A variety of lifted inference algorithms, which exploit model symmetry to reduce computational cost, have been proposed to render inference tractable in probabilistic relational models. Most existing lifted inference algorithms operate only over discrete domains or continuous domains with restricted potential functions, e.g., Gaussian. We investigate two approximate lifted variational approaches that are applicable to hybrid domains and expressive enough to capture multi-modality. We demonstrate that the proposed variational methods are both scalable and can take advantage of approximate model symmetries, even in the presence of a large amount of continuous evidence. We demonstrate that our approach compares favorably against existing message-passing based approaches in a variety of settings. Finally, we present a sufficient condition for the Bethe approximation to yield a non-trivial estimate over the marginal polytope.

Ivanka Trump laid out her vision for the future of work and technology's role in reshaping the American economy and workforce in the coming decades during a controversial'fireside chat' at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) on Tuesday. Speaking the Venetian's Pallazo Ballroom - which just a night prior had been used to launch a slew of new robots and artificial intelligence by Samsung - Trump chose to focus on the business implications of technology. Trump said she had'no sympathy' for companies that complain about unskilled workforces, don't invest in're-skilling them,' and still lay off employees. While the president's daughter's talking points centered mainly on business, she said she believes that innovations like'robotic arms' would create jobs that aren't yet possible. Prior to her keynote, tech industry insiders hit out at the conference, questioning whether the White House advisor was a relevant speaker, but CES President and CEO, Gary Shapiro defended her presence and moderated her talk, entitled'The Path to the Future of Work.' Dressed smartly in pinstripes (left), Trump said she has'no sympathy' for employers who don't're-skill' their workers as she laid out her'vision' for the future workforce of the US and hit back at companies over layoffs Trump plugged the government panel she co-chairs, the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board - which includes members from Apple, and IBM - and took the private sector to task for their role in helping to train current members of the workforce.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday the United States wants to de-escalate tensions with Iran, but the country is ready to finish any war that could be started. "We are not looking to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one," he said. "What we'd like to see is the situation de-escalated." The U.S. drone strike on Friday that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani has sharply escalated tensions with Iran, raising fears of all-out conflict. Washington says it killed Soleimani in self-defense, aiming to disrupt his plans to attack U.S. personnel and interests.

Don't miss the rest of the articles in our Cybersecurity Trends in 2020 series: To say that artificial intelligence (AI) has reached buzzword status may be an understatement. The general public largely misunderstands the term while the C-suite can't get enough of it. A layperson may consider AI a thing of the future, like flying cars and drone grocery delivery, but in reality most of today's business and commercial software contain AI and its little sister, machine learning (ML). And nearly any software developer will tell you--repeatedly--that these tools are little more than statistical probability. They analyze existing data, take action, and make predictions based on the data they have. Over the past several years, we've seen cybersecurity software vendors employ AI to identify security risks on software and networks.

The AI Index is a starting point for informed conversations about the state of artificial intelligence (AI). The report aggregates a diverse set of metrics, and makes the underlying data easily accessible to the general public. The 2019 edition tracks three times as many data sets as the 2018 edition. To help navigate the data, we've produced two tools. The Global AI Vibrancy Tool compares 28 countries' global activities across 34 indicators, including both a cross-country perspective, as well as a country-specific drill down.

The visit to Syria, a key ally of Iran, came amid soaring tensions in the Middle East between Iran and the United States. On Friday, a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general who led forces supporting Assad in Syria's civil war. Iran has vowed revenge for the slaying, and with some 600 American troops deployed in Syria, the country is a potential site of conflict with Iran. While the official statements made no mention of the U.S. killing of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Friday, the timing was conspicuous. Soleimani had led Iran's armed support for Assad as armed rebels neared the capital, Damascus, and he helped seize key cities, preventing the collapse of Assad's state.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday accused Iran of working to thwart efforts to bring peace to Afghanistan, but he offered no specific details to support his allegation. Pompeo leveled his charge amid an escalating crisis with Iran following a U.S. drone strike on Friday in Iraq that killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran's elite foreign paramilitary and espionage service, the Quds Force. "Iran has refused to join the regional and international consensus for peace and is, in fact, actively working to undermine the peace process by continuing its long global effort to support militant groups there," Pompeo said at a State Department news conference. Pompeo named the Taliban as one of the militant groups he accused Iran of using to undermine Afghanistan peace efforts. He also referred to the "Tora Bora and the Mullah Dadullah Group," little-known organizations whose strengths, relevance and contacts with Iran were not immediately clear.

At the Last Futurist, we enjoy looking at AI Trends and digital transformation trends. In between those two are more broad technology trends. In fact these topics make up the mission statement of this new news site. However the last decade had a lot of technology and gadgets that didn't fare so well in the real world. The decade was mobile all the way, with mass adoption taking place the way we might expect the brain-computer interface (BCI) to achieve mass adoption in a future decade years from now. In the decade ahead the move to automated stores and electric vehicles are real trends, but it's important to differentiate the hype from the reality. Autonomous vehicles, quantum computing going mainstream, better self-learning AI, hang on a second! Even mass adoption of digital currencies is coming faster. From computers to the internet and smart phones, a few generations shows a lot of progress. But technology never stands still. Advertising has scaled a world of surveillance capitalism normalization and an AI-arms race is now taking place. Most technology trends and AI listicles only touch the surface of how humans are embedding technology increasingly into their lives. However looking at it from the perspectives of many industries and across technology and innovation stacks gives a more complete picture. The real world and customer experience are the real tests for new technological innovations and pivots. It will take decades for 3D printing, quantum computing and an AGI to even become mature, but an age of biotechnology and AI in healthcare, education and finance is inevitable. From Huawei, to ByteDance (TikTok), to Didi, China will wage major battles for global market share in 5G, consumer apps, E-commerce, mobile payments and ride sharing, among others. Chinese led tech companies -- with the support of the Chinese Government and venture funds such as Softbank Vision Fund -- can mean that in the 2020s China's ecosystem fully replaces Silicon Valley as the leader of innovation. In 2019, some believe this has already occurred.

Estonia is now one of the advanced digital societies in Europe. Initially, it was in 2007 when Estonia became the first country to let citizens cast their vote online during the general elections. This is a milestone in the country's process to become fully digitised. Following this move, the country let applicants to register themselves under the e-residency program. Besides these, it is also possible to register a startup easily in Estonia and grow the business globally. This process can be done in a matter of a few minutes resulting in many startups specialising across industries.

The White House has issued principles for regulating the use of artificial intelligence that call for as little government interference as possible and offer only broad guidance to federal agencies. In fact, the principles might deter regulation of AI at a time when many think it is increasingly needed. Michael Kratsios, chief technology officer of the United States, is set to announce the principles on Wednesday at CES in Las Vegas. They arrive at a critical moment for the development of AI and for America's position as the global standard bearer. The guidelines have the potential to shape the development of a broad swath of valuable and critical technologies, from autonomous vehicles to new medical imaging tools.