This still image taken from drone footage posted online Monday, Jan. 2, 2017 by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, purports to shows an aerial image of a neighborhood damaged by Turkish airstrikes in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, in Aleppo province, Syria. Nearly two months into the assault, Turkey has become bogged down in an unexpectedly bloody fight to retake the Islamic State group's last stronghold in northern Syria. It has been forced to pour in troops, take the lead in the battle from its Syrian allies and reach out to Russia for aerial support -- a move that tests its alliance with the United States and the Syrian opposition. This still image taken from drone footage posted online Monday, Jan. 2, 2017 by the Aamaq News Agency, a media arm of the Islamic State group, purports to shows an aerial image of a neighborhood damaged by Turkish airstrikes in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, in Aleppo province, Syria. Nearly two months into the assault, Turkey has become bogged down in an unexpectedly bloody fight to retake the Islamic State group's last stronghold in northern Syria.

In cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is implemented through Machine Learning techniques. The Machine Learning algorithms allow computers to learn and make predictions based on data already known. When we talk about Artificial Intelligence, people often refer to a world dominated by robots in a science fiction universe. But Artificial Intelligence is rooted in reality and is already used in many fields, such as online shopping, surveillance systems and many others. Artificial Intelligence has already proven effective in the treatment of millions of malware every day.

CB Insights revealed the AI 100 winners during The Innovation Summit in Santa Barbara, a gathering of top executives and investors to explore the industries of the future. The CB Insights research team selected the winners based on a combination of data submitted by the companies, responses to interview questions and the company's Mosaic Score. Mosaic is an algorithm built with funding from the National Science Foundation that gives predictive intelligence into the health of private companies. "At Ayasdi, we see clearly that intelligent applications enabled by AI and big data will be as transformative for knowledge-based processes as the industrial revolution was for mechanical processes," said Ayasdi CEO Gurjeet Singh. "Intelligent applications running on our platform are already becoming a fundamental part of our customer's operations with breakthrough results. We are delighted to be recognized by CB Insights for the success our clients are having in deploying Ayasdi to use AI to solve real-world business problems at scale."

Could the roles of senior finance executives grow obsolete, replaced by a robot or other technology? Some of them apparently think so, according to a poll by the New York chapter of Financial Executives International. In the poll of 83 finance executives, 10% said they believed that some senior finance positions -- at least, as we know them -- will be replaced one day in a world of artificial intelligence, repetitive tasking, and increasing automation. A further 25% deemed such replacement "possible." "Presumably these executives will be working to restructure [senior finance roles] to emphasize functions that cannot be automated and to take advantage of free time that automation affords them," said Matthew Cooley, president of FEI's New York City chapter.

Do you think Hollywood has lost touch with American values? Do you think Hollywood has lost touch with American values? The contentious presidential campaign was filled with accusations of elitism and bias by the media -- from the news to entertainment. Many supporters of Donald J. Trump saw his victory as a repudiation of the so-called liberal elite. So as 2017 begins, we ask: Is Hollywood representing all Americans? Are Hollywood values out of sync with American values? It's the start of a conversation we'll have all year with Hollywood's creators, consumers and observers. Most of all, we want to hear from you. Is Hollywood out of touch with your America? Here's what our critics and writers have to say: KENNETH TURAN on potent Hollywood visions that helped elect Trump TV's affluent bubble: MARY McNAMARA on Hollywood's reluctance to deal with class issues Fear of the powerful woman: JUSTIN CHANG on working women and men still behaving badly Realistic or cliche?: JEFFREY FLEISHMAN on ...

Black Pin, Inc., is a data analytics firm that builds machine learning software for analyzing video and imaging data. Black Pin, Inc.'s flagship product, BLACKPIN, is a scalable video processing software which analyzes video feed from networked surveillance cameras in real time to autonomously recognize anomalous behaviors and potential threats. Unlike existing motion detection algorithms or hiring humans, BLACKPIN allows surveillance hardware to be truly effective in identifying anomalies even when tasked with monitoring thousands of feeds simultaneously. Our capabilities outside of BLACKPIN include, building custom applications to process visual spectrum, thermal, multi and hyperspectral imaging, lidar, and medical imaging data sets to provide meta data as models, maps, recognition, and numerical metrics. Industry applications that demand our imaging analysis include Medical tumor recognition, Construction & Energy asset/product protection, Precision AG/GIS, Border Patrol/DoD/DoE, Transportation Infrastructure Supervision, Critical Infrastructure Inspections/Monitoring, SCADA/Access Control, Wildlife Management, Home Automation, and more.

The dominant public narrative about artificial intelligence is that we are building increasingly intelligent machines that will ultimately surpass human capabilities, steal our jobs, possibly even escape human control and kill us all. This misguided perception, not widely shared by AI researchers, runs a significant risk of delaying or derailing practical applications and influencing public policy in counterproductive ways. A more appropriate framing--better supported by historical progress and current developments--is that AI is simply a natural continuation of longstanding efforts to automate tasks, dating back at least to the start of the industrial revolution. Stripping the field of its gee-whiz apocalyptic gloss makes it easier to evaluate the likely benefits and pitfalls of this important technology, not to mention dampen the self-destructive cycles of hype and disappointment that have plagued the field since its inception. At the core of this problem is the tendency for respected public figures outside the field, and even a few within the field, to tolerate or sanction overblown press reports that herald each advance as startling and unexpected leaps toward general human-level intelligence (or beyond), fanning fears that "the robots" are coming to take over the world.

What historian has time to read tens of millions of news articles from more than a century of British history? So computer scientists and historians have taught computers how to do the job instead, analysing billions of words of news reports to take a new look at the 19th and early 20th centuries. The study, published in the journal PNAS, marks the early steps of the emerging field of "culturomics". Computers analysed a total of 28.6 billion words from 35 million British regional news stories published between 1800 and 1950, which made up about 14% of the total output of the regional press in that period. For comparison, the average adult has a reading speed of about 300 words per minute. At that rate, it would take someone about 180 solid years to do all that reading, not including a lunch break.

Join Tandem National Security Innovations on Wednesday, Jan. 11th at the Booz Allen Hamilton Innovation Center in Washington DC for an evening devoted to understanding the impact of artificial intelligence and the future it holds for small businesses and startups. We have invited industry leaders and government officials specializing in artificial intelligence and robotics to discuss how A.I. could revolutionize manufacturing, medicine, transportation and a host of other industry sectors. Learn how to set yourself apart in this quickly advancing field. The government wants to invest in artificial intelligence and machine learning programs to modernize national security agencies. Learn about where they want to invest and the new contracting mechanisms agencies are using to recruit startups and small businesses.

With the use of data-centric business models and big data services on the rise, it is becoming increasingly harder to detect threats and data breaches. Cybersecurity experts are finding themselves hard pressed to keep tabs on the reams of data that are being generated by their companies and organizations. Attackers on the other hand are finding it easier to hide their malicious packets in the flood of data that is being exchanged over corporate networks. Gary Vaynerchuk was so impressed with TNW Conference 2016 he paused mid-talk to applaud us. A solution to this dilemma might be found in the use of machine learning, the hot trend that is taking the world by storm and is transforming numerous industries in ways that were previously inconceivable.