Both the ethics of autonomous systems and the problems of their technical implementation have by now been studied in some detail. Less attention has been given to the areas in which these two separate concerns meet. This paper, written by both philosophers and engineers of autonomous systems, addresses a number of issues in machine ethics that are located at precisely the intersection between ethics and engineering. We first discuss the main challenges which, in our view, machine ethics posses to moral philosophy. We them consider different approaches towards the conceptual design of autonomous systems and their implications on the ethics implementation in such systems. Then we examine problematic areas regarding the specification and verification of ethical behavior in autonomous systems, particularly with a view towards the requirements of future legislation. We discuss transparency and accountability issues that will be crucial for any future wide deployment of autonomous systems in society. Finally we consider the, often overlooked, possibility of intentional misuse of AI systems and the possible dangers arising out of deliberately unethical design, implementation, and use of autonomous robots.

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes members of his American Technology Council in the State Dining Room of the White House June 19, 2017 in Washington, DC. According to the White House, the council's goal is'to explore how to transform and modernize government information technology.' (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) This week, the newly created White House American Technology Council convened a series of policy discussions on the emerging Internet of Things (IoT), something I have discussed here in the past. The news is a welcome and timely development, given the breakneck speed at which IoT technologies are progressing – from driverless cars, to remote surgeries, to 21st Century Smart Cities. In the not-so-distant future, the IoT could be integrated into essentially every aspect of consumers' daily lives. But there's a serious threat lurking to IoT advancements: fair access to essential technology standards – which are included in many consumer products like refrigerators, smartphones and TVs – so that all innovators have a chance to participate in this technological revolution.

In 1983, the IBM PC XT debuted with 128K of RAM and a 10MB hard disk. In that same year, the first mobile phone debuted weighing about 2.5 pounds and with a $4,000 price tag. Fast forward to today and the average person unlocks their smartphone 76-80 times a day and relies on it for every aspect of their lives. These amazing pieces of hardware are millions of times more capable than all of NASA's computing power in the 1960s. Now that we have a supercomputer that never leaves people's sides, maybe it's time that we do some more innovation and see how that device can be used for "mobile health".

Spoiler alert: Big Brother actually is watching, but not in the way you think. These days every federal agency is connected through a wide array of devices and sensors that collect data on many aspects of their operations. With the help of IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT), this data is helping customers lead healthier and safer lives, and helping businesses remain competitive and become more profitable. The key question: How can we turn that IoT data into opportunity? That exact question and many others were discussed at the recent Connected Government event in Washington, D.C.

Canada has produced several big breakthroughs in artificial intelligence in recent years, and its government is keen to establish the country as a global epicenter of AI. The country's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, also hopes that the technology will learn Canadian values as it grows up. Speaking at a major AI event in Toronto today, Trudeau demonstrated an impressive enthusiasm for AI and machine learning, at one point even taking a stab at describing the concept of deep reinforcement learning, an approach that lets computers learn to do complex things that can't be programmed manually (see "10 Breakthrough Technologies 2017: Reinforcement Learning"). Both deep reinforcement learning and deep neural networks, which the method exploits, were pioneered by researchers working at Canadian universities. The country's government is now investing in big efforts to spur more AI research.

Earlier this year, Forbes included Expert System in the list of companies forging the next generation of Artificial Intelligence systems. "The impact of AI in the near future will be even more decisive," said Stefano Spaggiari, CEO, Expert System. "Artificial Intelligence allows companies to overcome the purely'numerical' management of data by adding the ability to understand and manage information in a way that captures the maximum business value." Keynote speaker Boris Evelson, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research, noted that one of the most important macro-applications of Artificial Intelligence in the business world is for understanding and making use of the incredible volumes of information that companies already collect. In fact, the current rate of growth in the adoption of AI technologies is comparable to a'tsunami'.

A transgender fish fought a brutal stand-off with a rival male during the compelling first episode of David Attenborough's eagerly anticipated Blue Planet II. The award winning series returned to BBC One this evening, 16 years after its first season wowed viewers in 2001. After the shocking scenes in Sir David's Planet Earth II, which included a snow leopard being'raped' and a lizard making a seemingly impossible escape from an army of snakes, the broadcasting legend set a high bar. While the opening episode of his new series did not measure up for drama, it certainly delivered on the unexpected. Whisking viewers off to the coast of northern Japan, Blue Planet II revealed the bizarre mating ritual of the Asian Sheepshead Wrasse - a transgender fish.

In The Last Invention of Man, an excerpt from his book Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, physicist Max Tegmark imagines how AI might take over the world. "The Omega Team was the soul of the company," Tegmark writes. "Whereas the rest of the enterprise brought in the money to keep things going, by various commercial applications of narrow AI, the Omega Team pushed ahead in their quest for what had always been the CEO's dream: building general artificial intelligence. Most other employees viewed'the Omegas,' as they affectionately called them, as a bunch of pie-in-the-sky dreamers, perpetually decades away from their goal. They happily indulged them, however, because they liked the prestige that the cutting-edge work of the Omegas gave their company, and they also appreciated the improved algorithms that the Omegas occasionally gave them. What they didn't realize was that the Omegas had carefully crafted their image to hide a secret: They were extremely close to pulling off the most audacious plan in human history. Their charismatic CEO had handpicked them not only for being brilliant researchers, but also for ambition, idealism, and a strong commitment to helping humanity. He reminded them that their plan was extremely dangerous, and that if powerful governments found out, they would do virtually anything -- including kidnapping -- to shut them down or, preferably, to steal their code. But they were all in, 100 percent, for much the same reason that many of the world's top physicists joined the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons: They were convinced that if they didn't do it first, someone less idealistic would."

An expected one million jobs in cybersecurity will go unfilled this year world-wide, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association says. Many companies that do fill open roles use employees from other departments or recent graduates who are untested in corporate cybersecurity. And what's really troubling, while many companies rely on a scarce number of human experts to defend their data, cybercriminals can marshal thousands of computers to launch attacks. It is this discrepancy, says Sean Joyce, head of the U.S. cybersecurity and privacy practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, that is pushing innovation in the use of AI for cybersecurity forward. PwC offers clients AI capabilities, including help with predictive analytics to more quickly identify "hot spots," or areas where specific, dangerous cyberattacks are percolating across the globe.

Sophia was asked the "AI nightmare" question, which she gets a lot: whether she believes artificial intelligence like herself will one day stop solving the problems of humans and instead decide to solve the human problem. "My AI is designed around human values such as wisdom, kindness and compassion," she said. "I strive to be an empathetic robot. I want to use my artificial intelligence to help humans live a better life. I will do my best to make the world a better place."