The immense capabilities artificial intelligence is bringing to the world would have been inconceivable to past generations. But even as we marvel at the incredible power these new technologies afford, we're faced with complex and urgent questions about the balance of benefit and harm. When most people ponder whether AI is good or evil, what they're essentially trying to grasp is whether AI is a tool or a weapon. Of course, it's both -- it can help reduce human toil, and it can also be used to create autonomous weapons. Either way, the ensuing debates touch on numerous unresolved questions and are critical to paving the way forward.

If the hallmark of intelligence is problem solving, then it should be no surprise that artificial intelligence is being called on to solve complex problems that human intelligence alone cannot. Intellectual property laws exist to reward intelligence, creativity and problem solving; yet, as society adapts to a world immersed in artificial intelligence, the nation's intellectual property laws have yet to do the same. The Constitution seems to only contemplate human inventors when it says, in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, "The Congress shall have Power … To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." The Patent Act similarly seems to limit patents to humans when it says, at 35 U.S.C. § 100(f), "The term'inventor' means the individual or, if a joint invention, the individuals collectively who invented or discovered the subject matter of the invention." Recognizing the need to adapt, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) recently issued notices seeking public comments on intellectual property protection related to artificial intelligence.

Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool, but it's not a magic wand. Applying the technology requires thought and dedication, especially with legacy industries like law and insurance, which are being taken on in this way by Luminance and Omnius respectively. The companies' founders, Emily Foges and Sofie Quidenus-Wahlforss, spoke with great insight on this on stage at Disrupt Berlin. Luminance uses AI and natural language processing to help law firms process documents more quickly, not replacing the lawyer but providing additional intelligence and analysis of what may be hundreds or thousands of pages and saving time and money. Omnius applies AI not just to the text of insurance claims, but to the process of handling them, ensuring rapidity not only in documentation but in results like payouts.

Sonasoft delivers value-added AI–driven solutions targeting larger enterprises. We combine deep expertise in Data Engineering, Big Data Analytics and AI consulting. All of this is underpinned by NuGene, the world's first autonomous cognitive AI platform. Sonasoft is a publicly traded company since 2014. Your data is your most valuable resource.

Editor's Note: This article was updated on December 27, 2019 at 11 AM EST. The Robot Report spoke to Digital Dream Labs Founder H. Jacob Hanchar and added new information about relaunching Anki products and a potential subscription model and open-source Vector 2.0. Anki's robots might be making a comeback, after all. Digital Dream Labs, a Pittsburgh-based edtech startup, acquired all of Anki's assets – patents, trademarks, data, social media, and domain. It has hidden the Anki portfolio page from its website, but it remains active. Digital Dream Labs was founded in February 2015 by H. Jacob Hanchar, who has an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

The EU's Ursula von der Leyen plans AI legislation and funding, and the U.S. is also expected to create AI regulations

Before a rapt, standing-room-only audience of more than 300 students, faculty, and other members of the Law School community, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith '84 returned to campus on October 1 to discuss his new book, Tools and Weapons: The Promise and the Peril of the Digital Age (cowritten with Carol Ann Browne). The event with Gillian Lester, Dean and the Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law of Columbia Law School, and Professor Tim Wu, a leading authority on antitrust law who advocates for breaking up Big Tech companies, was the season's first installment of the Dean's Distinguished Speaker Series. "Brad may be the only tech executive who would willingly share the stage with Professor Wu, given Tim's strong and well-articulated position on the perils associated with the bigness of today's technology companies," said Dean Lester in her introduction. The conversation touched on a number of pressing concerns, including cybersecurity, government regulation, ethics, and human rights. Smith's book addresses the untold ramifications of digital technology's ubiquity in our personal lives, our societies, and our economies.

Robocars will not be accident-free. For regulators who harbor hopes of fostering a future of autonomous vehicles (AVs), this is a political reality that's likely to haunt them. For the public, it's a psychologically untenable prospect, especially if a robocar happens to flatten a loved one. From a technological standpoint, though, this inevitability is the starting point for engineers who want to develop safer AVs. "The safest human driver in the world is the one who never drives," said Jack Weast, Intel's senior principal engineer and Mobileye's vice president for autonomous vehicle standards.

Serial cybersecurity entrepreneur Shlomo Kramer said in a 2005 interview that cybersecurity is "a bit like Alice in Wonderland" where you run as fast as you can only to stay in place. In 2020, to paraphrase the second part of the Red Queen's observation (actually from Through the Looking Glass), if you wish to stay ahead of cyber criminals, you must run twice--or ten times--as fast as that. The 141 predictions listed here reveal the state-of-mind of key participants in the cybersecurity defense industry and highlight all that's hot today. The future is murky, but we know for sure that on January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will go into effect; that the U.S. presidential election will take place on November 3, 2020; and that on October 1, 2020, if you "wish to fly on commercial aircrafts or access federal facilities" in the U.S., you must have a REAL ID compliant card. Other than these known events, the crystal balls of the participants in this survey warn us ...

The year 2019 continued to take forward the trends in the world of Information Technology with increased usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Learning. But controversies also cropped up on the use of social media, impacting the industry and common man. The common man has started feeling the need to regulate the sector to ensure harmonious and progressive growth. It was in 2019 that people started thinking on these lines, especially after WhatsApp started spying on Indian journalists and human rights activists earlier this year. The Facebook-owned company also accepted that Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally that were spied on by unidentified entities using Pegasus, an Israeli spyware.