SHORTLY after 9/11, the US deployed a new form of high-tech warfare: sending drones into foreign airspace to kill terror suspects. At first the strikes were restricted to Afghanistan, but soon they were extended into Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The strategy has been escalated by presidents Obama and Trump. Initially the US had a virtual monopoly on drone technology, but commentators pointed out that this would only be temporary. Legal scholars also warned that the strikes were of dubious international legality. The implication was clear: if the US could strike with impunity, what was there to stop others from doing the same?

Their neural network software - originally developed for NASA - uses a bio-inspired approach to mimic the way the human brain learns and analyzes its environment. This software enables a variety of smart products - from self-driving cars and industrial drones to toys, consumer electronics and smart cameras - to learn, adapt and interact in real time. For example, toys can learn to identify their owners, security cameras can identify specific threats, drones can learn how to diagnose problems at the tops of cell towers, saving humans considerable danger and drudgery, and self-driving cars can be safer and learn to avoid obstacles.

Complex computer software may be the key to correctly diagnosing and treating patients with various diseases. Dr. Nick Ernest, a UC graduate who beat the Air Force in a simulated game of aerial combat with his artificial intelligence (AI) system, is now applying the concept to the human body. In a proof of concept study, Ernest harnessed the power of his Psibernetix AI program to determine if bipolar patients could benefit from a certain medication. Using fMRIs of bipolar patients, the software looked at how each patient would react to lithium. The computer software predicted with 100 percent accuracy how patients would respond.

Businesses and the government must ready the nation's workforce for the rise of artificial intelligence to ensure companies can ride out the "cliff edges" created by the technological revolution, according to PwC. The professional services firm said AI had the power to overhaul business models and could leave workers sidelined and companies struggling to adjust unless preparations are made now. It said firms and the state must step up their efforts to improve the education system and help workers retrain to ensure AI delivers the much-heralded boost to the UK economy. Jon Andrews, PwC's head of technology and investments, said: "There are different sectors that will be impacted in different ways. "The vast majority [of workers] will not see the change happening to them and they will have a very different job by 2030.

The new name came with a new focus and a suite of new products, based on the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. The enterprise then gets insight and reports into potential security risks and incidents in their environment." We had to dig a bit to understand where AI fit into all this, as Anomali doesn't really play the artificial intelligence card. The company does say that as part of its threat intelligence platform service, it integrates machine learning algorithms for various functions such as automating searches for new domain registrations looking for those that can be considered suspicions and potentially vicious.

Australia Post has quietly created an email add-on tool that uses machine learning to find unpaid bills and itemise when they need to be paid. The Bill Scanner tool is currently in open beta and is "available for Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail and Live accounts". Users must sign in with their Google or Microsoft credentials. Once connected to the email account, the tool scans the inbox for bills bearing the Postbillpay logo and barcode and "pulls [any] we find into Bill Scanner", which is hosted on AWS. The postal service said it would use undisclosed machine learning techniques to extract data from the bills and itemise them according to due date.

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.