The government is blocking the full publication of an official report assessing the ways artificial intelligence could be deployed across Whitehall and the wider public sector, NS Tech can reveal. Ministers commissioned a British consultancy firm to review potential applications of the technology in government earlier this year. The report was delivered to the Cabinet Office in April and is likely to play a key role in efforts to transform public sector processes in the coming years. NS Tech requested a copy of the report, which was produced by Faculty, under transparency rules in August. The government complied with the request, but returned a version which is heavily redacted, on the grounds that ministers are yet to determine how it will inform policy.

Artificial intelligence is a hot topic in the software development industry. A revolution is coming to the software development industry as we know it in the form of AI. Artificial intelligence utilizes machine learning to gather, categorize, analyze, and leverage data so that a machine can make intelligent decisions based on that data. As artificial intelligence advances, there is the strong possibility that it will be able to make more intelligent decisions than a human. Because of the ability to streamline processes with improved efficiency and accuracy, and the fact that a machine can run nonstop, there is little doubt that artificial intelligence will play a critical role in the design, development, and deployment of software in the very near future.

We've all heard that China is preparing itself to outpace not only the United States but every global economy in Artificial Intelligence (AI). China is graduating more than 2-3x the amount of engineers each year than any other nation, the government is investing to accelerate AI initiatives, and, according to Kai-Fu Lee in a recent Frontline documentary, China is now producing more than 10x more data than the United States. And if data is the new oil, then China, according to Lee, has become the new Saudi Arabia. It's clear that China is taking the steps necessary to lead the world in AI. The question that needs to be asked is will they win the race? According to the Frontline documentary, China's goal is to catch up to the United States by 2025 and lead the world by 2030.

Bracco Diagnostics Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Bracco Imaging S.p.A., a leading global company in the diagnostic imaging business, announced the results of an experimental artificial intelligence (AI) study of two gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) which found that ProHance (Gadoteridol) Injection, 279.3 mg/mL and Gadavist provided similar degree and pattern of contrast enhancement in brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) previously enrolled in a large scale, multicenter, randomized, double blinded controlled clinical study (the TRUTH study).1 Full study results will be presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting on Wednesday, December 4, in Chicago, IL. GBCAs are widely used imaging agents with a favorable safety profile. While recent research has shown that the gadolinium from these agents may remain in the body for months to years after injection,2 the American College of Radiology and the Food and Drug Administration agree that there are no known adverse clinical consequences associated with gadolinium retention in the brain based on the available data.3,4 Nevertheless, some practitioners have concerns, and questions have been raised over whether using a GBCA that retains less would come with a tradeoff in the effectiveness of the contrast enhancement. The purpose of this study was to use AI to determine the effectiveness of standard concentration ProHance (0.5mmol/ml) compared to double concentration Gadavist (1.0 mmol/ml), since animal studies have shown that Gadavist retains two to seven times more in the brain versus ProHance, at up to 4 weeks after injection5-6.

Actress and freelance writer Yumi Ishikawa, whose campaign against mandatory high heels in the workplace won broad public support, has stepped up her fight against strict corporate dress codes in Japan -- including a ban at some firms on women wearing glasses. Ishikawa shot to prominence this year with her drive against Japanese office culture, in which high heels are seen as near-obligatory when job-hunting or working in the office. Known by the hashtag #KuToo -- a play on words from the Japanese word "kutsu", meaning "shoes," and "kutsuu," meaning "pain" -- the campaign was chosen on Monday as one of the buzzwords of the year. Ishikawa's latest petition to relax the rules, delivered to the labor ministry on Tuesday, has attracted more than 31,000 signatures. "The root cause of the problem is that (there are companies) that have rules for women only -- such as a ban on wearing glasses or a requirement to wear make-up," the 32-year-old told reporters.

A new leak of highly classified Chinese government documents has uncovered the operations manual for running the mass detention camps in Xinjiang and exposed the mechanics of the region's Orwellian system of mass surveillance and "predictive policing." The China Cables, obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, include a classified list of guidelines, personally approved by the region's top security chief, that effectively serves as a manual for operating the camps now holding hundreds of thousands of Muslim Uighurs and other minorities. The leak also features previously undisclosed intelligence briefings that reveal, in the government's own words, how Chinese police are guided by a massive data collection and analysis system that uses artificial intelligence to select entire categories of Xinjiang residents for detention. The manual, called a "telegram," instructs camp personnel on such matters as how to prevent escapes, how to maintain total secrecy about the camps' existence, methods of forced indoctrination, how to control disease outbreaks, and when to let detainees see relatives or even use the toilet. The document, dating to 2017, lays bare a behavior-modification "points" system to mete out punishments and rewards to inmates. The manual reveals the minimum duration of detention: one year -- though accounts from ex-detainees suggest that some are released sooner. Experts say the platform, which is used in both policing and military contexts, demonstrates the power of technology to help drive industrial-scale human rights abuses. The China Cables reveal how the system is able to amass vast amounts of intimate personal data through warrantless manual searches, facial recognition cameras, and other means to identify candidates for detention, flagging for investigation hundreds of thousands merely for using certain popular mobile phone apps.

Making Israel one of the world's five leading countries in artificial intelligence (AI) will require a NIS 1-2 billion annual investment by the government, out of the NIS 10 billion invested in this sector in Israel, according to the recommendations of a committee headed by Maj. The committee was formed at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Parts of the committee's draft report were revealed to "Globes", and were presented in brief as part of the AI Week held at Tel Aviv University in cooperation with the Israel Innovation Authority and Intel. The committee has 15 subcommittees, on which 300 senior people from the government, the IDF, institutions of higher education, and the technology industry serve. Its recommendations are slated for submission to the government in January 2020, if there is a government at that time.

The European Commission on Monday unveiled ethics guidelines that are designed to influence the development of AI systems before they become deeply embedded in society. The intervention could help break the pattern of regulators being forced to play catch up with emerging technologies that lead to unanticipated negative consequences. "It's like putting the foundations in before you build a house ... now is the time to do it," said Liam Benham, the vice president for regulatory affairs in Europe at IBM (IBM), which was involved in drafting the AI guidelines. It's like putting the foundations in before you build a house ... now is the time to do it. The importance of doing so was underscored Monday when Britain proposed new rules that would make internet companies legally responsible for ridding their platforms of harmful content.

India and Sweden on Monday announced the launch of a pilot project to convert paddy stubble into green coal in Mohali, Punjab, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf inaugurated a bilateral high-level policy dialogue on innovation policy. The dialogue created a platform for key stakeholders from the government, private sector and academia to provide strategic direction for joint innovation policy formulation. The dialogue jointly formulated and implemented short- and long-term projects in strategic areas such as, but not limited to, circular economy, digital health, artificial intelligence, sustainable energy and future mobility, a statement said. The dialogue brought together government officials, prominent industrialists as well as renowned academicians from both Sweden and India. Sweden's Minister for Business, Industry and Innovation Ibrahim Baylan, and Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, Health and Family Welfare, were also present for the dialogue.

If you hadn't heard, Elon Musk is worried about the machines. Though that may seem a quixotic stance for the head of multiple tech companies to take, it seems that his proximity to the bleeding edge of technological development has given him the heebie-jeebies when it comes to artificial intelligence. He's shared his fears of AI running amok before, likening it to "summoning the demon," and Musk doubled down on his stance at a meeting of the National Governors Association this weekend, telling state leaders that AI poses an existential threat to humanity. "Until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don't know how to react because it seems so ethereal. AI is a rare case where I think we need to be proactive in regulation instead of reactive. Because I think by the time we are reactive in AI regulation, it's too late," according to the MIT Tech Review.