Canadian researchers have been behind some recent major breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. Now, the country is betting on becoming a big player in one of the hottest fields in technology, with help from the likes of Google and RBC. In an unassuming building on the University of Toronto's downtown campus, Geoff Hinton laboured for years on the "lunatic fringe" of academia and artificial intelligence, pursuing research in an area of AI called neural networks. Also known as "deep learning", neural networks are computer programs that learn in a similar way to human brains. The field showed early promise in the 1980s, but the tech sector turned its attention to other AI methods after that promise seemed slow to develop.

Angelina Jolie was drug tested during production of 2001's "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," according to a new book by the former CEO of Paramount Pictures. The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday released an excerpt from an upcoming biography of the former studio head Sherry Lansing, "Leading Lady." Lansing stepped down as Paramount Pictures chairman and chief executive in 2005. The book claims when casting the then 24-year-old Jolie for "Lara Croft," Lansing had concerns about Jolie's stability after she received calls about the actress from her father Jon Voight and family friend Jane Fonda. The flick was filmed shortly before the actress wed Billy Bob Thornton.

This webinar focuses on demonstrating how the Data Science Virtual Machine (DSVM) in Microsoft Azure conveniently enables key end-to-end data analytics scenarios by providing users immediate access to a collection of the top data science and development tools of the industry, completely pre-configured, with worked out examples and sample code. We will do a detailed demonstration of some key capabilities of the DSVM by working through a selection of popular scenarios using technologies that are enabled by it. These examples encompass areas such as using a local Spark environment for easy test and development, training and scoring for deep-learning on GPU based instances of the DSVM, cross-platform data exploration and querying using Apache Drill, and in-database analytics using SQL Server 2016 R Services. Both the Windows and Linux flavors of the VMs are covered in this webinar.

The research, which includes new analysis of CB Insights data on 450 insurtech deals over the last three years, appears in a new Accenture report titled "The Rise of InsurTech." The report was released today in conjunction with Accenture's Fintech Innovation Lab in London, which for the first time includes a dedicated insurtech stream comprising leading industry startups. According to the report, the combined number of deals across AI (including automation) and the IoT (including connected insurance) increased 79 percent in 2016. Even though the two technologies represented only one-quarter (24 percent) of the 216 insurtech deals globally last year, they accounted for 44 percent or US$711 million of total insurtech investment – compared with just 10 percent of global insurtech investment in 2015. "We've seen a rapid acceleration of investment into and deal activity around intelligent automation and IoT start-ups over the last 12 months," said Roy Jubraj, a co-author of the report and Accenture's Digital & Innovation lead in the company's Financial Services practice in the U.K. and Ireland.

People looking for an easier path to integrating with Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant have good news on the horizon. NoHold, a company that builds services for making bots, unveiled a project that seeks to turn a document into an Alexa skill. It's designed for situations like Airbnb hosts who want to give guests a virtual assistant that can answer questions about the home they're renting, or companies that want a talking employee handbook. Bot-builders upload a document to NoHold's Sicura QuickStart service, which then parses the text and turns it into a virtual conversation partner that can answer questions based on the file's contents. Right now, building Alexa skills is a fairly manual process that requires programming prowess and time to figure out Amazon's software development tools for its virtual assistant. People who want to change the way that a bot behaves have to go in and tweak code parameters.

Economists have long argued that automation, not trade, is responsible for the bulk of the six million jobs shed by the manufacturing sector over the last 25 years. Now, they have a put a precise figure on some of the losses. Industrial robots alone have eliminated up to 670,000 American jobs between 1990 and 2007, according to new research from MIT's Daron Acemoglu and Boston University's Pascual Restrepo. The number is stunning on the face of it, and many have interpreted the study as an indictment of technological change -- a sign that "robots are winning the race for American jobs." But the bigger takeaway is that the nation has been ill-equipped to deal with the upheaval caused by automation.

Initial research projects include collaborations with Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, the University at Buffalo, the University of Connecticut, and the U.K.-based materials science company Ilika. TRI is also in ongoing discussions with additional research partners. "This represents a fantastic opportunity to drastically advance the use of databases and machine learning methods in materials discovery," said Jens Norskov, Professor at Stanford University and director of the SUNCAT center. "The partnership combines theory, computation and experiment in an unprecedented, concerted effort. We are particularly excited by prospects for an avant-garde approach to catalyst development for fuel cells."

NEW YORK, LONDON & HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In the next stage of artificial intelligence adoption, banks will use AI to help understand the intentions and emotions of customers and enable better interactions, according to a new report from Accenture (NYSE:ACN). The report, Accenture Banking Technology Vision 2017, draws on the analysis of an advisory board of more than two dozen individuals, interviews with technology luminaries and industry experts, and results of a survey of more than 600 bankers. According to the report, more than three-quarters (78 percent) of bankers believe that AI will enable simpler user interfaces that will help banks create a more human-like customer experience. In addition, four out of five respondents (79 percent) believe that AI will revolutionize the way banks gather information and interact with customers, and three-quarters (76 percent) believe that within three years, banks will deploy AI as their primary method for interacting with customers. "Consumers' diverse needs and priorities are forcing financial services firms to redefine how they interact with them to determine the best products and services to meet individuals' needs," said Alan McIntyre, a senior managing director at Accenture and head of the company's Banking practice.

A member of the Pink Eagles robotics team tests the team's robot. Coach Frank Tappen said the team, comprising female students from Ore Creek Middle School, is "ecstatic" about its win. "Our daughter and her friends first joined Wonder League thinking it would be a fun and engaging way to learn more about robotics, but what they discovered was so much more than that," Tappen said. "While solving this year's missions, the girls learned invaluable, lifelong skills about time management, group collaboration and contributing to their community. "By working closely as a team, they developed some pretty creative solutions.

After one of its self-driving Volvos in Tempe, Arizona was struck by another car, Uber temporarily shut down all autonomous testing in the state and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. No major injuries resulted and both sites resumed operations early this week. But even after the Tempe Police Department's report was released today, it's unclear whether the autonomous vehicle took an unnecessary risk and sped up to make the light. According to Bloomberg's account of the report, it faults the green Honda that turned left into the autonomous Volvo. The Uber employees sitting in the car's front seat confirmed that it had been set to autonomous mode, and in a statement to the police, said their vehicle was traveling 38 miles per hour, just under the 40 MPH speed limit. But one witness, who didn't realize a human wasn't in control, said that the Uber had appeared to accelerate to make it through the yellow light.