Tony has worked in the same automotive plant in north-west Ohio, US, for nearly two decades. During that time, he moved from a part-time line associate on the third shift to a line supervisor, where he now oversees 35 general assembly workers. Occasionally, one of his workers will come to him with an article about a nearby Indiana plant that plans full automation, and ask Tony if robots will take their jobs as well. Fortunately, Tony knows the numbers. The International Federation of Robotics projects 250,000 industrial robots will be deployed globally every year.

Artificial intelligence is infiltrating every industry, allowing vehicles to navigate without drivers, assisting doctors with medical diagnoses, and mimicking the way humans speak. But for all the authentic and exciting ways it's transforming the tasks computers can perform, there's a lot of hype, too. As Jeremy Achin, CEO of newly minted unicorn DataRobot, puts it: "Everyone knows you have to have machine learning in your story or you're not sexy." The inherently broad term gets bandied about so often that it can start to feel meaningless and can be trotted out by companies to gussy up even simple data analysis. To help cut through the noise, Forbes and data partner Meritech Capital put together a list of private, U.S.-based companies that are wielding some subset of artificial intelligence in a meaningful way and demonstrating real business potential from doing so. One makes robots that can whir around shoppers to help workers restock shelves. Another scans recruiting pitches for unconscious bias. A third analyzes massive data sets to make street-by-street weather predictions. To be included on the list, companies needed to show that techniques like machine learning (where systems learn from data to improve on tasks), natural language processing (which enables programs to "understand" written or spoken language), or computer vision (which relates to how machines "see") are a core part of their business model and future success. Find all the details on our methodology here. The honorees span categories like human resources, security, insurance, and finance, with healthcare, transportation, and infrastructure startups best represented on the list.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the foundation for simulating human intelligence methods by creating and applying algorithms. The technological advancements in this field have led to the adoption of this technology in various industries including healthcare, education, finance, and marketing and it has proven itself to be the most effective technology in modern times. This technology is now being used to prevent cyber-attacks in major organizations. As cybercrimes are increasing in number and complexity, AI is aiding in identifying these attacks and attacking them. AI technologies like Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing allow security analysts to counter such threats immediately.

You are in a black sedan parked in a dimly-lit alley at night. In the passenger seat a female, dressed in white top and jeans, asks if you want to share some meth. She lights up and smoke fills the interior. The scenario may sound real enough but it is an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience designed to determine how prone the participant is to drug use by tracking their pulse, brainwaves and the electrical conductance of the skin. Using artificial intelligence that combines the responsive patterns from over 10,000 addiction cases, the system generates a drug craving score, according to Li Dai, founder and chief executive of Beijing-based start-up WonderLab, developer of the technology. The company is working with rehabilitation centers in more than 10 Chinese provinces and municipalities including Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan, Beijing and Chongqing, to apply the AI-enabled assessment as a follow-up to addiction treatment.

When some people think of artificial intelligence (AI), they think of humanoid robots turning against their creators in an apocalyptic science fiction movie. In reality, AI is already playing an increasing role in many existing and evolving technologies, from driverless cars to translation software, virtual assistance devices and monitoring agriculture and biodiversity. Satellite images provided by AI can assist policymakers in finding solutions to problems of hunger, drought and climate change, to name only a few. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), says that promoting AI in Africa is a top priority for the organization. "Artificial intelligence can help us advance more rapidly towards the achievement of the SDGs by allowing better risk assessment, enabling more accurate forecasting and faster knowledge sharing, by offering innovative solutions in the fields of education, health, ecology, urbanism and the creative industries and by improving standards of living and our daily well-being," Ms. Azoulay explains.

Critics of such an idea have, in the past, argued that any tax on a machine, be it a robot, a car or an AI tax, would be anti-business -- but then it would be stretching credibility to suggest Bill Gates is anti-business. "You ought to be willing to raise the tax level and even slow down the speed of automation," said the co-founder of Microsoft. He warned: "You cross the threshold of job replacement of certain activities all sort of at once. If you want to do [something about] inequality… government's got a big role to play." There are multiple problems with the idea.

The Telangana government has decided to declare 2020 as Artificial Intelligence year by organising various activities related to the emerging technology, Jayesh Ranjan, principal secretary, IT and Industries said here on Wednesday. "The year 2020 is going to be celebrated in Telangana as AI year. And throughout the year, we will be running multiple programs and activities. A lot of hackathons and meetings will happen and the government agencies will give challenges and make available data sets on which you (companies) can run algorithms," he said speaking at a programme. Ranjan said the state government has signed up with NITI Aayog, which has come out with the'National Strategy forArtificial Intelligence' to run pilot projects in Telangana.

Interest in artificial intelligence is on the rise in Egypt as enterprises embrace emerging technology to expand into new markets, investors back AI startups and government initiatives support education and awareness of the technology. There is mounting evidence that private enterprise is embracing AI. Recently, for example, AI and anlytics vendor fonYou partnered with a mobile operator in Egypt to use its AI module to reach the unbanked, and Widebot just raised a six-figure (USD) Pre-Series A investment for its Arabic language chatbot. Meanwhile, the government is looking to develop AI capabilities in a number of ways, including launching its first AI faculty at Kafr El Sheikh University. Egypt is aiming to have 7.7 percent of its GDP derived through AI by 2030, a figure touted in the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, The Potential Impact of AI in the Middle East.

Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are forecast to add US$15 trillion to the global economy by 2030. According to the findings of our Index and as might be expected, the governments of countries in the Global North are better placed to take advantage of these gains than those in the Global South. There is a risk, therefore, that countries in the Global South could be left behind by the so-called fourth industrial revolution. Not only will they not reap the potential benefits of AI, but there is also the danger that unequal implementation widens global inequalities. AI has the power to transform the way that governments around the world deliver public services. In turn, this could greatly improve citizens' experiences of government. Governments are already implementing AI in their operations and service delivery, to improve efficiency, save time and money, and deliver better quality public services. In 2017, Oxford Insights created the world's first Government AI Readiness Index, to answer the question: how well placed are national governments to take advantage of the benefits of AI in their operations and delivery of public services? The results sought to capture the current capacity of governments to exploit the innovative potential of AI. The 2019 Government AI Readiness Index, produced with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), sees a development of our methodology, and an expansion of scope to cover all UN countries (from our previous group of OECD members). It scores the governments of 194 countries and territories according to their preparedness to use AI in the delivery of public services. The overall score is comprised of 11 input metrics, grouped under four high-level clusters: governance; infrastructure and data; skills and education; and government and public services. The data is derived from a variety of resources, ranging from our own desk research into AI strategies, to databases such as the number of registered AI startups on Crunchbase, to indices such as the UN eGovernment Development Index. We divided the countries by region, principally following UN groupings, with the chief exception of the Western European and Others Group, which we separated to allow more in-depth analysis of higher scoring governments.

CANBERRA – An Australian government minister on Wednesday expressed concern for three Australians arrested in Iran on suspicion of spying and separated their plight from a tense standoff in the Middle East over the weekend attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham was responding after Iran on Tuesday acknowledged for the first time that it is holding three Australian citizens, including two British dual nationals, on suspicion of espionage. "The government continues to seek information and clarity around these matters," Birmingham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. "We are concerned for the welfare of these individuals and work to make sure their treatment is as fair as possible." Iran confirmed the arrests of Melbourne University Middle East expert Kylie Moore-Gilbert in October and travel blogging couple Mark Firkin and Jolie King in July as fallout continues from Saturday's fiery missile and drone attack on the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was headed to Jiddah in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss possible responses to what U.S. officials believe was an attack coming from Iranian soil.