remote brain"*1 robotics IT platform. EMIEW3, capable of autonomously approaching customers requiring assistance, was developed to provide necessary services and guidance in stores and public facilities. Enhanced by the "remote brain" consisting of a robotics IT platform connected to cloud-based intelligent processing systems and a remote operation system to monitor and control multiple robots at various locations, EMIEW3 is able to provide high quality services. Since the announcement of "EMIEW" in 2005, Hitachi has continued to develop human symbiotic robots that can safely co-exist with humans, providing robot-based services with advanced communication capabilities. Using EMIEW2, first announced in 2007, Hitachi developed functions necessary for customer and guidance services, and demonstrated capabilities which include autonomous mobility at a brisk human walking pace, isolation of human voice from background noise, accessing information from the Web to identify objects and using indoor network cameras as "eyes" to locate objects.

Small business financing can be challenging and risky, especially with the uncertain nature of small businesses given that large corporations are aggressively penetrating various market niches. While traditional financial institutions may turn away from SMEs, some alternative lenders are quite successful in delivering financing to these businesses. One of the market leaders in the alternative small business finance space, CAN Capital, has announced that it reached 6 billion in delivering access to working capital for small businesses. During its 18 years in business, CAN Capital has provided access to more working capital than any other company in the space. To date, CAN Capital has helped facilitate over 170,000 small business fundings in hundreds of unique industries, such as restaurants, medical offices and beauty salons.

While companies such as Google chase the fully autonomous car, Toyota is taking a more measured approach toward a "guardian angel" car that would seize control only when an accident is imminent. But as starkly different as those approaches are, they both will require a wide range of data-intensive technologies, according to Gill Pratt (pictured), chief executive officer of the Toyota Research Institute, a research center focused on AI and robotics. He spoke at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose today. Toyota has made a huge bet–a billion dollars over five years, in fact–not only on semiautonomous cars but robots that could help older people with indoor mobility. The Toyota Research Institute, which will have facilities near Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is intended to focus both on what Toyota calls outdoor mobility (cars) as well as indoor mobility (robots).