There are a variety of tools that can help researchers analyze large volumes of written material. In this post, I'll examine two of these tools: part-of-speech tagging and tone analysis. I'll also show how to use these methods to find patterns in a large set of Facebook posts created by members of Congress. Part-of-speech (POS) tagging is a process that labels each word in a sentence with an algorithm's best guess for the word's part of speech (for example, noun, adjective or verb). This is based on both the definition of each word and the context in which it appears.

It's a cloudy day in early October and I'm circling my rented Jeep Wrangler around a maze of industrial buildings in Hamilton, Ohio. Hamilton is a small city 30 miles north of Cincinnati with a population of just over 62,000 people. Like much of Ohio, farming is important here. I'm on my way to a farm called 80 Acres, but it isn't the sprawling midwestern wheat field you're picturing in your mind. This tech-centric farm is indoors, housed entirely in a nondescript 10,000-square-foot warehouse.

The FDA has cleared what it describes as the first software that uses AI to guide family doctors, registered nurses and other clinicians in taking cardiac ultrasounds. Developed by Brisbane, California-based Caption Health, the software communicates instructions via prompts on a screen-based interface. The prompts allow non-experts to capture images and videos of diagnostic quality. "This is especially important because it demonstrates the potential for artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to increase access to safe and effective cardiac diagnostics that can be life-saving for patients," Robert Ochs, a deputy director in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement. The software is called Caption Guidance and was cleared for use with a diagnostic ultrasound system developed by Teratech Corp., though the software has the potential to be used with other systems, according to the FDA. In granting clearance to the software, the agency said it looked at two independent studies.

Algorithms that help councils detect potholes, AI tools that help doctors know when patients are stable enough to return home, AI that scans and finds melanomas . . . But there are other aspects to this tech, like the use of live facial recognition in our cities or automated decisions about benefit entitlement. Artificial intelligence is starting to prove game-changing for some applications. It's reasonable to think that efficiency and effectiveness of our public services can be radically improved through its use. But it is clear that the public will need more reassurance about the way in which AI will be used by government, especially since, in the public sector, citizens will often have no choice but to be subject to an algorithm's decision-making power.

The Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) Predictive Maintenance mission initiative (PMx) is partnering with the military services to help improve the availability of military aircraft, specifically the UH/HH-60 "Black Hawk" helicopter, using artificial intelligence (AI) to minimize downtime due to unscheduled maintenance. The goal of the initiative is to develop AI-enabled solutions that increase operational readiness, create more efficient maintenance practices, and minimize costs. Together with the help of maintenance stakeholders across the Department of Defense (DoD), the PMx team is examining AI-driven diagnostics, training opportunities, process improvements, demand forecasting, and supply chain optimization solutions that can help the department accelerate AI-enabled predictive maintenance at-scale. As the Deputy Director for the JAIC's PMx mission initiative, Major Robinson plans, coordinates, and synchronizes projects and the development of predictive maintenance AI models. As part of this work, the JAIC is currently engaged in partnerships with the U.S. Army Aviation and Missle Command (AMCOM), U.S. Special Operations Command – 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), the Army H-60 Utility Program Offices, the Army AI Task Force, the Army Future Vertical Lift Cross-Functional Team, and aircraft maintenance offices from the U.S. Air Force.

A new government report says there are notable deficiencies in the UK's regulatory and governance framework for artificial intelligence in the public sector. Published by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, it says there is no need for a specialised AI regulator, but that regulators must adapt to the challenges that AI poses to their sectors, and there is an urgent need for guidance and regulation on the issues of transparency and data bias. Titled Artificial Intelligence and Public Standards, the report says that AI offers the possibility of improved public standards in some areas, but that an existing lack of information about its use by the public sector risks undermining transparency. There are three risks to accountability: AI may obscure the chain of organisational accountability; undermine the attribution of responsibility for key decisions made by public officials; and inhibit public officials from providing meaningful explanations for decisions reached by AI. There are also worries around data bias risks that could undermine objectivity.

White House officials on Monday unveiled plans to increase federal funding for the development of artificial intelligence and quantum computing, two cutting-edge technologies that defense officials say will play a key role in national security. The funding, part of the Trump administration's $4.8 trillion budget proposal, would direct more money for A.I. research to the Defense Department and the National Science Foundation. The administration also wants to spend $25 million on what it calls a national "quantum internet," a network of machines designed to make it much harder to intercept digital communication. For several years, technologists have urged the Trump administration to back research on artificial intelligence -- which could affect things as diverse as weapons and transportation -- and quantum computing, a new way to build super-powerful computers. China's government, in particular, has made building these machines a priority, and some national security experts worry that the United States is at risk of falling behind.

As legal pressures and US lawmaker scrutiny mounts, Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that claims to have a database of more than 3 billion photos scraped from websites and social media, is looking to grow around the world. A document obtained via a public records request reveals that Clearview has been touting a "rapid international expansion" to prospective clients using a map that highlights how it either has expanded, or plans to expand, to at least 22 more countries, some of which have committed human rights abuses. The document, part of a presentation given to the North Miami Police Department in November 2019, includes the United Arab Emirates, a country historically hostile to political dissidents, and Qatar and Singapore, the penal codes of which criminalize homosexuality. Clearview CEO Hoan Ton-That declined to explain whether Clearview is currently working in these countries or hopes to work in them. He did confirm that the company, which had previously claimed that it was working with 600 law enforcement agencies, has relationships with two countries on the map.

Is using AI the only way to provide defense against this sort of attack, or is there another way? If using AI for defense is the only option, what practical and reasonable steps can be taken to minimize collateral damage/unintended consequences? With all the buzz around the very broad concepts of automation and AI within computer science we should begin by briefly discussing exactly what artificial intelligence is and is not. Cyber intelligence agents used to learn and adapt to perform cognitive actions. A cyber intelligence agent may be a device or software, including malware.

Women in AI and Women in Tech jointly hosted the grand opening of The Magic of ARTificial Intelligence on Monday, 27 January. Guests were welcomed into the Council Chambers Hall at the Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam. The atmospheric venue is Amsterdam's former city hall and has hosted many historic celebrations, including the civil ceremony of Queen Beatrix's wedding in 1966. The room's dark wood panelling, soft lighting and artwork set the tone for an inspiring evening that included a series of presentations. Throughout the evening, artists, designers and musicians discussed how AI and data paved the way for new possibilities in their work.