Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt says the US is at risk of falling behind in the race to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence. Speaking at a tech summit organized by national security think tank CNAS, Schmidt predicted that America's lead in the field would continue "over the next five years" before China catches up "extremely quickly." "They are going to use this technology for both commercial and military objectives, with all sorts of implications," said Schmidt, referencing a Chinese policy document by outlining the country's ambition to become the global leader in AI by 2030. Schmidt reiterated several familiar talking points in this debate: that the US is failing to invest in basic research, and that a restrictive immigration policy hobbles the country's ability to attract AI talent from overseas. "Some of the very best people are in countries that we won't let into America. Would you rather have them building AI somewhere else, or rather have them here?" said Schmidt.

In the hope of finding life on Mars during its 2020 mission, Nasa has revealed that its new rover will have 23 cameras. The cameras, which Nasa refers to as'eyes', will be used to create sweeping panoramas, reveal obstacles, study the atmosphere and assist science instruments during the mission. Nasa hopes its multi-eyed rover will also help to capture the first images of a parachute as it opens on another planet. In the hopes of findings life on Mars during its 2020 mission, Nasa has revealed that its new rover will have 23 cameras (artist's impression pictured) The Mars 2020 mission is part of Nasa's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet. Nasa hopes the mission will help to answer key questions about the potential for life on Mars.

Thomas Insel left Verily, a health-science spin-off formed by Google's parent company, to co-found a start-up called Mindstrong Health this year. In early 2015, I testified with several other National Institutes of Health (NIH) directors at an annual hearing held by the US Senate. It was my 13th and final year as director of the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Maryland. What struck me most was how the harsh fiscal reality tempered the passionate bipartisan support for the NIH. As one senator noted, with a federal deficit of nearly US$500 billion, there was little hope of any significant increase in funding. Six months after that hearing, I left the NIH for Silicon Valley, first working at Verily in South San Francisco, California, a health-science spin-off formed by Google's parent company Alphabet.

Collaboration and teamwork were a consistent theme at the Colorado Digital Government Summit with city and county officials providing uses cases that emphasized partnerships crucial to maximizing value from shared services, while standing up new solutions and embarking on new development techniques. The consolidated city-county of Denver migrated to shared services about 12 years ago, a journey that's nearly complete, said Scott Cardenas, Denver CIO, following his opening remarks to more than 200 at the event on Wednesday, Oct. 25. Having previously collaborated on apps like Ballot TRACE, their award-winning ballot tracking solution, Denver's IT and elections officials were primed to work together again during the 2016 election cycle.Together, they were able to establish a temporary election security operations center with real-time dynamics and audio and visual connections to watch for bad actors. The agency saw activity, but didn't experience a significant incident or breach during the election, according to Cardenas, a result that proved the project's worth and attracted nationwide notice. Denver is currently a finalist for project of the year at the Colorado Technology Association's 17th annual Apex Awards on Nov. 8 as a result of its elections collaboration.

Artificial intelligence is not a new concept for the people. Machine learning and robots were infused into our lives years ago but the hype of artificial intelligence today, is extra-ordinary. Whether it is an upcoming AI technology or a new perspective of it's on the society. It is still obscure that what will be the potential impacts of these technologies on different platforms in which organizational implementation of AI is most highlighted. People are still confused on the idea especially when it comes to the recruitment of these machineries.

Mountari said the team of 12 U.S. Special Forces soldiers and 30 Nigerian troops had been "right up to the Mali border and had neutralized some bandits" just before the ambush took place. He declined to give further details. The U.S. military has been adamant that the Oct. 3-4 mission was not intended to involve contact with enemy forces. Mountari said: "They (U.S.-Nigerien contingent) came back to Niger, they greeted the population, they gathered intelligence and it was inside the country, when they didn't expect anything, that the attack happened."

An architect hoping to rebuild war-torn Mosul, Iraq, has proposed a series of stunning 3D-printed bridges that would transform city using its own building debris into construction materials. Architect Vincent Callebaut is the brainchild behind'The 5 Farming Bridges', which features 3D-printed housing units in the form of articulated spiders over the Tigris River. Five 3D printers could construct 30 houses per day, or nearly 55,000 housing units in five years spread over the five bridges. The concept was a winning project of the Rifat Chadirji Prize Competition, 'Rebuilding Iraq's Liberated Areas: Mosul's Housing'. Architect Vincent Callebaut is the brainchild behind'The 5 Farming Bridges', which features 3D-printed housing units in the form of articulated spiders over the Tigris River in Mosul, Iraq The concept was a winning project of the Rifat Chadirji Prize Competition, 'Rebuilding Iraq's Liberated Areas: Mosul's Housing' Mosul, Iraq's second city, was retaken from IS in July after a massive months-long offensive.

The emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI) risks provoking a public backlash as it increasingly falls into private hands, threatens people's jobs, and operates without effective oversight or regulatory control, leading experts in the technology warn. At the start of a new Guardian series on AI, experts in the field highlight the huge potential for the technology, which is already speeding up scientific and medical research, making cities run more smoothly, and making businesses more efficient. But for all the promise of an AI revolution, there are mounting social, ethical and political concerns about the technology being developed without sufficient oversight from regulators, legislators and governments. The report found that AI had the potential to add £630bn to the economy by 2035. But to reap the rewards, the technology must benefit society, she said.

Earlier this year, 116 technology luminaries signed an open letter (PDF) imploring the United Nations to ban "lethal autonomous weapons systems," warning that they would "permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever." According to the Independent, it "marks the first time that artificial intelligence (AI) experts and robotics companies have taken a joint stance on the issue." Not all observers are as concerned; Andrew Ng, up until recently Baidu's chief scientist, concludes that "worrying about killer robots is like worrying about overpopulation on Mars--we'll have plenty of time to figure it out." In the early years of the 21st century, few topics have generated more intense interest, or elicited more spirited debate, than AI, beginning with the very understanding of the term: one observer quipped this March that "there are about as many definitions of AI as researchers developing the technology." Robbie Whiting, a founder of the brand consulting firm Junior, contends that "AI is not a buzzword, and it is going to change the world."

My previous post on the House and Senate automated driving bills (HB 3388 and SB 1885) concluded by noting that, in addition to the federal government, states and the municipalities within them also play an important role in regulating road safety.These numerous functions involve, among others, designing and maintaining roads, setting and enforcing traffic laws, licensing and punishing drivers, registering and inspecting vehicles, requiring and regulating automotive insurance, and enabling victims to recover from the drivers or manufacturers responsible for their injuries. The House bill contains modest preemption language and a savings clause that admirably tries to clarify the line between federal and state roles. The Senate bill, in contrast, currently contains a breathtakingly broad preemption provision that was proposed in committee markup by, curiously, a Democratic senator. First, a single text of the bill is not available online; only the original text plus the marked-up texts for the Senate Commerce Committee's amendments to that original have been posted. Second, whereas HB 3388 has passed the full House, SB 1885 is still making its way through the Senate.)