The technology world faces new trends frequently. New technologies typically promise to get things done faster, reduce costs, and open new market segments, thus improving the financials of a lot of firms. From Service-oriented Architecture to mobile and cloud computing, all of them stake their claim to deliver these benefits. However, the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will impact the world economy in a way that no technology in the past was able to. This is the core thesis of Martin Ford's 2015 book, 'The Rise of the Robots', sub-titled'Technology and the Threat of Mass Unemployment.'

Google DeepMind received 1.6 million identifiable personal medical records on an "inappropriate legal basis", according to a letter written by Fiona Caldicott at the UK's National Data Guardian, a government watchdog that monitors patient confidentiality. The letter obtained by Sky News was sent to the medical director of the Royal Free NHS Trust in London on 20 February. The data sharing agreement between the trust and DeepMind was first revealed by a New Scientist investigation last year. Google's AI firm originally obtained the NHS patient records to test a smartphone app called Streams that could help monitor people with kidney disease. A quarter of acute kidney deaths are preventable if caught early, so DeepMind wanted to use its algorithms to try to spot early signs of the disease.

Earlier this month, researchers unveiled an AI computer that could predict the results of Supreme Court trials better than a human. While its designers were hopeful that the device could soon be used in the courtroom, an expert has warned that using AI to sentence criminals is a'dangerous idea.' In an article for The Conversation, Mr Christopher Markou, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge explains why he think we should boycott AI judges. Earlier this month, researchers unveiled an AI computer that could predict the results of Supreme Court trials better than a human. While its designers were hopeful that the device could soon be used in the courtroom, an expert has warned that using AI to sentence criminals is a'dangerous idea' Earlier this month, researchers from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, and South Texas College of Law created an algorithm based on a neural network, which tries to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn. The algorithm analysed the US Supreme Court Database, which holds data on court cases dating back to 1791.

Google's artificial intelligence division received the medical records of 1.6 million people on an "inappropriate legal basis", according to a leaked letter from a top government adviser. DeepMind controversially struck up a data-sharing deal with the Royal Free Hospital Trust, for the creation of an app called Streams. In February last year, Google said Streams would help hospital staff monitor patients with kidney disease, but a document obtained by New Scientist caused further concern when it revealed that DeepMind was receiving historical medical data, records of the location and status of patients, and even details about visitors. 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. The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session A man looks at an exhibit entitled'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Electrification Guru Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart talks about the electric Jaguar I-PACE concept SUV before it was unveiled before the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, U.S The Jaguar I-PACE Concept car is the start of a new era for Jaguar.

Japan's obsessed with automation -- not because it's novel, but because there just aren't enough people. More small and medium-sized companies are buying robots to make up for a labour shortfall, reports Reuters, and robot manufacturers are seeing more orders coming in. SEE ALSO: The inevitable robot takeover is here, and it's starting at the mall The shortfall is due to a huge labour crunch in the country -- companies with staff ranging from 100 to 499 workers advertised to fill 1.1 million new positions last year, according to data from Japan's Labour Ministry. To meet that shortfall, companies are investing more to increase efficiency, according to officials. A Bank of Japan survey found that mid-sized companies are planning to boost investment in capital by 17.5 percent, though it is unclear how much will be spent on automation.

A data-sharing deal between DeepMind and London's Royal Free Hospital Trust was struck on an "inappropriate legal basis," a top UK government advisor has said. In April 2016, NewScientist revealed that the company had received 1.6 million patient records to develop an app called "Streams." While there are strict rules regarding patient data and confidentiality, common law states that consent is "implied" if the information is being used for "direct care." Google's AI division used this line of thinking to justify the deal, however Dame Fiona Caldicott, the UK's National Data Guardian, disagrees because the app was still in testing at the time. If the app was in development, that means it wasn't yet ready for medical use.

Science and technology are essential tools for innovation, and to reap their full potential, we also need to articulate and solve the many aspects of today's global issues that are rooted in the political, cultural, and economic realities of the human world. With that mission in mind, MIT's School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences has launched The Human Factor -- an ongoing series of stories and interviews that highlight research on the human dimensions of global challenges. Contributors to this series also share ideas for cultivating the multidisciplinary collaborations needed to solve the major civilizational issues of our time. David Mindell, the Frances and David Dibner Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, researches the intersections of human behavior, technological innovation, and automation. Mindell is the author of five acclaimed books, most recently "Our Robots, Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of Autonomy" (Viking, 2015).

We want to be smarter about what we're doing," he told Defense One. The idea is to reduce the amount of time analysts spend performing administrative tasks, like manually entering data into spreadsheets whenever they find something of interest, and more time actually analyzing. Should this program meet with success, Shanahan hopes to expand Project Maven's machine learning efforts throughout the rest of the armed services. For the department... logistics, command and control, communications," Shanahan told Defense One.

Biological organisms are pretty good at navigating life's unpredictability, but computers are embarrassingly bad at it. That's the crux of a new military research program that aims to model artificially intelligent systems after the brains of living creatures. When an organism encounters a new environment or situation, it relies on past experience to help it make a decision. Current artificial intelligence technology, on the other hand, relies on extensive training on various data sets, and if it hasn't encountered a specific situation, it can't select a next step.

The man who saved the world from the hack that took down the NHS didn't pass his IT GCSE. Marcus Hutchins, who accidentally discovered a kill switch that helped shut down the WannaCry virus as it spread around the world, doesn't have the most basic IT qualification. And it's all because his teachers thought he was a hacker. The accidental hero's problems began when he was hauled into the head teacher's office at school and told to explain why the network was down. He couldn't and so was blamed for having hacked into the network – something that despite his claims not to have done anything, led to him being suspended.