It was not long ago that Artificial Intelligence (AI) was only in the realm of science fiction. Today, it has become a reality and is only growing more prominent in many different industries every day. This includes the internet as AI in search engine technology has been around for a few years. The algorithms used to rank pages have been affected considerably by AI already and that trend will continue into the foreseeable future. Currently, Google's RankBrain, an AI process used help set search engine rankings, is having a major impact which is only expected to expand.

Sticky'space Velcro' grippers based on the adhesive feet of geckos have been developed by Nasa to clear up dangerous space junk in orbit. Around 500,000 pieces of human-made debris currently orbit our planet, made up of disused satellites, bits of spacecraft and spent rockets. They whip around Earth at up to 17,500 mph (28,000 kph) and experts predict that if the problem isn't fixed soon it could block future launches and post a threat to future'space tourists'. Now Nasa has developed a new way to fix the problem using a device with special adhesives that work in space. Sticky'space Velcro' grippers based on the adhesive feet of geckos have been developed by Nasa to clear up dangerous space junk in orbit.

Cardillo, the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, known by the acronym NGA, announced his push toward "automation" and Artificial Intelligence at a conference this week in San Antonio. The annual conference, hosted by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, brings together technologists, soldiers, and intelligence professionals to discuss national security threats, changes in technology, and data collection and processing. Artificial Intelligence is on the rise; former President Barack Obama's White House released a white paper on its potential future impacts in the final months of the administration. Police officers are using preliminary programs to predict the likelihood someone will commit a crime in a specific neighborhood based on crime statistics data. And companies like Amazon and Netflix use machine learning to calculate what movie you will want to watch or which book you may buy.Yet this sort of automation is also seen as a threat to workers, who fear being put out of jobs, particularly in the private sector.The fear that Artificial Intelligence will take over jobs, or fail catastrophically along the way, is palpable in the intelligence community as well, and Cardillo admitted that the workforce is "skeptical," if not "cynical" or "downright mad," about the prospect of automation intruding on their day-to-day lives, potentially replacing them.

It is impossible to accurately predict the jobs of the future, says Mark Scott, the secretary of the NSW Department of Education, but schools will need to prepare the next generations of students for a world that will be dominated by intelligent machines. "Children are now facing a more uncertain future than any child has faced since the Industrial Revolution," Mr Scott said. Mr Scott this week gave a speech to the Trans-Tasman Business Circle where he outlined publicly for the first time his vision for education of the future. It was the springboard for the launch of work being done within the department to prepare students for a fast-changing world. The department is commissioning research and papers from the world's leading experts and educators in the areas of artificial intelligence and education systems of the future.

The group has taken advantage of a more than two-year-old civil war between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's Saudi-backed government to strengthen its position in the impoverished country.

Seven-year-old Chen Jiahao has a problem sum he can't solve and he can't wait to get home from school to pose the question to his all-knowing maths tutor. His tutor is amazing, the boy says. Just snap a photograph of the question and the tutor will provide every possible approach to solve the problem, step by step – all in a split second. It is, in fact, an app that draws on artificial intelligence (AI) technology to solve challenging maths problems for primary school children. And it's just one of many AI-enabled apps Jiahao uses daily on his mother's phone.

Drones have already become common, but with commercial ones being tested by the likes of Google and Amazon, the government will sooner or later have to step in and determine how they should be managed. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working on remote identification system for drones, which would ensure their safety. It held a meeting with stakeholders such as Amazon and Ford and the New York Police Department on June 21 and releases a press statement later. Currently drones weighing over half a pound need to have ID tags, but this identification system might not work well, as seeing the ID tags while the drone is mid-air is near impossible. "The Aviation Rulemaking Committee considered issues such as existing regulations applicable to drone identification and tracking, air traffic management for drones, concerns and authorities of local law enforcement, and potential legal considerations. The group developed some preliminary questions and identification parameters, and reviewed a sample of existing identification technologies."

LONDON (Reuters) - The world's leading drug companies are turning to artificial intelligence to improve the hit-and-miss business of finding new medicines, with GlaxoSmithKline unveiling a new $43 million deal in the field on Sunday. Other pharmaceutical giants including Merck & Co, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi are also exploring the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to help streamline the drug discovery process. The aim is to harness modern supercomputers and machine learning systems to predict how molecules will behave and how likely they are to make a useful drug, thereby saving time and money on unnecessary tests. AI systems already play a central role in other high-tech areas such as the development of driverless cars and facial recognition software. "Many large pharma companies are starting to realise the potential of this approach and how it can help improve efficiencies," said Andrew Hopkins, chief executive of privately owned Exscientia, which announced the new tie-up with GSK. Hopkins, who used to work at Pfizer, said Exscientia's AI system could deliver drug candidates in roughly one-quarter of the time and at one-quarter of the cost of traditional approaches.

The problem with regulating technology companies is that, faced with tough new rules, they can eventually innovate their way out, often by switching to newer, unregulated technologies. The risk of targeted regulation informed by little other than economic doctrines might even be fuelling a corporate quest for eternal disruption: instead of surrendering to the regulators, technology firms prefer to abandon their old business model. It's through this lens that we should interpret the likely fallout from the €2.4bn fine imposed on Alphabet, Google's parent company, by the European commission. It arrives after a lengthy, seven-year investigation into whether the company abused its dominance to promote its own online shopping service above search results. The commission's case seems sound; the sad fate of small online retailers, unable to compete with Alphabet over the past decade, suggests as much.

The United States appears poised to heighten scrutiny of Chinese investment in Silicon Valley to better shield sensitive technologies seen as vital to U.S. national security, current and former U.S. officials tell Reuters. Of particular concern is China's interest in fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, which have increasingly attracted Chinese capital in recent years. The worry is that cutting-edge technologies developed in the United States could be used by China to bolster its military capabilities and perhaps even push it ahead in strategic industries. The U.S. government is now looking to strengthen the role of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), the inter-agency committee that reviews foreign acquisitions of U.S. companies on national security grounds. An unreleased Pentagon report, viewed by Reuters, warns that China is skirting U.S. oversight and gaining access to sensitive technology through transactions that currently don't trigger CFIUS review.