A visitor to GE's Minds Machines event tries out a Web-connected platform that offers real time operational status updates on wind farm turbines. SAN FRANCISCO -- A man dressed like a utility worker approaches an electrical panel. As he moves to touch the metal box a light blinks. Sensors sewn into his overalls have cut the flow of electricity to the box. He can now work without the risk of electrocution.

The technical potential for automation differs dramatically across sectors and activities. As automation technologies such as machine learning and robotics play an increasingly great role in everyday life, their potential effect on the workplace has, unsurprisingly, become a major focus of research and public concern. The discussion tends toward a Manichean guessing game: which jobs will or won't be replaced by machines? In fact, as our research has begun to show, the story is more nuanced. While automation will eliminate very few occupations entirely in the next decade, it will affect portions of almost all jobs to a greater or lesser degree, depending on the type of work they entail. Automation, now going beyond routine manufacturing activities, has the potential, as least with regard to its technical feasibility, to transform sectors such as healthcare and finance, which involve a substantial share of knowledge work. These conclusions rest on our detailed analysis of 2,000-plus work activities for more than 800 occupations.

With the backing of supporters as varied as the CIA, Samsung, Intel, and one of the biggest wireless carriers in the world, MindMeld launched its conversational AI platform today. MindMeld's AI, which has been referred to as "Siri on steroids," is sometimes considered more advanced than other voice-enabled intelligent assistants. The first generation of AI-powered assistants failed to live up to the hype, according to the company. "Deep-Domain Conversational AI promises to power a new generation of AI assistants which can streamline common daily tasks such as placing a take-out order at a local restaurant, booking a flight or hotel reservation, creating a service appointment at an auto repair shop or doctor's office, or finding retail store and product information," the company said in a statement shared with VentureBeat. Voice-enabled intelligent assistants and chatbots made with the platform can go virtually anywhere, from websites, apps, and devices to messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Skype, and Slack.

An automated army of pro-Donald J. Trump chatbots overwhelmed similar programs supporting Hillary Clinton five to one in the days leading up to the presidential election, according to a report published Thursday by researchers at Oxford University. The chatbots -- basic software programs with a bit of artificial intelligence and rudimentary communication skills -- would send messages on Twitter based on a topic, usually defined on the social network by a word preceded by a hashtag symbol, like #Clinton. Their purpose: to rant, confuse people on facts, or simply muddy discussions, said Philip N. Howard, a sociologist at the Oxford Internet Institute and one of the authors of the report. If you were looking for a real debate of the issues, you weren't going to find it with a chatbot. "And a lot of what they pass around is false news."

The House of Lords has passed the Investigatory Powers Bill, putting the huge spying powers on their way to becoming law within weeks. The bill – which forces internet companies to keep records on their users for up to a year, and allows the Government to force companies to hack into or break things they've sold so they can be spied on – has been fought against by privacy campaigners and technology companies including Apple and Twitter. But the Government has worked to continue to pass the bill, despite objections from those companies that the legislation is not possible to enforce and would make customers unsafe. In its facilities, JAXA develop satellites and analyse their observation data, train astronauts for utilization in the Japanese Experiment Module'Kibo' of the International Space Station (ISS) and develop launch vehicles 23/40 The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to the music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight. At this biennial event, the participating companies exhibit their latest service robotic technologies and components 24/40 The robot developed by Seed Solutions sings and dances to music during the Japan Robot Week 2016 at Tokyo Big Sight 25/40 Government and industry are working together on a robot-like autopilot system that could eliminate the need for a second human pilot in the cockpit 26/40 Aurora Flight Sciences' technicians work on an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automantion System (ALIAS) device in the firm's Centaur aircraft at Manassas Airport in Manassas, Va.

My first drone flight experience was with the DJI Phantom 2 Vision, and as much as I appreciated its advanced capabilities at the time, I longed for something more compact -- a device so small that I wouldn't need to carry a separate bag or case for it, preferably without sacrificing performance. Eventually, a Chinese startup called Zero Zero Robotics released the $599 Hover Camera Passport, which comes in the unique form of a foldable cage while packing cool features like body tracking, face tracking and orbiting. I got to spend some time with the Passport over the past few weeks, and eventually it got to the point where I rarely leave home without it, lest I find time to take it for a quick spin. Compared to higher-end foldable drones like DJI's Mavic Pro and GoPro's Karma (assuming GoPro issues a fix for random power losses), the Passport's major advantages are its size, weight and caged propellers. At just 242 grams, or 0.53 pounds, the Passport is exempt from the FAA's mandatory registration and is also unlikely to hurt anyone should something go wrong, as its propellers are shielded by a carbon fiber enclosure.

For her second feature documentary, "National Bird," director Sonia Kennebeck puts a face on the victims of drone warfare who are both in the United States and abroad. Part of the technology's appeal is the distance -- both physical and emotional -- between the U.S. armed forces and their targets, but the film argues that military personel are affected, even if they are never in the same country as the people considered collateral damage. At the heart of "National Bird" are three whistle-blowers. Heather is a former drone imagery analyst who struggles with PTSD and takes her story to the Guardian. Daniel is a former government contractor and signals intelligence analyst who worries about what he can and cannot share with everyone in his life.

If you think you've had enough of humanity after this soul-crushing 2016, Stephen Hawking is here to remind you that we will not probably survive another 1,000 years -- unless Elon Musk finds a way to get us to Mars. SEE ALSO: Brexit is so complicated, even Stephen Hawking won't touch it The world-renowned theoretical physicist gave a stark (or relieving) warning about the future at the Oxford Union debating society describing 2016 -- believe it or not -- as a "glorious time to be alive and doing research into theoretical physics." Hawking hailed the fact that in the last 50 years humans "have been able to come this close to understanding the laws that govern us and the universe." "We will map the position of millions of galaxies with the help of [super] computers like Cosmos," he added. "We will better understand our place in the universe. Perhaps one day we will be able to use gravitational waves to look right back into the heart of the Big Bang."

Renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking said in a speech at Oxford University Union that humanity only has about 1,000 years left of viable existence if it doesn't leave the planet and colonize the stars. The professor argued that humanity is unlikely to survive all of the different crises we will face over the next millennium. But humans can avoid extinction, he said, if we have colonized other planets by that time, giving humanity a fighting chance away from our "fragile" Earth. Dr. Hawking's prediction may seem gloomy, but much of his speech took an optimistic tone. After all, a thousand years is a long time to figure out how to colonize space, and plans are already underway for humans to visit Mars with an ultimate goal of colonizing the red planet.

A man dressed like a utility worker approaches an electrical panel. As he moves to touch the metal box a light blinks. Sensors sewn into his overalls have cut the flow of electricity to the box. He can now work without the risk of electrocution. "This is just one way technology can help workers do their jobs better and more safely," says Stephane Sireau of GE Digital, whose prototype suit was one of many demos at General Electric's Minds Machines conference, which wrapped up Wednesday. "Our mission is to integrate the worker into a digital industrial context," says Sireau, showing how the suit's sensors also provide vital sign data.