The societal effects of artificial intelligence (AI) are already being felt everyday by Americans -- from the availability of level-three autonomous automobiles to commercial self-adjusting lighting, heating and air-conditioning systems, to Amazon "learning" what your reading preferences are and suggesting books of interest. These are helpful, if sometimes annoying, conveniences of 21st-century life. However, AI, the algorithmic codes that are capable of learning and acting based on observed patterns in data sets, possesses a "darker" side. For example, in a March 2017 report ("The Future of Jobs and Job Training"), Pew Research Center analysts made the following observations on the negative effects of AI: "Automation, robotics, algorithms and artificial intelligence in recent times have shown they can do equal or sometimes even better work than humans who are dermatologists, insurance claims adjusters, lawyers, seismic testers in oil fields, sports journalists and financial reporters, crew members on guided-missile destroyers, hiring managers, psychological testers, retail salespeople, and border patrol agents. "Moreover, there is growing anxiety that technology developments on the near horizon will crush the jobs of the millions who drive cars and trucks, analyze medical tests and data, perform middle management chores, dispense medicine, trade stocks and evaluate markets, fight on battlefields, perform government functions, and even replace those who program software – that is, the creators of algorithms."

Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy that worked for the Trump campaign and had come under attack for its use of personal Facebook data in other elections, announced on Wednesday it would cease operations and declare bankruptcy in the United States and United Kingdom. The firm said it had lost clients because of revelations in March that it had improperly obtained the personal information of millions of Facebook users. "It is no longer viable to continue operating the business," Cambridge Analytica said in a statement. Cambridge Analytica defended its use of Facebook, saying it was "vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas." The decision by the firm comes as it continues to face potential investigations and sanctions from regulators around the world for charges.

Here's how a data firm helped Donald Trump get elected as president. Cambridge Analytica's chief executive officer Alexander Nix gives an interview during the 2017 Web Summit in Lisbon on November 9, 2017. Cambridge Analytica, the political ad marketing firm that worked for President Trump and was involved in the misappropriation of 87 million Facebook users' data is closing its offices. The specialist in political predictions announced that bankruptcy proceedings will begin in the U.S., as well as insolvency proceedings in the U.K, where the firm has an office and where its parent company The SCL Group is based. "Over the past several months, Cambridge Analytica has been the subject of numerous unfounded accusations and, despite the Company's efforts to correct the record, has been vilified for activities that are not only legal, but also widely accepted as a standard component of online advertising in both the political and commercial arenas," the company said in a statement Wednesday.

The University of Cambridge is set to receive a new AI supercomputer as part of a £10 million partnership between the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). The system, which is supported by Cambridge's Research Computing Service, aims to help companies to create real business value from the use of advanced computing infrastructure. The supercomputer is part of the UK government's AI Sector Deal, which involves more than 50 leading technology companies and organisations. The deal is worth almost £1 billion, including around £300 million of private sector investment in AI. 'AI research requires supercomputing capacity capable of processing huge amounts of data at very high speeds, said Dr Paul Calleja, Director of the University's Research Computing Service. 'Cambridge's supercomputer provides researchers with the fast and affordable supercomputing power they need for AI work.' UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Matt Hancock stated: 'The UK must be at the forefront of emerging technologies, pushing boundaries and harnessing innovation to change people's lives for the better.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZimGo Polling, BPU International's new SaaS election analytics product, is now available just in time for the 2018 U.S. campaign season. This is the first election analytics AI cloud-computing tool utilizing the hyper-accurate, patent-pending Artificial Emotional Intelligence (AEI) ZimGo engine. ZimGo Polling promises to reduce the growing "margin of error" rampant among legacy polling services, along with lowering human bias common to past survey methods. "In today's connected world, data analytics must get smarter and faster to serve the real-time demands of election campaigning," states Oh, Sanggyoon, CEO for BPU Holdings, creator of ZimGo. "Next generation artificial intelligence must assess human emotional sentiment. ZimGo Polling gains insights into how people feel about issues, thereby enabling a virtual 24/7 town hall meeting with citizens."

This call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Verisk's Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Lee Shavel. Mr. Shavel, please go ahead. We appreciate you joining us today for a discussion of our first quarter of 2018 financial results. With me on the call this morning are Scott Stephenson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Mark Anquillare, Chief Operating Officer. Following comments by Scott, Mark and myself, highlighting some key points about our financial performance, we will open the call for your questions. The earnings release referenced on this call as well as the associated 10-Q can be found in the Investors section of our website, verisk.com. The earnings release has also been attached to an 8-K that we have furnished to the SEC. We also filed an 8-K on April 26, 2018, with a description of our business segment recasting. A replay of this call will be available for 30 days on our website and by dial-in. Finally, as set forth in more detail in today's earnings release, I will remind everyone that today's call may include forward-looking statements about Verisk's future performance. Actual performance could differ materially from what is suggested by our comments today. Information about the factors that could affect future performance is contained in our recent SEC filings. Now, I will turn the call over to Scott Stephenson. The first quarter was another example of our team achieving a high level of organic revenue growth, which remains the most important measure of our vitality as an organization. This growth was a product of our traditional multilevel growth plan including, first, the development of new customers for existing solutions, such as was seen in our claims analytics platform; secondly, the cross-selling of our existing solutions to existing customers as seen in our imagery solutions and upstream oil and gas analytics; and thirdly, new products including insurance data hosting. Over the last 90 days, I was particularly impressed by the quality of our engagement with many large leading customers resulting in real-time business wins and opportunities into the future. We continue to enjoy visits from the most senior leaders at some of our biggest customers who are looking to get closer to our pipeline of innovations. We held the largest gathering in our history for customers of our catastrophe analytics solutions and we're impressed again with the level of engagement and input from our clients.

A robotic geologist is being sent to Mars to dig deeper than ever before and perform a full'medical' of its vital signs. The Mars InSight spacecraft will take the planet's temperature and as well as its pulse - making the first measurements of'marsquakes' that shake its surface. The probe will also check the celestial body's reflexes, with experts tracking the rotation of Mars on its axis to better understand the size and make-up of its core. The billion dollar (£734 million) joint US and European mission, which launches this weekend, is the first dedicated to studying the innards of the red planet. By probing Mars' insides, drilling 16ft (five metres) into it's surface, scientists hope to better understand how rocky planets formed 4.5 billion years ago.

The United States and China currently dominate the world of artificial intelligence, but used very different approaches to get there. While the US's academic system has generated and incubated the research that made today's AI possible, China's government has pledged billions in funding and offered the technology its full-throated support. It's a space-race redux, where world superpowers battle to define generations of technology to come. Despite the duopoly narrative, other countries, including Canada and the UK, have ramped investment in the technology, announcing deals to fund private and public AI ventures. After years of a slow trickle, the first months of 2018 have seen an explosion of government-backed projects announced all over the world.

The United States and China currently dominate the world of artificial intelligence, but used very different approaches to get there. While the US's academic system has generated and incubated the research that made today's AI possible, China's government has pledged billions in funding and offered the technology its full-throated support. It's a space-race redux, where world superpowers battle to define generations of technology to come. Despite the duopoly narrative, other countries, including Canada and the UK, have ramped investment in the technology, announcing deals to fund private and public AI ventures. After years of a slow trickle, the first months of 2018 have seen an explosion of government-backed projects announced all over the world.

May 2, 2018 Cape Canaveral, Fla.--Six years after last landing on Mars, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is sending a robotic geologist to dig deeper than ever before to take the planet's temperature. The Mars InSight spacecraft, set to launch this weekend, will also take the planet's pulse by making the first measurements of "marsquakes." And to check its reflexes, scientists will track the wobbly rotation of Mars on its axis to better understand the size and makeup of its core. The lander's instruments will allow scientists "to stare down deep into the planet," said the mission's chief scientist, Bruce Banerdt of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Beauty's not just skin deep here," he said.