When you hear the term "artificial intelligence," you may think of tech giants Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, or Facebook. Industrial powerhouse General Electric is now aiming to be included on that short list. It may not have a chipper digital assistant like Cortana or Alexa. It won't sort through selfies, but it will look through X-rays. It won't recommend movies, but it will suggest how to care for a diesel locomotive.

SEATTLE (Reuters) – General Electric said on Tuesday it has acquired two tech startups to build its artificial intelligence capability, a move that helps it compete with IBM's Watson product. GE said the acquisitions of Bit Stew Systems and Wise.io will expand its Predix platform for industrial internet applications, which connects big machines such as power plants and aircraft engines to databases and analytical software. Terms of the deals weren't disclosed. Berkley, California-based Wise.io has advanced machine learning technology that GE sees "as really well-built for the industrial world", Bill Ruh, chief executive officer of GE Digital, GE's software arm, said in an interview. A branch of artificial intelligence, machine learning allows computers to adapt to new data without new programming.

A visitor to GE's Minds Machines event tries out a Web-connected platform that offers real time operational status updates on wind farm turbines. SAN FRANCISCO -- A man dressed like a utility worker approaches an electrical panel. As he moves to touch the metal box a light blinks. Sensors sewn into his overalls have cut the flow of electricity to the box. He can now work without the risk of electrocution.

Oren Etzioni, a well-known AI researcher, complains about news coverage of potential long-term risks arising from future success in AI research (see "No, Experts Don't Think Superintelligent AI is a Threat to Humanity"). After pointing the finger squarely at Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom and his recent book, Superintelligence, Etzioni complains that Bostrom's "main source of data on the advent of human-level intelligence" consists of surveys on the opinions of AI researchers. He then surveys the opinions of AI researchers, arguing that his results refute Bostrom's. It's important to understand that Etzioni is not even addressing the reason Superintelligence has had the impact he decries: its clear explanation of why superintelligent AI may have arbitrarily negative consequences and why it's important to begin addressing the issue well in advance. Bostrom does not base his case on predictions that superhuman AI systems are imminent.

When you hear the term "artificial intelligence," you may think of tech giants Amazon, Google, IBM, Microsoft, or Facebook. Industrial powerhouse General Electric is now aiming to be included on that short list. It may not have a chipper digital assistant like Cortana or Alexa. It won't sort through selfies, but it will look through X-rays. It won't recommend movies, but it will suggest how to care for a diesel locomotive.

General Electric said on Tuesday it has acquired two tech startups to build its artificial intelligence capability, a move that helps it compete with IBM's Watson product. GE ge said the acquisitions of Bit Stew Systems and Wise.io will expand its Predix platform for industrial internet applications, which connects big machines such as power plants and aircraft engines to databases and analytical software. Terms of the deals weren't disclosed. Berkley, California-based Wise.io has advanced machine learning technology that GE sees "as really well-built for the industrial world," Bill Ruh, chief executive officer of GE Digital, GE's software arm, said in an interview. A branch of artificial intelligence, machine learning allows computers to adapt to new data without new programming.

Deep networks are now able to achieve human-level performance on a broad spectrum of recognition tasks. Independently, neuromorphic computing has now demonstrated unprecedented energy-efficiency through a new chip architecture based on spiking neurons, low precision synapses, and a scalable communication network. Here, we demonstrate that neuromorphic computing, despite its novel architectural primitives, can implement deep convolution networks that (i) approach state-of-the-art classification accuracy across eight standard datasets encompassing vision and speech, (ii) perform inference while preserving the hardware's underlying energy-efficiency and high throughput, running on the aforementioned datasets at between 1,200 and 2,600 frames/s and using between 25 and 275 mW (effectively 6,000 frames/s per Watt), and (iii) can be specified and trained using backpropagation with the same ease-of-use as contemporary deep learning. This approach allows the algorithmic power of deep learning to be merged with the efficiency of neuromorphic processors, bringing the promise of embedded, intelligent, brain-inspired computing one step closer. The human brain is capable of remarkable acts of perception while consuming very little energy.

What do vacuuming, mopping, and weeding have in common? They're all repetitive household chores that must be done frequently. Jones invents practical, mobile robots, among them the vacuum-cleaning Roomba and floor-washing Scooba, which he developed at his former employer iRobot. At his new startup, Franklin Robotics, he's continuing to alleviate housework drudgery by making a waterproof robot that weeds flower and vegetable gardens. The Tertill, which has been prototyped and is scheduled to launch in summer 2017 for $250, operates autonomously by using solar power, sensors to identify obstacles, and a string trimmer to cut weeds. Jones hopes later versions of it will appeal to organic farmers who want to weed their crops without using herbicide.

Megasus Horesrunners are made from plastic and clip on to a horse's shoe The makers claim the design reduces shock and vibration on the hooves They also help to increase stability for horses walking on uneven terrain A set of four clip on shoes can be ordered for £175 ($218) Megasus Horesrunners are made from plastic and clip on to a horse's shoe Sex with robots will be'mind blowing': Expert says androids... World's tallest tropical tree is found in Borneo - and it's... Fossil fuel emissions have stalled: CO2 levels remain flat... Soaring hospital admissions, mass insomnia, pets going wild... Sex with robots will be'mind blowing': Expert says androids... World's tallest tropical tree is found in Borneo - and it's... Fossil fuel emissions have stalled: CO2 levels remain flat... Soaring hospital admissions, mass insomnia, pets going wild... Austrian inventors and animal lovers Louisa and Charly Forstner came up with the novel product after years of fitting steel shoes to their horses' hooves while out for a ride Unlike steel shoes they move with the horse's hoof - and can be removed quickly to allow horses to strengthen their tendons and ligaments The makers claim the plastic design reduces shock and vibration on the animals' hooves (pictured left) as well as increasing stability on uneven terrain (picture right) Unlike steel shoes the Horserunners move with the animal's hoof and can be removed quickly to allow horses to strengthen their tendons and ligaments SNL mocks confident Clinton supporters with Dave Chappelle Dashcam footage captures moment van swerves before crashing Havelock resident shocked as he films earthquake hitting NZ Adorable boxer dog jumps far better than the John Lewis dog Trump supporter spews ignorant racist rant at young woman Moment of impact as earthquake rattles home in Wellington Clinton makes final appearance at campaign headquarters The moment 7.8 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand Malcolm Turnbull accuses Lisa Wilkinson of'interrogating' him Chili's manager snatches veteran's free meal after complaint Amazing baby Ibex cling to wall for safety as a fox waits nearby The moment 7.8 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand Malcolm Turnbull accuses Lisa Wilkinson of'interrogating' him Trump says he will'immediately' deport two to three million... 'Don't be afraid': Trump looks to reassure divided America... 'What the f**? The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Data is everywhere – masses of it. And it's helping businesses to make better decisions across departments. Marketing can utilise data to discover the effectiveness of email campaigns, finance can analyse past trends to make predictions and projections for the future, and sales can target their follow-up with detailed information on prospective customers. But data is only useful when business tools transform it into valuable information. Data intelligence through algorithms and analytics make business data relatable. The most advanced solutions require enormous amounts of data to be able to offer accurate insight to users.