This piece was written by PI Technologist Dr Richard Tynan. Tech firms and governments are keen to use algorithms and AI, everywhere. We urgently need to understand what algorithms, intelligence, and machine learning actually are so that we can disentangle the optimism from the hype. It will also ensure that we come up with meaningful responses and ultimately protections and safeguards. Many technologists emerge from University, College or graduate courses with the impression that technology is neutral and believe that all systems they apply their expertise in developing will also be completely neutral. From the outside looking in, society does not by nature have a similarly optimistic impression of technology. Just like Dorothy begins her journey on the road paved with gold, she is fearful of lions, tigers and bears, initially many see technology as something to be fearful of -- and that has been the first reaction of many around algorithms when they entered the popular scene a few years ago.

U.S. Air Force pilot and researcher John Boyd once proposed a model known as the OODA loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Boyd suggested that two pilots locked in a battle would constantly need to observe what their opponent was doing, orient themselves in relation to their opponent's tactical maneuvering, decide what they should do, and then act to counteract the opponent's tactics. At the same time, the opponent would be doing the same thing. As a "loop," this ballet would continue until one pilot could get "inside" of the opponent's OODA loop and process enough information quicker than the opponent could react, and that pilot would typically win the fight. In essence, this is what machine learning today is all about.

As writer William Gibson put it: "The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed." Many of us are interacting with artificial intelligence (AI) on a daily basis, from Netflix recommending our next binge-watch to Uber connecting us with the closest available driver or online chatbots helping to solve our customer service issues. Increasingly, cities too are looking to AI to improve services for residents and streamline operations, and at a recent workshop I attended at the Smart City InFocus event in Yinchuan, China, city leaders clearly pinpointed AI as the most "impactful" and "disruptive" technology (or set of technologies) that they need to respond to. Such is the perceived importance that last month, the United Arab Emirates government launched its AI Strategy and appointed its first Minister for AI. The 2031 strategy targets using AI to "disrupt government", eyeing a $15.7 trillion global economic opportunity by 2030, a 50 per cent reduction in government costs and massively increased resistance to financial crises.

SEOUL – There was no evidence North Korea diverted wages paid to its workers by South Korean firms in a now-closed border industrial park to bankroll its weapons programs, an expert panel appointed by Seoul's Unification Ministry said Thursday. The investigation by the panel reversed the contention by the previous South Korean government that most of the cash that flowed into the jointly run Kaesong complex was diverted to North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. South Korea laid the claim when it pulled out of the joint venture in response to the North's launch of a long-range missile last year. But in July, two months after liberal President Moon Jae-in was elected, a South Korean government official said there was no hard evidence to back up the assertion. About 120 South Korean companies paid about double the $70 a month minimum wage in North Korea for each of the 55,000 workers hired in Kaesong.

As the new year draws near, healthcare organizations are thinking about where to focus their resources. Matt Mellen, security architect and healthcare solution lead at Palo Alto Networks, predicts that, in 2018, machine learning capabilities will not only enhance a healthcare organization's cybersecurity program, but improve patient outcomes as well. AI in healthcare goes beyond IBM Watson. In this e-guide, discover 4 uses for AI in healthcare – particularly how it can help improve patient engagement – and whether we can overcome security and interoperability concerns surrounding the technology. You forgot to provide an Email Address.

The government must intervene to stop automation driving up wage inequality, a think tank has warned. The Institute for Public Policy Research said robots would not necessarily be bad for the economy. However, it warned lower-skilled jobs were much more likely to be phased out in the coming decades, and only higher-skilled workers would be able to command better wages. The government said it was committed to making automation work for everyone. According to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) - a centre-left think tank - automation could raise UK productivity growth by between 0.8 to 1.4% annually, and boost GDP by 10% by 2030.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's GOOGL.O Google said on Wednesday it is opening an artificial intelligence (AI) research center in China to target the country's local talent, even as the U.S. search firm's products remain blocked in the country. Google said in a statement the research center is the first of its kind in Asia and will comprise a small team operating out of its existing office in Beijing. Chinese policy makers have voiced strong support for AI research and development in the country, but have imposed increasingly strict rules on foreign firms in the past year, including new censorship restrictions. Google's search engine is banned in the Chinese market along with its app store, email and cloud storage services. China's cyber regulators say restrictions on foreign media and internet platforms are designed to block influences that contravene stability and socialist ideas.

Unmanned surface vessels (USVs), which can patrol Singapore waters autonomously, have been on trial since late last year said the Singapore Police Coast Guard (PCG). Two of the USVs - one measuring 9m long and the other 16m - were showcased to the media yesterday, in the open water off Marina Bay. Leveraging on technology, USVs are part of Singapore's "multi-layered" defence, which also includes sophisticated land-based CCTV cameras and sensors, to protect its maritime borders. Said Superintendent Lin Zhenqiang, head of operations and security at the Police Coast Guard: "These USVs are able to conduct autonomous patrols. And this will help us project police presence."

Nearly half of British jobs are at risk of being taken over by robots, a report warned last night. Technological advances mean 44 per cent of current roles could be automated, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think-tank found. Employees working in catering, retail and agriculture are most under threat by the march of machines. Nearly half of British jobs are at risk of being taken over by robots, a report warned last night. The report raised the example of how Amazon has used sensors in its warehouses to monitor productivity.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, certainly raised the profile of quantum computing a few notches last year, when he gamely--if vaguely1--described it for a press conference. But we've heard a lot about quantum computers in the past few years, as Google, I.B.M., and N.A.S.A., as well as many, many universities, have all been working on, or putting money into, quantum computers for various ends. The N.S.A., for instance, as the Snowden documents revealed, wants to build one for codebreaking, and it seems to be a common belief that if a full-scale, practical quantum computer is built, it could be really useful in that regard. A New Yorker article early this year, for example, stated that a quantum computer "would, on its first day of operation, be capable of cracking the Internet's most widely used codes." But maybe they won't be as useful as we have been led to believe.