In a not-too-distant future, recruiting for military special operations could focus less on aptitude scores and physical fitness and more on a computer algorithm that can predict success based on past candidates. Officials with U.S. Special Operations Command are experimenting with artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine whether it's possible to highlight the qualities that distinguish an ideal operator. This summer, officials began collecting and assessing a wide swath of data regarding candidates for Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, said David Spirk, SOCOM's chief data officer. "It's really going to be our first experiment. It's exciting," he said at a Special Operations Policy Forum hosted this month by the New America think tank.

As part of PublicTechnology's ongoing AI Week, in association with UiPath, we have recorded an exclusive webinar discussion, in which public and private sector experts discuss the major opportunities and challenges presented to the government, local authorities and the NHS by artificial intelligence and automation.

While scholarship on the topic is getting increasingly nuanced, you're still likely to confront dire warnings about how smart machines are coming to take our jobs. Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk says mass automation is "the scariest problem" facing society because "what's going to happen is robots will be able to do everything better than us … I mean all of us." AI pioneer and venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee believes that the technology could potentially eliminate 40% of existing jobs within the next 15 years. Beyond their inherent pessimism, these kinds predictions have something in common: almost all of them come from men. The vast majority of people funding AI, working on AI, commenting on AI, teaching AI, and starting businesses involving AI are men, what Google researcher Margaret Mitchell calls "a sea of dudes."

The UAE is an early adopter of advanced technology, and artificial intelligence is no exception. Along with Genomic Medicine and Biometrics, the UAE is pioneering AI use within and alongside other advanced technologies, stemming from the government's work in activating their strategy for Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). We are seeing exciting developments in augmented learning, personalised medicine, economic security (such as blockchain technology), smart cities, government e-services, 3D printing, and even space exploration. It's no secret that Dubai is earmarked to be a leading smart city, with investment into numerous technologies to set it on that course, and a stated aim by the UAE Government to make it a leading global hub and an open lab for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The speed at which it is being implemented is almost unparalleled, and the opportunities that sit alongside that are vast.

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND – Employee activism and outside pressure have pushed big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft and Google to make promises to slash their carbon emissions. When Microsoft held an all-staff meeting in September, an employee asked CEO Satya Nadella if it was ethical for the company to be selling its cloud computing services to fossil fuel companies, according to two other Microsoft employees who described the exchange on condition they not be named. Such partnerships, the worker told Nadella, were accelerating the oil companies' greenhouse gas emissions. Microsoft and other tech giants have been competing with one another to strike lucrative partnerships with ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP and other energy firms, in many cases supplying them not just with remote data storage but also artificial intelligence tools for pinpointing better drilling spots or speeding up refinery production. The oil and gas industry is spending roughly $20 billion each year on cloud services, which accounts for about 10 percent of the total cloud market, according to Vivek Chidambaram, a managing director of Accenture's energy consultancy.

One Georgia school district plans to spend $16.5 million to install artificial intelligence-powered surveillance cameras in its roughly 100 buildings in coming years. Businesses across almost every industry deploy artificial intelligence to make jobs simpler for staff and tasks easier for consumers. Computer software teaches customer service agents how to be more compassionate, schools use machine learning to scan for weapons and mass shooters on campus, and doctors use AI to map the root cause of diseases. Sectors such as cybersecurity, online entertainment and retail use the tech in combination with wide swaths of customer data in revolutionary ways to streamline services. Though these applications may seem harmless, perhaps even helpful, the AI is only as good as the information fed into it, which can have serious implications.

Here's what you need to know as you start your day ... Red-state Dems worried Trump impeachment push will kill hopes of retaking Senate in 2020 Some red-state Senate Democrats are fretting that the ongoing House impeachment inquiry could expand uncontrollably and become a "kitchen sink" of complaints about President Trump and hurt chances of regaining the Senate majority in 2020, Fox News has learned. Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana specifically expressed concerns and have told Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., that leadership cannot allow liberal Democrats to push for the inquiry to include allegations about Trump illegally using his office to enrich himself or relitigate findings from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe of Russian election meddling in 2016. In other developments: Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday he's considering individual lawsuits against House Democrats for allegedly violating the constitutional and civil rights of the president and members of his administration amid new congressional inquiries and subpoenas resulting from a whistleblower's complaint. Eliot Engel, Adam Schiff and Elijah Cummings, the Democratic chairmen of three House committees, informed the State Department in a letter late Tuesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appears to have a "conflict of interest" and might now be a "fact witness" in their ongoing impeachment inquiry, after Pompeo accused Dems of trying to "bully" foreign service officers into testifying. Eric Holder says Barr is'paying a price' by spearheading a probe of the Russia investigation Former Attorney General Eric Holder told Fox News on Tuesday that current Attorney General William Barr "is paying a price" and sacrificing his credibility by spearheading U.S. Attorney John Durham's ongoing probe into possible misconduct by the intelligence community at the outset of the Russia investigation.

During the aggregative stage, the individual colony members conglomerate to form a single motile organism with rudimentary intelligence called a slug. This is common to all slime moulds. And two or more colonies can fuse to become a bigger one. This slug then migrates towards light - i.e. it moves towards the surface of the skin. Link: A robot controlled by a slime mould.

The Aker group and the World Economic Forum (WEF) will develop what they call the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Norway (C4IR Norway), as part of efforts to preserve the ocean through advanced technology. Through the partnerships, the Centre aims to develop governance frameworks and solutions for a sustainable and profitable ocean economy, using digital technology ranging from Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Blockchain. The Centre will provide a platform for partnerships on governance policies, research and business solutions that can stimulate the application of science, data and technology in the public interest. The C4IR Norway will join the WEF's global C4IR Network and collaborate with the Government of Norway and the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. The Centre will be an independent non-profit foundation, financed initially by founding partner the Aker group. According to a statement, Aker has gained valuable experience through engaging in cross-sector partnering between its own commercial and non-profit entities, such as REV Ocean, Ocean Data Foundation and VI Foundation.

The Advantages and Challenges of Industry 4.0: Industry 4.0 will revolutionise the way manufacturing processes work in the near future. However, it is critical to weigh the benefits and challenges that a company might potentially face. Industrial revolution 4.0 promises a lot when it comes to investment, revenue, and technological advancements. However, employment remains one of the most mysterious aspects of the industry 4.0 revolution. Therefore, it is even harder to estimate or quantify the potential rate of employment.