The intensive fires in the Amazon, the rapid melting of glaciers and ice sheets, and continued loss of biodiversity all illustrate that our planet is changing at a dangerous pace. At the same time, we are entering a period of unprecedented technological change. Artificial intelligence (AI) in combination with sensor technology and robotics are likely to change the way we all perceive and respond to social and environmental changes. How can we ensure that applications of artificial intelligence help us address these urgent challenges? On Oct. 15, Princeton University joined representatives from U.S. and Swedish academia, Swedish government, Google, Ericsson, USAID, U.N. Development Programme, and U.N. Global Pulse, to launch a project that will explore how applications of artificial intelligence can help accelerate innovations in line with targets set by the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

How do you explain quantum computing? Think of that vintage telephone at the General Store on Petticoat Junction. Put it next to your iPhone. Every day, it seems like there is news of yet another breakthrough in computing. Technology experts debate exactly when we will all have quantum computers instead of Echo Dots, but the day is coming.

Last year Eugenia Kuyda lost her friend Roman in an accident. But she was determined not to lose his memory. She gathered all the texts Roman sent over his short life and made a chatbot – a program that responds automatically to text messages. Now whenever she is missing Roman, Eugenia sends the chatbot a message and Roman's words respond. And subscribe to Bloomberg Politics for the latest political news: http://www.youtube.com/BloombergPolit... Bloomberg is the First Word in business news, delivering breaking news & analysis, up-to-the-minute market data, features, profiles and more: http://www.bloomberg.com

Huawei could soon be allowed to do business with US companies again, according to leaks ahead of the current trade talks between the US and China. Don't be fooled – we have been here before only to be disappointed. This appears to be, as usual, a sop to the markets as any trade progress is likely to be no more than pedestrian. Last week, we have seen further evidence that the fractures in the global order are increasing – and that they are being driven by technology. Not only has Donald Trump banned several Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) companies from doing business with US companies, but the European Union (EU) has issued a warning about cyberattacks from state-backed companies that have equipment in the bloc's 5G networks. Chinese state media has attacked Apple for providing a map that has assisted protesters in Hong Kong, forcing it to withdraw the application.

Electrodes are used to pick up electrical signals. Neurons however are tiny units of the nervous system and it is difficult to create an electrode small enough to record all the workings of a neurons. Researchers from Harvard University have overcome this obstacle by creating an electronic chip that could be implanted within these networks and could thus perform highly sensitive intracellular recordings of the neurons individually. This could be a boon for neuronal research believes the team as it could help provide an in-depth knowledge of the neuronal connections and synaptic workings. The team wrote, "Current electrophysiological or optical techniques cannot reliably perform simultaneous intracellular recordings from more than a few tens of neurons."

Most of the debates surrounding advantages and drawbacks of democracy seem to be focused on issues like inefficient government, potential centralization of power, the tyranny of the majority, and so on. In fact, democracy suffers from so many deficiencies that as one great historian said, if you want to obtain a lucrative book contract, you should just propose to write a book "The Crisis of American Democracy" -- though it is worth noting that democracy, as W. Churchill famously said, is the worst system of all, except for all the others. However, with rising political polarization and governmental gridlock, another challenge is emerging -- what I call the tyranny of the independent minority. Its advent is so gradual and subtle that few people seem to notice it. Yet the tyranny of the minority will pose a threat to the most foundational ideas of democracy. Above all, the increasing use of AI in politics is going to accelerate this trend.

Business-software maker SAP SE this month plans to start offering a partner company's artificial-intelligence software to help customers comply with data-privacy regulations, including the sweeping California law that takes effect in January. Germany-based SAP, which makes software that supports core corporate functions such as accounting, supply chains and human resources, said Monday that it would resell privacy-management software from BigID Inc., a startup with headquarters in New York and Tel Aviv.

Mansour asked Vorhies about Google's business engagements in China. "Google has gotten in trouble in the past for doing business with the Communist government of China," Mansour said. "And I wanted to ask you were those efforts ongoing when you were with the company? Can you give us any insight into that? Because it was quite troubling."

Conventional, data-crunching artificial intelligence, which is the foundation of deep learning, isn't enough on its own; the human-like reasoning of symbolic artificial intelligence is fascinating, but on its own, it isn't enough either. The unique hybrid combination of the two -- numeric data analytics techniques that include statistical analysis, modeling, and machine learning, plus the explainability (and transparency) of symbolic artificial intelligence -- is now termed "cognitive AI." It's an extraordinary breakthrough to have the ability to implement a human-like ability to perceive, understand, correlate, learn, teach, reason, and solve problems faster than existing AI solutions. Key technology components were at the core of the wildly successful NASA Mars Rover's mission. Alone and 150 million miles from Earth, the rover was able to successfully adapt to conditions without direct instruction. After a dust storm, it taught itself to rotate its solar panels and shake off accumulated dust blocking essential solar ray absorption.

Working in the cybersecurity field offers constant challenges. New threats from both internal and external sources emerge on a regular basis. Consequently, employees charged with protecting valuable assets like customers' Social Security numbers and proprietary company documents must stay up to date on new developments in cybersecurity. However, hackers also follow this pattern of constant learning to stay abreast of new ways to hack into organizations. Now, attackers are taking advantage of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to increase the effectiveness of their cyberattacks.