Artificial intelligence and robotic process automation are emerging as the most promising technologies for state IT offices, according to new data revealed at a government technology and leadership conference in Indianapolis this week. Doug Robinson, the executive director for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, on Tuesday offered a preview of his organization's 2019 survey data, which shows that 65 percent of state CIOs believe AI and robotic process automation will be the "most impactful" emerging technologies for state government within the next three to five years. Robinson said it is an increase from 57 percent in 2018, with AI and robotics stealing interest away from other technologies such as the "internet of things," connected and autonomous vehicles and blockchain. State technology leaders see growing potential in the ability to automate many of their business processes, Robinson told the audience at the annual conference of the National Association of State Technology Directors. Indiana CIO Dewand Neely, who joined Robinson on stage, said he sees robotic process automation -- software tools that can automatically carry out tedious processes that could once only be done by humans, such as data entry -- as especially pertinent for the Indiana Office of Technology.

On Fox Nation's "Maria Bartiromo's Insiders", White House trade adviser Peter Navarro pointed the finger at the Federal Reserve amid concerns of a potential U.S. economic recession. "The problem here, the thing that worries me is that we've got a Federal Reserve playing checkers in a chess world," said Navarro. Despite signs of slowing U.S. job growth and global economic uncertainty, Navarro insists that the U.S. economy is "solid", and he blamed the U.S. central bank for failing to properly react to financial moves made by global actors. "In the world of central banking, the Federal Reserve has to pay very close attention to what the European Central Bank is doing and other central banks. If they lower, we have to lower otherwise we lose exports and we slow our growth," said Navarro, adding that the high cost of borrowing is damaging to the U.S. economy.

In its update to its National Artificial Intelligence Research And Development Strategic Plan, the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy has set new objectives for federal AI research. WHY IT MATTERS The strategic plan boils down to eight strategies for how government can better enable development of safe and effective AI and machine learning technologies for healthcare and other industries. The 50-page document takes special interest in ensuring that data used to power AI is trustworthy and that the algorithms used to process it are understandable – not least in healthcare. "A key research challenge is increasing the'explainability' or ''transparency' of AI," according to the report. "Many algorithms, including those based on deep learning, are opaque to users, with few existing mechanisms for explaining their results. This is especially problematic for domains such as healthcare, where doctors need explanations to justify a particular diagnosis or a course of treatment. AI techniques such as decision-tree induction provide built-in explanations but are generally less accurate. Thus, researchers must develop systems that are transparent, and intrinsically capable of explaining the reasons for their results to users."

Fox News Flash top headlines for Sept. 9 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com A Russian Soyuz capsule containing a humanoid robot returned safely to Earth Friday. In a blog post, NASA reported that the uncrewed Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft carrying the life-sized robot "is safely back on Earth," after parachuting to a landing in Kazakhstan at 5:32 p.m. EDT Friday. Russia's Roscosmos space agency sent the robot on a mission to the International Space Station on Aug. 22.

Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI) is a data and artificial intelligence-driven discovery services company that provides predictive models of tumor drug response to improve patient outcome. Predictive Oncology harnesses the power of artificial intelligence, collaborating with the pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotech industries to develop highly customizable assessment methods for patients, which can lead to much more effective treatments. Predictive Oncology leverages the synergies of its three wholly owned subsidiaries to bring precision medicine to the diagnosis of cancer. Helomics applies artificial intelligence to its rich data gathered from patient tumors to both personalize cancer therapies for patients and drive the development of new targeted therapies in collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. Helomic's CLIA-certified lab provides clinical testing that assists oncologists in individualizing patient treatment decisions, by providing an evidence-based roadmap for therapy.

The government will look to artificial intelligence (AI) to diagnose and treat long-term life-threatening conditions like cancer and Parkinson's with a financial package worth £133 million. Five Centres of Excellence, located in major cities across the UK, will use a £50 million fund to support existing work in digital pathology and imaging powered by AI. These facilities, which were established in November last year, can also partner with more NHS Trusts to design products based on the digital systems the centres are currently developing. The work predominantly involves improving the speed and accuracy of diagnostics as well as early intervention treatment. The centres themselves are based in Leeds, Oxford, Coventry, Glasgow and London.

Elon Musk is a headline-maker, for sure. Perhaps that means that some of the technological magic of SpaceX is lost in the media vacuum. It's 50 years since man first landed on the moon, a crowning achievement of our species technologically and one of the most culturally defining moments of a century. In 1969, NASA landed human beings on a satellite that hangs in the sky with processing power 1,300 times smaller than that of a Nokia 3310. What on Earth – or off of it, for that matter – could we be capable of in 2019?

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This opinion article was written by Rebecca Santos, OPSI Advisor with Kévin Kok Héang, OPSI Consultant. For more like this, see our digital government newsfeed. That eerily meticulous, methodical, and measured voice. For decades, HAL 9000, the sentient computer and antagonist extraordinaire in Stanley Kubrik's 2001: A Space Odyssey, or the gun-wielding, cyborg assassin the Terminator, have become pop culture's shorthand for Artificial Intelligence (AI), in all its potential and potential malfeasance. Perhaps because these kinds of depictions of AI are so dominant, this technology maintains an aura of intrigue.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) or machine learning is being used by military intelligence and at the high strategic level. The question is whether this technology will ever filter down to the soldier actually doing the fighting on the ground? Science fiction novels and movies suggest a system that can communicate with a warfighter in real time and provide situational awareness, but how far is the fiction from reality? "The most important weapon is situation awareness, and there are AI-based tools to help a lot with this," explained Jim Purtilo, associate professor of computer science at the University of Maryland. "Visualization, communication, simple planning, these all go together at squad level," Purtilo told ClearanceJobs. "Being able to leverage augmented reality to'see' where the bad guys are, this is very cool. Being able to aim your squad weapon at a target and in effect use it as a pointer to call in indirect fire, even cooler."