The U.S. Postal Service says that mail is again being delivered at Mar Vista Gardens, a public housing complex with more than 1,800 residents, after an outcry from local leaders over delivery being suspended. "The idea that a decision was made to delay mail in the middle of a pandemic is heinous," said U.S. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), who initiated a formal inquiry into the decision. "How many of those packages were medications? How many were letters from loved ones? Last month, Culver City Post Office Postmaster Roderick Strong suspended delivery to the 43-acre complex in the neighborhood of Del Rey, stating that safety issues were putting mail carriers at risk.

WASHINGTON: Artificial intelligence has an insatiable appetite for data – but if you feed it the wrong kind of data, it's going to choke. To get clean-enough data in large enough quantities for machine-learning algorithms to actually learn something from it, officials say that the intelligence community needs to change how drones, satellites, and other sensors performs their mission every day. The turning point will be "when we start seeing collection requirements … for the production of training-quality datasets, versus the support of a tactical operation," said David Spirk, who became the Defense Department's Chief Data Officer in June and is now finalizing the DoD's new data strategy. "I don't know that we've entirely made that turn yet, but I think we're talking about it." For example, the US has collected vast amounts of data on the Central Command theater, said Spirk, who served in Afghanistan himself as a Marine Corps intel specialist.

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Portland City Council members voted unanimously on Wednesday to prohibit the public – and, in some cases, private – use of facial recognition technology, making it the most stringent ban of this kind nationwide, according to multiple reports. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty introduced the bans, which immediately took effect for city agencies, and will be effective on Jan. 1 for private businesses, The Oregonian and Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The ordinances bar the use of facial recognition technology by city agencies and on public property within the city, but also prohibit its use "by private entities in places of public accommodation," according to city agency Smart City PDX. Facial recognition technology violates the public's personal privacy and has "a demonstrated gender and racial bias," Wheeler said, according to OPB.com. "Technology exists to make our lives easier, not for public and private entities to use as a weapon against the very citizens they serve and accommodate," the Democratic mayor reportedly said.

So you're interested in AI? Then join our online event, TNW2020, where you'll hear how artificial intelligence is transforming industries and businesses. In 2018, a big fan of Nicholas Cage showed us what The Fellowship of the Ring would look like if Cage starred as Frodo, Aragorn, Gimly, and Legolas. The technology he used was deepfake, a type of application that uses artificial intelligence algorithms to manipulate videos. Deepfakes are mostly known for their capability to swap the faces of actors from one video to another. They first appeared in 2018 and quickly rose to fame after they were used to modify adult videos to feature the faces of Hollywood actors and politicians.

One has to wonder whether America has lost its strategic sense entirely -- or for that matter, its common sense. On the one hand, the Department of Defense has released its latest evaluation of the Chinese military threat, noting specifically that Beijing is moving from what it terms in Pentagon-ese "informationalized warfare" to "intelligentized warfare." On the other hand, the House of Representatives has approved an amendment to its 2021 National Defense Authorization Act that would expand the "Buy American" provision so that it could lock out defense exports from America's closest allies, whom it sorely needs in any confrontation with China or Russia. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam SmithDavid (Adam) Adam SmithWhen'Buy American' and common sense collide Overnight Defense: Marine Corps brushes off criticism of Marines' appearance in GOP convention video US troops injured in collision with Russian vehicle in Syria Dems ask for probe of Vindman retaliation allegations Democrats press Pentagon watchdog to probe allegations of retaliation against Vindman brothers MORE (D-Wash.), The House voted to accept the proposal by Rep. Donald NorcrossDonald W. NorcrossWhen'Buy American' and common sense collide NY, NJ lawmakers call for more aid to help fight coronavirus Lawmakers, labor leaders ramp up calls to use Defense Production Act MORE (D-N.J.) requiring that, by the end of fiscal year 2021, 75 percent of all components of major defense programs must be produced in the United States, and that the American share of those components should rise by 5 percent in every year following year until it reaches 100 percent in FY 2026. The House also approved other Buy American provisions to both its defense authorization and appropriation bills.

They spent hours circling the sky, seeking, among other things, surface-to-air missile launchers lurking in the brush. The missiles they found weren't enemy ones. They were props for early test flights of a prototype military drone stuffed with artificial intelligence--the latest product from Anduril, a defense-tech startup founded by Palmer Luckey, the creator of Oculus Rift. The new drone, the Ghost 4, shows the potential for AI in military systems. Luckey says it is the first generation that can perform various reconnaissance missions, including searching an area for enemy hardware or soldiers, under the control of a single person on the ground.

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is to pit real-world fighters controlled by human pilots against aircraft flown by artificial intelligence in 2024, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said at the DOD Artificial Intelligence Symposium and Exposition. Speaking at the event, Esper said: "As an example of the tectonic impact of machine learning on the future of warfighting, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently conducted its third and final F-16 combat simulation between an AI-controlled system and an experienced Air Force fighter pilot." The real-world dogfights will be the culmination of work by DARPA which recently saw an AI-controlled F-16 beat an experienced US Air Force (USAF) pilot in a series of simulated dogfights. Esper added: "The AI agent's resounding victory demonstrated the ability of advanced algorithms to out-perform humans in virtual dogfights. In DARPA's AlphaDogfight, an AI built by Heron Systems beat a human F-16 pilot 5-0 following a number of AI vs AI simulated dogfights. AlphaDogfight was conducted as part of DARPA's Air Combat Evolution (ACE) designed to increase trust in combat autonomy, and demonstrate the utility of AI and autonomous systems as the US envisions a future where crewed aircraft are supported autonomous systems. Explaining ACE, DARPA said: "In a future air domain contested by adversaries, a single human pilot can increase lethality by effectively orchestrating multiple autonomous unmanned platforms from within a manned aircraft.

The side-effects of algorithms are perilous as it leads to discrimination and intrudes with privacy and Freedom Of Expression. Infact, it is the logic behind, the Artificial Intelligence. Right from getting recommendation about a particular gadget that we want to buy online to job applications online, algorithms play a major role. And as the competition amongst tech giants are improving, humans are presented with more cutting-edge technology that applies Artificial Intelligence. But algorithms are not new.

Pune: Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data could add $450-$500 billion to India's GDP by 2025, industry body Nasscom said in a report. According to the'Unlock Value from Data and AI: The Indian Opportunity' report, this could in turn aid India's economic growth and recovery. Nasscom's action plan recommends focusing on five key areas -- strategy, data, technology stack, talent and execution. According to the report, if India acts quickly, it can become a leader in building a holistic data utilization and AI effort, especially as countries emerge from the pandemic and global economic slowdown. The action plan and report has been reviewed by industry leaders including N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons; Rishad Premji, Chairman, Wipro; UB Pravin Rao, Chairman, Nasscom and Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India.