From phone apps and GPS maps to music recommendations and artificial intelligence, our lives are increasingly molded by algorithms. Sets of instructions for completing tasks or solving problems, algorithms are the governing principles of our age--the underlying equations that help us make decisions, and, in some cases, make decisions for us. Are these life recipes a force for good or ill? Pew surveyed 1,302 experts of various stripes--futurists, academics, coders, IT guys and girls--and opinions were split. Asked if the "net overall effect" for individuals and society would be positive or negative in the next decade, 38% said the positives would outpace the negatives, while 37% saw it the other way.

In January, the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament put forward a draft report urging the creation and adoption of EU-wide rules to corral the myriad issues arising from the widespread use of robots and AI--a development, it says, is "poised to unleash a new industrial revolution." It's an interesting read, and a valiant effort to get a handle on how to standardize and regulate the ever-expanding robot universe: drones, industrial robots, care robots, medical robots, entertainment robots, robots in farming--you name it, they're all in there. Beginning with Frankenstein's monster, Prague's golem, and Karel Čapek's robot and ending with a code of ethics for robotics engineers and some daunting lists of "shoulds" for robot designers and end users, the 22-page worry catalog toggles between practical concerns about liability, accountability, and safety--who's going to pay when a robot or a self-driving car has an accident?--and The practical concerns addressed include a call for the creation of a European agency for robotics and artificial intelligence to support the European Commission in its regulation- and legislation-making efforts. Definitions and classifications of robots and smart robots need to be detailed, and a robot registration system described.

The French military is developing a new, unusual defense weapon to combat terrorism. Four golden eagles, d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis are being trained to attack drones that enter into restricted French air space according to the Washington Post. Terrorists are beginning to experiment with drones in Iraq and the French presidential palace has had numerous drones fly within its restricted air space in recent years. Terrorists are reportedly using store bought drones and turning them into weapons. Jean-Christophe Zimmermann, a French air force general, told Reuters the military chose to use eagles for defense to avoid using guns.

HIMSS 2017 buzz centered on health data cybersecurity, but that hot topic of recent years' gatherings of the health IT universe simmered alongside emerging trends such as patient engagement and artificial intelligence and machine learning. The progression of healthcare IoT, or the Internet of Medical Things, is not without its challenges. Download a PDF of this exclusive guide now and learn how to overcome the obstacles: security, data overload, regulations, and more. This email address is already registered. By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.

The French military is literally going where eagles dare in an effort to combat the increasing use of drones by criminals and terrorists. Following incidents of drones flying over the presidential palace and restricted military sites – along with the deadly 2015 Paris terror attacks – the French air force has trained four golden eagles to intercept and destroy the rogue aircraft. Aptly named d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis – an homage to Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" – the four birds of prey have been honing their attack skills at the Mont-de-Marsan in southwestern France since mid-2016. A French army falconer works with a golden eagle as part of a military training for combat against drones in Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base, Southwestern France, February 10, 2017. It takes about eight months to fully train the birds, but the eagles are surrounded by drones from before they hatch to make the unmanned flying devices part of their natural environment and to teach the birds to associate drones with being fed.

A SpaceX capsule carrying more than 5,000 pounds of cargo aborted its attempt to dock at the International Space Station early Wednesday because of an "easily correctable" GPS error, officials said. It is scheduled to try again Thursday. This was not the mission's first small delay. Hawthorne-based SpaceX scuttled its planned launch Saturday because of a potential issue with the Falcon 9 rocket meant to propel the Dragon capsule into space. The Dragon spacecraft, which launched Sunday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was en route to the space station to deliver supplies and research materials, including biological materials to be grown in crystals in space and an instrument that would survey Earth's upper atmosphere, according to a NASA blog post.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a game changer for the future of cybersecurity. Security professionals need to mine not only structured information, but also unstructured data, including human-generated content. Artificial intelligence enables IT teams to reason, learn and provide context in real time beyond simple analytics patterns. Armed with this collective insight, security analysts can respond to threats with increased speed, accuracy and confidence. Like any new technology, AI introduces many concerns related to governance, transparency, human interactions, privacy and security principles.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. Cloud-based profiles allow users to customize the infotainment system to match individual preferences and take that same customized experience with them into any new Cadillac user experience equipped vehicle. In the coming weeks, Cadillac will start shipping 2017 CTS sedans with a mid-year update that brings an all-new version of the brand's CUE infotainment system.

First commercial rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center's historic pad 39A where Apollo missions started the voyage to the moon. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017, en route to the International Space Station. The Dragon cargo ship was scheduled to dock with the space station Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, but it was pushed back to Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. MELBOURNE, Fla. -- An unmanned SpaceX Dragon cargo ship aborted a planned Wednesday morning rendezvous with the International Space Station and will try again Thursday, NASA said. At 3:25 a.m. EST, less than three hours before the Dragon was to be captured by a robotic arm on the station, Dragon computers automatically rescheduled the approach after its navigation systems recognized something wrong in data about the station's location.

President Donald Trump's "poisonous" rhetoric during his campaign to win the presidential election led to a global trend in increasingly divisive politics, Amnesty International's 2016/17 annual report released Wednesday said. "Donald Trump's poisonous campaign rhetoric exemplifies a global trend towards angrier and more divisive politics. Across the world, leaders and politicians wagered their future power on narratives of fear and disunity, pinning blame on the "other" for the real or manufactured grievances of the electorate," the report titled "The state of the world's human rights" read. The publication also commented on the instability of the Trump-led administration, saying: "His predecessor, President Barack Obama, leaves a legacy that includes many grievous failures to uphold human rights, not least the expansion of the CIA's secretive campaign of drone strikes and the development of a gargantuan mass surveillance machine as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Yet the early indications from President Trump suggest a foreign policy that will significantly undermine multilateral co-operation and usher in a new era of greater instability and mutual suspicion."