Government
How NATO wants to use artificial intelligence in decision making
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) believes in incorporating artificial intelligence (A.I.) in its decision-making process, a senior official told CNBC. The 68-year-old military alliance must be prepared for the prospect of A.I. delivering strategic verdicts on key NATO issues, said General Denis Mercier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation of NATO. "The key issue is the distribution of data -- how we can, through that, empower subordinate levels of command, when it's necessary, to take action," he said on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Such a vision is "the next step," Mercier continued. "That's not what we do today but this is really what we need to be available to do in the future."
Future Predictions For Artificial Intelligence and Automation - Weekly Mash-Up 186
With AI advancing at such a fast clip, it's time to get to the bottom of the AI automation issue. Artificial Intelligence is changing the world and doing it at breakneck speed. The artificially intelligent turtles can be printed out of cardboard and folded into shape, making them a cheaper alternative to existing minesweeping robots. These gloves let you'feel' objects in virtual reality Trusted Reviews A team from UC San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering are attempting to add an extra level of immersion to Virtual Reality with their latest innovation.
Forget far-right populism – crypto-anarchists are the new masters
Those who mistakenly thought 2016 was an anomaly, a series of unprecedented events, should have few remaining doubts. Marine Le Pen may have stuttered but still picked up almost 11 million votes. Her opponent, the "normal" candidate, was leader of a party only one year old. The ongoing terror attacks, fake news panic, Trump's tweets and James Comey: last year never really ended, it just carried straight on into this one. After decades of exaggerated prediction, the internet is finally transforming politics, but not in the way the digital prophets expected. The 90s, you may recall, were awash with optimism about our online future: limitless information and total connection would make us more informed, less bigoted and kinder citizens. But the internet is an overwhelming mess of competing facts, claims, blogs, data, propaganda, misinformation, investigative journalism, charts, different charts, commentary and reportage.
Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century
In Wired for War, P. W. Singer explores the great est revolution in military affairs since the atom bomb: the dawn of robotic warfare. We are on the cusp of a massive shift in military technology that threatens to make real the stuff of I, Robot and The Terminator. Blending historical evidence with interviews of an amaz ing cast of characters, Singer shows how technology is changing not just how wars are fought, but also the politics, economics, laws, and the ethics that surround war itself. Travelling from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to modern-day "skunk works" in the midst of suburbia, Wired for War will tantalise a wide readership, from military buffs to policy wonks to gearheads.
China's AI Advantage: Why Google China's Founder Sees The U.S. Losing Its Edge
Kai-Fu Lee sees America as destined to lose to China in the race for leadership in AI. Kai-Fu Lee watched the U.S. beat China to global internet leadership during the dot-com bubble from the inside. Now with what he sees as an even greater technological revolution taking place in the fast-growing field of artificial intelligence, Lee doesn't expect China to take a backseat a second time. "China started slow, and American companies went international," Lee says during a May visit to Forbes Media's headquarters. "But simple math says China has a larger GDP. The market will be bigger."
3 Ways Retailers Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Help Save Stores -- The Motley Fool
Doom-and-gloom headlines about the shrinking number of stores in malls, closing department stores, and thinning foot traffic have been everywhere lately, and not without good reason. If one were to venture a guess based on brick-and-mortar store performance, it would appear the U.S. consumer has stopped spending. But in fact, consumer spending has been rising steadily every year since 2009. It's just that an ever-greater number of people are choosing to do their shopping online. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's monthly retail report, retail sales were up 4.5% year over year in April, but online sales grew 12%.
A pioneering computer scientist wants algorithms to be regulated like cars, banks, and drugs
It's convenient when Facebook can tag your friends in photos for you, and it's fun when Snapchat can apply a filter to your face. Both are examples of algorithms that have been trained to recognize eyes, noses, and mouths with consistent accuracy. When these programs are wrong--like when Facebook mistakes you for your sibling or even your mom--it's hardly a problem. In other situations, though, we give artificial intelligence much more responsibility, with larger consequences when it inevitably backfires. Ben Shneiderman, a computer scientist from the University of Maryland, thinks the risks are big enough that it's time to for the government to get involved. In a lecture on May 30 to the Alan Turing Institute in London, he called for a "National Algorithm Safety Board," similar to the US's National Transportation Safety Board for vehicles, which would provide both ongoing and retroactive oversight for high-stakes algorithms.
SpaceX ISS Cargo Mission CRS-11 Live Stream: Watch Falcon 9 Take Off On NASA Mission, If Weather Permits
Elon Musk's company SpaceX will attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket Saturday evening, in a bid to send a refurbished Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). The CRS-11 mission is the eleventh for the commercial space company and was originally scheduled for Thursday evening, but had to be postponed due to weather conditions. The weather could play spoilsport once again Saturday, which has an instantaneous launch window at 5:07 p.m. EDT. According to forecast by meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron, announced Friday morning, there was a 60 percent chance of favorable weather at the time of the planned launch. That forecast was worse than the 70 percent favorable forecast announced Thursday night. "The primary weather concerns for Saturday's launch are anvil clouds, cumulus clouds and flight through precipitation," the forecast announcement on NASA's website said.
Gmail is bringing in AI security for where humans fail
Gmail is introducing new machine learning to prevent people from falling for phishing attacks. People often fall for disguised phishing attacks. Google is hoping its machines won't be tricked as easily. With more than 1 billion active users on Gmail every day, its a massive job to protect them all from cyberattacks via email. Google estimates 50 to 70 percent of messages in Gmail's inboxes are spam, many of which are carefully crafted to deceive people.
TERROR FIGHT EXPANDS How Trump administration quietly targets al-Shabab
It all started at Baledogle, the old Soviet airport 70 miles northwest of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, where the U.S. runs a deeply clandestine drone operation with around 30 to 40 American personnel. While shrouded in secrecy, Baledogle has reportedly grown over the years into a key point for training Somali commandos and, early last month, for launching a joint strike against al-Shabab. The radical Islamist group grew out of the splintered factions of Sharia-based courts that filled the vacuum of authority after a U.S.-led coalition withdrew from the country in the early 90s. Today, al-Shabab sees itself as the preeminent terror force in Somalia with global ambitions. "These folks are honing their skills in a local conflict that is part of a global war they are waging against the United States," said Katherine Zimmerman, an expert on Al Qaeda at the American Enterprise Institute. Al-Shabab regularly attacks foreigners, including aid workers and Somalis, as it wages an insurgent fight against the U.S.-leaning government.