Driscoll's is so secretive about its robotic strawberry picker it won't let photographers within telephoto range of it. But if you do get a peek, you won't see anything humanoid or space-aged. AgroBot is still more John Deere than C-3PO -- a boxy contraption moving in fits and starts, with its computer-driven sensors, graspers and cutters missing 1 in 3 berries. Such has been the progress of ag-tech in California, where despite the adoption of drones, iPhone apps and satellite-driven sensors, the hand and knife still harvest the bulk of more than 200 crops. Now, the $47-billion agriculture industry is trying to bring technological innovation up to warp speed before it runs out of low-wage immigrant workers.

Only 20 years ago, it would have sounded like the stuff of fantasy: a clean, green image of the 21st century, with Britons gliding along in electrified, no doubt self-driving, cars. Even now, the pledge to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 has a bold, vaguely futuristic ring to it. That is its political genius. In fact, it reflects the current trajectory of the motor industry – while masterfully distracting us from the government's persistent failure in the rest of its plan to address the health crisis that must be tackled now: the air pollution that chokes our cities. The announcement may help to concentrate the minds of policymakers, consumers and car manufacturers on the need to press ahead with the switch and the huge changes that will be required.

In another paper, Computational Thinking is Critical Thinking: Connecting University Discourse, Goals, and Learning Outcomes (2016) points out that abstraction is common to both computational and critical thinking. The author (Kules) essentially makes the case for bridging the two types of thinking. The clear definition of computational thinking quoted below is helpful. Similarly, the Venn diagram below demonstrates the overlap between creative and critical thinking, which programming just happens to inform. There is'abstraction & simplification' right in the center. I'll be the first to admit, "abstraction" might be impotent if you can't appreciate the complexity of it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An influential U.S. House Committee on Thursday approved a revised bipartisan bill on a 54-0 vote that would speed the deployment of self-driving cars without human controls and bar states from blocking autonomous vehicles.

On July 20, China's State Council issued the "Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" (新一代人工智能发展规划), which articulates an ambitious agenda for China to lead the world in AI. China intends to pursue a "first-mover advantage" to become the "premier global AI innovation center" by 2030. Through this new strategic framework, China will advance a "three in one" agenda in AI: tackling key problems in research and development, pursuing a range of products and applications, and cultivating an AI industry. The Chinese leadership thus seeks to seize a "major strategic opportunity" to advance its development of AI, potentially surpassing the United States in the process. This new plan, which will be implemented by a new AI Plan Promotion Office within the Ministry of Science and Technology, outlines China's objectives for advances in AI in three stages. First, by 2020, China's overall progress in technology and applications of AI should keep pace with the world's advanced level, while its AI industry becomes an important economic growth point.

It's hard keep track of the kind of things computers are capable of doing, or are supposedly going to be able to do by the year twenty-twenty-something. But despite the AI hype there are a few ideas which will help keep one's feet on the ground. Not even the developers who create it. The whole point of machine learning, deep learning and AI, is you accept that the computer can do it better than you can. So you program it with a set of rules which should operate like boundaries, they give the computer a sphere within which to operate.

Imagine a world where supercomputers programmed by totalitarian technocrats make virtually every important decision for you, in addition to manipulating you at every turn. Such a dystopian future for the world may not be that far off -- at least if humanity continues on its current course. And the technocrats behind the plan barely even bother to conceal their agenda at this point. The United Nations is now openly plotting with Big Business and Big Government to exploit Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further its agenda, especially the totalitarian ideology it calls "sustainable development." Multiple UN bureaucracies have convened summits this year for that purpose, bringing together leading experts in the field from around the world.

As a kid, I remember thinking about how smart adults are. I can't wait to be an adult! They are all super smart and know about things like the stock market, catching the right bus, and, like, the government and stuff! Probably the worst part about becoming an adult was realizing that there was no Matrix-style download for Adulting 101 once I turned 18. The stock market, public transportation, and the government are still mysterious things that loom large in my mind.

Drones capable of carrying explosives to countries thousands of miles away could be available in just five years, according to an expert. These terror drones could fly from Africa to the US in just over a day, a top US defence adviser told the Pentagon. Many companies are chasing a new commercial market and pushing this technology forward which means in the next few years they could become widely available. The Greased Lightening drone (pictured) can fold eight out of its ten propellers down to reach optimum efficiency. A company called Advanced Aircraft Company has created a drone called Greased Lightening which combines the best bits of drone and aeroplane design.

The Swedish government has replaced two of its ministers as it attempts to fall entirely. The crisis is the result of a growing scandal over an IT outsourcing deal, which saw almost all of Sweden's citizens have their data leaked to IT contractors in other countries. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has replaced two of his ministers in an attempt to stop any more dramatic fallout. But the opposition is seeking for the government to fall entirely and for the country to have an early election. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.