Alexa may soon be able to act as an in-house doctor for poorly or upset users. A patent that was filed by Amazon reveals that Alexa will automatically detect unusual changes in a person's voice and speaking patterns. The AI-powered smart speaker will also pick up on auditory clues like coughs and moans then offer suggestions to held aid a speedy recovery. These could include suggesting you eat a bowl of chicken soup as well as offering to deliver cough tablets, tissues and play you soothing music. Amazon has successfully obtained a patent which would allow Alexa to detect unusual changes in a person's voice caused by illness or crying.

Dozens of employers looking to hire the next generation of tech employees descended on the University of California, Berkeley in September to meet students at an electrical engineering and computer science career fair. Boris Yue, 20, was one of thousands of student attendees, threading his way among fellow job-seekers to meet recruiters. But Yue wasn't worried about so much potential competition. While the job outlook for those with computer skills is generally good, Yue is in an even more rarified category: he is studying artificial intelligence, working on technology that teaches machines to learn and think in ways that mimic human cognition. His choice of specialty makes it unlikely he will have difficulty finding work.

The multilateral system urgently needs to help build a new social contract to ensure that technological innovation, in particular artificial intelligence (AI), is deployed safely and aligned with the ethical needs of a globalizing world. Swarms of bots, Facebook dark posts and fake news websites have claimed online territory, with significant repercussions globally. Just consider a few recent events: in the 2016 US presidential elections, Russia empowered one candidate over another through a massive campaign that included paid ads, fake social media accounts and polarizing content. In China, tech giants Alibaba and Tencent have deployed millions of cameras equipped with facial recognition to commodify continuous streams of intimate data about citizens. In Myanmar, a UN report confirmed that Facebook posts have fuelled virulent hate speech directed at Rohingya Muslims.

The world of financial services has reached a point of no return along the road of digital transformation. A combination of several factors is driving this shift: the rise of big data, consumers' demands for convenient and affordable financial services, and the proliferation of mobile technology are all responsible. Financial services companies must adopt automated, data-drive solutions to successfully compete against new, technology-based entrants. Although the rules surrounding developing fintech are still under construction, its potential to improve operational efficiency, safeguard investments, and fortify cybersecurity, is uncapped. At this point in the game, technology adoption is mandatory for financial institutions.

The latest advancements in DDoS attacks have been unnervingly quick, also scarily effective. It appears to be each time mitigating efforts conform to another attack type or advancement, something different comes along that overturns what cybersecurity experts think they know and have prepared for. Once in a while, however, the rumblings and rumors about another cybersecurity threat get somewhat exaggerated. That would seem, by all accounts, to be the situation right now as alerts about Artificial Intelligence being implemented in DDoS attacks are starting to develop. Artificial Intelligence in DDoS is unquestionably going to be an issue, however, is it one you should be worried about right now?

It's the chilling plot line to every science fiction movie about robots in the future: Once they start thinking for themselves, humanity is doomed. Think of the HAL 9000 in "2001: A Space Odyssey," or the replicants in "Blade Runner," or the hosts in "Westworld." These days the Pentagon is doing a lot of thinking about the nascent scientific field of artificial intelligence, also known as "machine learning," developing computer algorithms that will allow cars to drive themselves, robots to perform surgery, and even weapons to kill autonomously. The race to master artificial intelligence is the No. 1 priority of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the tiny organization with just over 200 workers that was instrumental in developing stealth technology, high precision weapons, and the Internet. "In reality, over about the last 50 years, DARPA and its research partners have led the way to establishing the field of artificial intelligence. We are not new to this game," said DARPA Director Steven Walker at the agency's 60th anniversary symposium in September.

One of the most brilliant minds to have graced the planet, Stephen Hawking, throughout his life, was curiously sceptical of artificial intelligence (AI), the flavour of the moment in technology. Stephen Hawking never doubted AI's prowess; in fact, to the contrary, he believed it would surpass human intelligence and, thus, machines could one day seize control from humans. In his last book, Brief Answers to Big Questions, the scientist predicts that machine-learning will lead to a super-intelligent AI and "a super-intelligent AI will be extremely good at accomplishing its goals, and if those goals aren't aligned with ours we're in trouble". Comparing the human race to an anthill in a region that will soon get flooded, the late physicist also predicted that the Earth will be destroyed, either due to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the ensuing warfare or a human-made environmental disaster. However, there will be certain humans who will manage to evade these catastrophes.

Delivery drones are real and they're operating on a national level, but they're not dropping off impulse purchases, and some of the most important applications are not in the United States. Zipline, a Bay Area startup, inked a deal with the government of Rwanda in 2016 and now uses small, autonomous planes to deliver medical supplies, and in particular blood, to rural communities across the African country. "It's a pretty cool paradigm shift for people who think all technological revolution is going on in US, and it'll trickle down to poor countries," says Zipline CEO, Keller Rinaudo, presenting his vision for drone deliveries on stage at the WIRED25 summit in San Francisco on Monday. "This is the opposite of that." Amazon created an internet-wide buzz when it announced it wanted to start delivering online shopping via drone, in a 60 Minutes interview in 2013.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said China has persecuted minorities on a massive scale. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused China of persecuting religious and ethnic minorities on a massive scale Monday in her first public remarks since announcing she would leave office last week. "It is the largest internment of civilians in the world today," Haley said in keynote remarks at the Chiefs of Defense Conference Dinner in Washington. "It may be the largest since World War II." The former South Carolina governor was particularly critical of Beijing's crackdown on Uighur and other Muslim minorities in China's northwest, which she described as being "straight out of George Orwell."

Graphs Future Agenda First published September 2018 by: Future Agenda Limited 84 Brook Street London W1K 5EH www.futureagenda.org