Robotic weapons have become so advanced that top military experts in the US fear the plot of the sci-fi film'Terminator' could come true. Huge technological leaps forward in drones, artificial intelligence and autonomous weapon systems must be addressed before humanity is driven to extinction by mechanical overlords like in the 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic, according to Pentagon chiefs. Air Force General Paul Selva, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the US Defense Department, said so-called thinking weapons could lead to: "Robotic systems to do lethal harm... a Terminator without a conscience." When asked about robotic weapons able to make their own decisions, he said: "Our job is to defeat the enemy" but "it is governed by law and by convention." He says the military insists on keeping humans in the decision-making process to "inflict violence on the enemy". "That ethical boundary is the one we've draw a pretty fine line on.

Professor Barry O'Sullivan, Director of Insight at UCC, became the first Irish member of the EurAI board in 2014. Professor Barry O'Sullivan, Director of Insight at UCC, has been elected as Deputy President of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI) at its General Assembly held in The Hague. Professor O'Sullivan, who became the first Irish member of the EurAI board after being elected in 2014, said: "It's a huge honour to be the first Irish person to serve on the board of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence, so to be elected as its deputy president is a major thrill." UCC professor named deputy president of world's largest AI body https://t.co/WNjjanZlfz EurAI, formerly ECCAI, was established in July 1982 as a representative body for the European artificial intelligence community.

It certainly has been another long week in cybersecurity. First, news that a third party hacked a group allegedly connected to the NSA and made off with secret "hacking tools" rocked the industry. It was shortly followed by news of cyber attacks in the form of smart email "bombs" raining down upon the mailboxes of .gov News of new ransomware-as-a-service platforms added to the headache, as did news of two big PoS hacks where credit card information may have been stolen from retailers, hotels and restaurants. As summer wanes and stretches towards Labor Day, it will also be hard to forget the hack of the servers at the Democratic National Committee.

A Robocop army taking over major military missions around the world is still far from being a reality, but that does not mean that the world's military powers are not working hard to make that scenario into reality as soon as they can. If you think that remotely controlled or semi-autonomous vehicles are too much to take, wait and see what the future of AI and IoT will deliver to those who seek to fight the battles of the future with "thinking machines". A recently published study, produced for the United States Department of Defence, explains that "there are both substantial operational benefits and potential perils associated with the use of autonomy." In a nutshell, AI gives the military an upper hand over its enemies, as long as those enemies do not have the same or more advanced technological capabilities, of course. On paper, having an AI military force provides advantages such as a reduction in the number of humans who may be in harms way – tell that to the unknown victims of US drone operations -, increased speed in the completion of those missions, and undoubtedly, autonomy.

In less than a month since launching their powerful new website (http://www.2016tweets.live) In addition to this epochal milestone, the company recently began tracking and reporting on the number of bots that follow, like, and retweet the two major accounts. As bots can confuse and often mislead voters into thinking one party has more support than the other, this analysis allows the public to see the competing candidates on a more even playing field. So far Aicial has analyzed over 109,000 unique Twitter accounts that are engaging with Clinton and Trump. Aicial Co-Founder and CEO, Troy Kelly said the company is committed to further development of the social engine and is quite interested in discussing potential partnerships with news and media outlets.

Labor Day is the one day every year when we come together as a nation to celebrate the achievements of the American worker and the history of the labor movement in this country. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will join President Obama (who spent the weekend meeting with G20 leaders issued a Labor Day message on September 1) as well as a variety of politicians and public officials from across the country, in commemorating the day. You can bet that their lofty rhetoric will be accompanied by a promise to restore the nation to its manufacturing heyday. At the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia, for instance, Clinton promised to push policies that will help foster a "manufacturing renaissance." Not to be outdone, Donald Trump has long said he will be "the greatest job-producing president in American history."

WASHINGTON Technology, media, pharmaceutical and other companies, along with major corporate lobbying groups, filed legal briefs on Friday in support of a Microsoft Corp lawsuit that aims to strike down a law preventing companies from telling customers the government is seeking their data.

Scientists at the Stanford University have released the first report of their One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100), in which they try to predict the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on human life in the long run. Known as "Artificial Intelligence and Life in 2030," the report comes just two years since the researchers began their work. It focuses on the history of AI technology and how it is being used in various fields today, such as in the development of robots for medical purposes and self-driving vehicles for transportation. Experts believe the Stanford study is important not only for researchers but for policymakers as well who may need to create new laws that would better cater to such technological advancements. AI100 is the brainchild of Eric Horvitz, managing director of Microsoft Research's Redmond laboratory.

Two self-sailing ships have been travelling across the Bering Sea, off the coast of Alaska. The boats are operated by Saildrone, a company that is creating robotic sailboats that can travel without sailors for up to eight months. These autonomous vessels can collect details on water temperature, salinity and ecosystem information that would be difficult and expensive to collect by person. Saildrone is a company creating robotic self-driving sailboats that can travel without sailors for up to eight months. The Saildrone boats have been used by scientists and engineers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to collect valuable information about the Alaskan coast.

Al-Qaida and the extremist Islamic State group have taken advantage of the chaos and lawlessness brought about by Yemen's ongoing civil war to expand their reach in the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation.