Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new black in Singapore, with the city-state forging ahead to seal its status as an AI hub in the region. Just last year, a national AI programme was unveiled by the National Research Foundation (NRF) to "grow the knowledge, create the tools and develop the talent to power Singapore's AI efforts" [1]. In addition, the NRF has also announced plans to pump in US$107 million for the project over the next five years. A recent research from Accenture found that AI could nearly double Singapore's annual economic growth rates by 2035[2]. The plans by the government are hence unsurprising as AI is deemed the next generation technology that will power Singapore's growth. However, Singapore is not the only nation putting an emphasis on AI.

Anyone who says that robots are not crippling the future of retail checkout employment is wrong. The only humans needed at the checkout lines at thousands of large retail locations are those to help customers who have not learned how to use automated machines. Eventually, it may be that robots can take the place of these employees who aid customers. No matter how the figures are totaled, tens of thousands of jobs are at risk, and almost all of those are among workers who make above minimum wage, but not by much. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most cashiers make between $19,000 and $25,000 a year.

If you had to make a list of the major things that business leaders in nearly every industry are concerned about on a daily basis, tax preparation would undoubtedly be right at the top. It's a major source of concern – whether they're worried about the effects of tax reform, the consequences of making a mistake or the sheer volume of time and effort involved in preparation to begin with, it's something that many cite as one of the biggest challenges of running a business, year after year. But what if there was a way to streamline the tax preparation process? If there was a solution that not only allowed you to automate a lot of the administrative side of tax preparation, but also reduce the possibility of human error and extract relevant information from W2s and other documents in real-time, that would be a solution worth investigating, right? The good news is that this solution already exists: it's called OCR and if your business isn't already using it to help manage your tax documents, there are a number of compelling reasons as to why now would be an excellent time to start.

Blockchain, artificial intelligence and IoT are the future, but are companies ready for the legal issues relating to the new model of business? The Internet of Things obliges companies to change their models of business since one-off contractual relationships where they were selling a product are replaced by long term relationships for the provision of services with continous exchanges of data, potential liabilities and contractual issues. This is enhanced by artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies which increase the potential benefits, but at the same time also with higher reliance on the proper functioning of technologies. The shift that is happening in any business can be quite well represented in the image below of a "pizza as a service". Even the more traditional businesses might turn into a service if for instance, products are no longer purchased as part of specific order, but on the basis of a monthly fee which is calculated on the needs of the purchaser through sensors that collect information on the actual consumption of each product.

Unsurprisingly, it has been China – not Europe – that has proposed, with little success, forming a common front against Donald Trump's trade tantrums. Even Washington's bullying cannot awaken European policymakers from their slumber – or, as seems more likely, their moderately lubricated afternoon nap. Hardly a week passes without a new alarming announcement that Beijing has managed to outmanoeuvre Brussels in yet another domain. Last week brought three such developments. First, China Merchants Group, a state-owned company, joined forces with SPF Group and Centricus – asset managers based in Beijing and London respectively – to form a $15bn fund to compete with SoftBank's $100bn Vision Fund, launched to invest in the most promising technology firms worldwide.

SparkCognition has developed a technology that helps companies operate more efficiently by analyzing data through machine learning. Designed for companies in industries such as energy, defense, and finance, it helps make decisions about work flows, costs, and aids with administration and maintenance. Hailing from Austin, Texas, the company is gaining influence through partnerships with the likes of Google Cloud, IBM and National Instruments, and has raised $73.5 million in funding.

The race to become the global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) has officially begun. In the past fifteen months, Canada, Japan, Singapore, China, the UAE, Finland, Denmark, France, the UK, the EU Commission, South Korea, and India have all released strategies to promote the use and development of AI. No two strategies are alike, with each focusing on different aspects of AI policy: scientific research, talent development, skills and education, public and private sector adoption, ethics and inclusion, standards and regulations, and data and digital infrastructure. It also highlights relevant policies and initiatives that the countries have announced since the release of their initial strategies. I plan to continuously update this article as new strategies and initiatives are announced. If a country or policy is missing (or if something in the summary is incorrect), please leave a comment and I will update the article as soon as possible.

It's been a busy summer in the artificial intelligence (A.I.) space, but the most interesting A.I. opportunities might not be coming from the biggest names. You may have heard about Tesla's self-driving cars that made headlines twice, for vastly different reasons -- a fatal crash in Florida in which the driver was using the Autopilot software, and claims by a Missouri man that the feature drove him 20 miles to a hospital after he suffered a heart attack, saving his life. Or you might have heard of Apple spending $200 million to acquire machine learning and A.I. startup Turi. A smart drone defeated an experienced Air Force pilot in flight simulation tests. IBM's Watson diagnosed a 60-year-old woman's rare form of leukemia within 10 minutes, after doctors had been stumped for months.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented surge of investment into artificial intelligence (AI) research and applications. Within that, discussions about'ethics' are taking centre stage to offset some of the potentially negative impacts of AI on society. Mona Sloane writes that to achieve a sustainable shift towards such fields, we need a more holistic approach to the relationship between technology, data, and society. In June 2018, the Mayor of London released a new report that identifies London's'unique strengths as a global hub of Artificial Intelligence' and positions the capital as'The AI Growth Capital of Europe'. This plea coincides with the government's focus on'AI & Data Economy' as the first out of four'Grand Challenges' to put the UK'at the forefront of the industries of the future'.

Billionaire serial entrepreneur Richard Branson told the New York Times in June that a universal basic income is an appropriate response to income inequality. "A basic income should be introduced in Europe and in America," Branson told David Gelles of the Times. "It's a disgrace to see people sleeping on the streets with this material wealth all around them." In particular, Branson said the acceleration of machine intelligence is driving the need of cash payments. "I think with artificial intelligence coming along, there needs to be a basic income," said Branson.