While some still consider AI to be beyond the grasp of developing countries, our South American neighbours have been shattering that stereotype. AI is being deployed in a number of their endeavours: to speed up artefact findings in Peru; to increase crop yields in Colombian rice fields through AI-powered platforms; to boost security and enhance customer service in Brazil's banking sector; to create vegan alternatives with the same taste and texture as animal-based foods in Chile's food industry; to predict school dropouts and teenage pregnancy in Argentina; and to forecast crimes in Uruguay. Some of the push in AI adoption in these countries has come from academics and researchers, like the ones at the University of Sao Paulo who are developing AI to determine the susceptibility of patients to disease outbreaks; or Peru's National Engineering University where robots are being used for mine exploration to detect gases; or Argentina's National Scientific and Technical Research Council where AI software is predicting early onset pluripotent stem cell differentiation. These and other truths were revealed to me at a Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) Workshop on AI organized by Facebook and the Inter-American Development Bank in Montevideo, Uruguay, in November this year. I was the lone Caribbean participant in attendance, presenting my paper entitled: AI & The Caribbean: A Discussion on Potential Applications & Ethical Considerations, on behalf of the Shridath Ramphal Centre (UWI, Cave Hill).

Regulation of the powerful and fast growing Technology Industry is fast becoming a hot topic of concern for government due to its many impacts upon nations and societies, both good and bad. In order to better shape those issues involving technology, it is important understand two basic conceptions which are pillars in the current technology deployment: Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The positive impacts of these technolgies are those related to the fact that technology can be very useful to help daily life. No one could deny that is easier and more comfortable being guided by algorithms and artificial Intelligence when we are driving, choosing prices and making shops. The negative aspects can be defined by the vulnerabilities that flow from the uses of these technologies.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an area of strategic importance and a key driver of economic development. It can bring solutions to many societal challenges from treating diseases to minimising the environmental impact of farming. However, socio-economic, legal and ethical impacts have to be carefully addressed. It is essential to join forces in the European Union to stay at the forefront of this technological revolution, to ensure competitiveness and to shape the conditions for its development and use (ensuring respect of European values). The Commission is increasing its annual investments in AI by 70% under the research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.

BlackBoiler, an AI-based pre-execution contract review start-up, has bagged four patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). But, perhaps the bigger question is: are patents for legal tech companies of any real use (see below)? Profiled in Artificial Lawyer this September – BlackBoiler aims to reduce the time that lawyers spend reviewing and marking up documents such as NDAs, service agreements, and other high-volume contracts. One of the approved patents, is a'Method and System for Suggesting Revisions to an Electronic Document', which the company says is a core component of its pre-execution technology for contract analysis. The technology suggests revisions to a document-under-analysis (DUA) and is part of a family of three patents as well as additional patent applications claiming this method.

The European Commission's incoming president has promised to introduce new legislation governing AI amid fears about Europe's increasing dependence on US tech. Ursula von der Leyen set out her plans in a speech on Wednesday after the European Parliament approved her and her cabinet's appointment. The commission chief, who has pledged to create a range of new laws within the first 100 days of her presidency, said she was in favour of a AI-focused legislation similar to the General Data Protection Regulation that came into effect last year. "It is not about damming up the flow of data," she said. "It is about making rules that define how to handle data responsibly. For us the protection of a person's digital identity is the overriding priority."

A worker lifts a lunch bowl off the production line at Spyce, a restaurant which uses a robotic cooking process, in Boston. Robots aren't replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely disrupted as artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of today's work, according to a Brookings Institution report. A worker lifts a lunch bowl off the production line at Spyce, a restaurant which uses a robotic cooking process, in Boston. Robots aren't replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely A worker lifts a lunch bowl off the production line at Spyce, a restaurant which uses a robotic cooking process, in Boston. Robots aren't replacing everyone, but a quarter of U.S. jobs will be severely disrupted as artificial intelligence accelerates the automation of today's work, according to a Brookings Institution report.

SA Bobde, the Chief Justice of India said that the Supreme Court has proposed to introduce a system of AI (artificial intelligence) that would help in better administration of justice delivery. However, he made clear that people should form the impression that the AI would ever replace the judges. The CJI was addressing the Constitution Day function organized by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA). He said – "We propose to introduce, if possible, a system of artificial intelligence. There are many things which we need to look at before we introduce ourselves. We do not want to give the impression that this is ever going to substitute the judges."

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning are used to power a variety of important modern software technologies. AI also powers the facial recognition software commonly used by law enforcement, landlords, and private citizens. Of all the uses for AI-powered software, facial recognition is a big deal. Security teams from large buildings that rely on video surveillance – like schools and airports – can benefit greatly from this technology. An AI algorithm has the potential to detect a known criminal or an unauthorized person on the property.

Minority Report was a classic Steven Spielberg sci-fi film. Employing tech-noir, the film exhibited a dystopian plot showcasing the dire pitfalls and consequences of predictive law enforcement. The movie conceived a futuristic technology, mixing psychics and premonitions, to pre-empt crime, with a suspect apprehended using a special department labelled, quite literally, "PreCrime". Similar themes surrounding the deployment of intelligent machines to aid in law enforcement and criminal justice, which in turn go awry, have consistently featured in popular culture. These seemingly grandiose notions of artificial intelligence (AI) are rapidly finding themselves at play in real life.

Michael Kwet is a Visiting Fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School. He is the author of Digital Colonialism: US Empire and the New Imperialism in the Global South, and hosts the Tech Empire podcast. "Beggars" and "vagrants" are not welcome in Parkhurst, South Africa, a mostly white, middle-class suburb of about 5,000 on the outskirts of Johannesburg's inner city. Criminals are on the prowl, residents warn, and they threaten their neighborhood security. To combat crime, the locals came up with a solution: place CCTV surveillance cameras everywhere. However, these are not the camera networks of times past. Thanks to advancements in machine learning and AI, CCTV systems are now equipped with sophisticated video analytics that can track a wide range of behaviors, objects, and patterns, in addition to individual faces. Armed with powerful new tech, communities of color can be watched, flagged, policed, and intimidated into submission. I've spent the past several years studying the video surveillance industry in South Africa. During that time, a private corporation called Vumacam has been quietly assembling a "smart" CCTV surveillance network in the suburbs of Johannesburg. Earlier this year, the company announced it would blanket Joburg with 15,000 cameras.