A security guard has become one of the first patients in Scotland to have a tumour cut out of his throat by a robot. Peter Simpson was awake, talking and eating ice-cream just five hours after his tonsil and part of his tongue were removed. The 63-year-old was home within 24 hours of the pioneering surgery at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in his home city of Glasgow. "I'm feeling good and I'm really quite surprised," he told STV News after the procedure, which our cameras were allowed to film. "When you're told you're getting this kind of operation on your throat, you think'am I going to be able to talk or eat?', but I can do everything. "There is some discomfort when I swallow but it's much better than I expected." Peter was shaving while on holiday in Skye last August when he noticed a lump on his neck, which turned out to be cancerous. Tumours in such hard-to-reach areas would previously have involved a gruelling and invasive operation. But medics were instead able to guide robotic arms – already used in urology and lung surgery – into Peter's mouth. Ahead of the treatment, staff in the operating theatre told STV News it was a "big week" for them after six months of extensive Transoral Robotic surgery (TORS) training. A doctor from London's Royal Marsden hospital was there to advise as the first of five such ENT (ear, nose and throat) procedures planned in Scotland took place. Jenny Montgomery, consultant for head and neck surgery, guided the robotic arm and communicated by microphone with a surgical team working on Peter. The'arms' of the robot allowed the team to make tiny movements, while the hands can rotate 360 degrees. Enhanced precision helps reduce side effects and the length of time patients have to stay in hospital. "This patient will have probably a more effective identification of where their cancer originated from than they would have had with previous operations," said Ms Montgomery. "If it's a small cancer, there is a possibility they might not need radiotherapy.

What do we talk about when we talk about AI ethics? Just like AI itself, definitions for AI ethics seem to abound. A definition that seems to have garnered some consensus is that AI ethics is a system of moral principles and techniques intended to inform the development and responsible use of artificial intelligence technologies. If this definition seems ambiguous to you, you aren't alone. There is an array of issues that people tend to associate with the term "AI ethics," ranging from bias in algorithms, to the asymmetrical or unlawful use of AI, environmental impact of AI technology and national and international policies around it.

This could counteract the lack of alternative funding for smaller resource-constrained research labs, which can't compete with larger tech giants like Google that "have disproportionate control over the direction of AI research." Refocus on common-sense understanding in AI, so comprehension takes a priority over prediction. This could help combat social problems, such as algorithmic discrimination and deep learning adversarial attacks, as well as result in more "technically robust systems." Empower marginalized researchers, so more value is given to the ways AI influences society and people who are disempowered. A lack of diversity in the field, for example, leads to biased algorithms, which has been highlighted by researchers such as former Google expert Timnit Gebru.

The Pentagon's chief information officer will also serve as the head of a new organization overseeing the Defense Department's various digital and artificial intelligence efforts, the department announced Feb. 2. DoD Chief Information Officer John Sherman will serve as the acting chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, or CDAO, a newly created office designed to oversee the Defense Digital Service, the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and the CIO office he was already leading. The new office was established to better align a number of data, analytics, digital solutions and AI efforts across the DoD. Previously, all three of those offices reported directly to the deputy defense secretary. Sherman will serve as DoD CIO and CDAO as the Pentagon continues to look for a director. "I'm honored to be able to help get this organization stood up, again, while performing my chief information officer duties and also serving as the acting CDAO," Sherman said.

COVID-19 left the world looking for smarter solutions, reimagining work and business operations. So it wasn't surprising when the pandemic accelerated the adoption of new-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI). During the pandemic, contactless services such as digital payments put AI-related services in sectors like e-commerce in the spotlight. AI algorithms were used to make real-time decisions and analyse data, making a huge impact on businesses. It was the hero in elevating customer experience in sectors like sales and marketing.

Robot dogs are being deployed to patrol the US's southern border with Mexico, attracting criticism that such a move will exacerbate "anti-immigrant dystopia" and the invasive and dehumanising conditions already prevalent in the region. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tueday said it was deploying robot dogs to patrol the country's southern border with Mexico to assist its Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel. The goal of the programme, it said, was to leverage technology to increase the presence of CBP at the borders and to reduce "human exposure to life-threatening hazards". "The southern border can be an inhospitable place for man and beast, and that is exactly why a machine may excel there," Brenda Long, programme manager of the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) at DHS, said in a statement. "This S&T-led initiative focuses on Automated Ground Surveillance Vehicles, or what we call'AGSVs.' Essentially, the AGSV program is all about… robot dogs," Ms Long added.

National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India (GOI), Intel, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently held its seventh session, on'Demystifying Deep Learning', under the Digital India Dialogues Building Capacities. This session was attended by 95 government officials, from 10 ministries. The participation of the Intel experts, under the company's Digital Readiness portfolio, brings relevant industry experience and use case studies to these webinars aimed at policy makers. Intel's Digital Readiness for Leaders program aims to leverage AI-led expertise by engaging government officials and leaders in immersive workshops led by subject matter experts to help them grasp the practical application of emerging technologies. The session provided an insight into the workings of Deep Learning (DL) and how its application, and integration can play a key role in creating a framework to help improve services offered to the citizens.

A group of Republican Senators led by Mike Crapo of Idaho has sent the Internal Revenue Service a letter expressing concerns about the agency's partnership with facial recognition service ID.me. Starting this summer, taxpayers will have to register for an ID.me account to be able to access the online services IRS offers, including the ability to file taxes through its website. To be able to sign up, they have to send ID.me a copy of their government ID, a utility bill and a video selfie of themselves. The Senators called the last one the "most intrusive verification item," since it's more than just submitting a picture of one's face and can't be easily replaced like a password. In the letter, the group said that it's "deeply concerned for many reasons," starting with the government's "unfortunate history of data breaches."

Artificial intelligence has permeated nearly every civilian business imaginable. It has altered the way individuals and businesses operate, and it is quickly becoming a necessary component of modern combat. Training and simulation are diverse fields that use system and software engineering principles to build models that can assist soldiers in training on various combat systems used in actual military forces. Many sensor simulation programs have already been launched by the US Navy and Army. Furthermore, augmented and VR technology techniques can be employed to construct effective, accurate, and dynamic training simulations.

Cybersecurity professionals are facing an unprecedented threat environment, with record-high numbers of attacks, shortage of qualified staff, and increasing aggression and sophistication from nation-state actors. For many data center cybersecurity managers, the silver bullet for all these problems is artificial intelligence. It promises to allow security teams to handle more threats than ever before, of greater complexity than ever before, with fewer and fewer people. In fact, according to a global survey released this past September by Pillsbury, a global law firm focusing on technology, 49% of executives think artificial intelligence is the best tool to counter nation-state cyber attacks. Pillsbury predicts that cybersecurity-related AI spending will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 24% through 2027 to reach a market value of $46 billion.