In the U.S., corporations have been given rights of free speech and religion. Some natural features also have person-like rights. A new argument has laid a path for artificial intelligence systems to be recognized as people too – without any legislation, court rulings or other revisions to existing law. Legal scholar Shawn Bayer has shown that anyone can confer legal personhood on a computer system, by putting it in control of a limited liability corporation in the U.S. If that maneuver is upheld in courts, artificial intelligence systems would be able to own property, sue, hire lawyers and enjoy freedom of speech and other protections under the law. In my view, human rights and dignity would suffer as a result.

When your computer breaks, it's always recommended to go back to the manufacturer before trying other repair options. They are likely to have a guaranteed fix and sometimes can do it free of charge, with third-parties coming in handy if the fix is simple or if the manufacturer is charging too much. For users of Apple's iMac Pro and 2018 MacBook Pros, however, the manufacturer and its authorized service partners may soon be the only option. According to documents received by MacRumors and Motherboard, the computers will need to run a proprietary piece of Apple diagnostic software once parts are replaced before computer can be used again, locking users out otherwise. The new policy affects repairs for the 2018 MacBook Pro's display, Touch ID fingerprint sensor, casing, keyboard, battery, trackpad, speakers and internal logic board, MacRumors said.

In the previous two episodes, Bryson cut through the smoke and mirrors around resistance to AI regulation, and broke down the importance of due diligence in the software development process. In this final installment, Bryson revisits the challenge of rooting out AI bias, explains why machines won't take over the world, and reveals the secret to AI success. Hope you enjoy the conversation. Appian: Earlier you said that you don't think a company on a mission to "move fast and break things" will be able to prove they did due diligence, when bad things happen with their software. Bryson: No matter what industry you're in, you should be able to show that you followed very careful methods of software construction--including using machine learning.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a request for information seeking industry and academia feedback on the latest artificial intelligence tools to bolster the agency's internal search function. Patent examiners have a tough job: reviewing millions of applications submitted each year to discover whether they truly add anything unique to the body of human knowledge. As the amount of knowledge--data--in the world increases exponentially, those examiners are looking for help from a digital counterpart. When an application is submitted to USPTO, an examiner is assigned the case and begins sifting through all available data related to the invention in an effort to find "prior art," or "all information that has been made available to the public in any form before a given date that might be relevant to a patent application's claims of novelty and non-obviousness," according to the office. This task is fast becoming too large for any human to accomplish on their own.

In an earlier article, Can AI inventions be patented in Europe?, we discussed how the EPO is likely to assess patent applications directed towards AI. The EPO has now updated its official guidelines to include a specific section on this topic. A preview of the update can be found here and will come into force on 1st November 2018. The update to the guidelines provides further clarity on how the EPO's existing legal framework will be applied to AI inventions. Generally, the update confirms that the same rules that are applied to all computer-implemented inventions will apply to inventions involving AI.

It's how we've always made sense of the world: Our ancestors wouldn't have survived if they hadn't realized that plants tend to flourish after rainfall or that sabertooth tigers tended to eat them. But sometimes we're just a little too good at finding meaning in the noise, occasionally unable to separate real patterns from those of our own imagining. These days, your pattern matching skills will help you find Waldo, but they are also why celebrities' faces keep popping up on tortillas. At their most paranoid and byzantine, these pattern-matching misfires are called conspiracy theories: unfounded, deeply held alternative explanations for how things are--often invoking some shadowy, malevolent force masterminding the coverup. It's an unfounded, deeply held alternative explanations for how things are--often invoking some shadowy, malevolent force masterminding the coverup. Conspiracy theories thrive on the internet, but that's certainly not where they were born. The Flat Earth Society has existed since the 1800s, and people have been speculating about which people are secretly living or dead at least since 68 AD, when Romans weren't convinced their arsonist emperor Nero had actually committed suicide. But conspiracies and the digital world do mesh well, probably because they scratch similar itches in our not-quite-domesticated psyches.

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare is undoubtedly having a moment. It is already transforming fields such as medical imaging where AI revolutionises image analysis, expanding its reach and improving overall quality. With the UK Government planning an AI revolution, healthcare AI start-ups stand to benefit, but only if they place Intellectual Property (IP) at the centre of their business strategy. Earlier this year, prime minister Theresa May called for health charities, the NHS and the AI community to work together by pooling data. "The development of smart technologies to analyse great quantities of data quickly and with a higher degree of accuracy than is possible by human beings opens up a whole new field of medical research and gives us a new weapon in our armoury in the fight against disease", she said during her speech.

A £10 million innovation fund has been unveiled to'lay the groundwork' for a future of flying cars and ethical robot lawyers. Business secretary Greg Clark has today (5 October) announced the 15 winning bidders for the government's Regulators' Pioneer Fund. The cash will be given to UK regulators to help drive forward innovation in the public sector and help it seize long-term opportunities like the growth of AI and the future of mobility. A £700,000 grant has been given to the Solicitors Regulation Authority to help the development of AI legal services for small businesses – dubbed'robolawyers'. The SRA's chief executive, Paul Philip, said AI services could widen access to legal services.

The sportswear giant Nike, which has a contract reported to be worth $1bn (£768m) with Cristiano Ronaldo, says it is "deeply concerned" by rape allegations against the footballer. It adds that it will "closely monitor" the situation. Ronaldo, who plays for Juventus and Portugal, denies assaulting former teacher Kathryn Mayorga at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. Ms Mayorga has said she was inspired to speak out by the #MeToo movement. Meanwhile, another Ronaldo sponsor, the games company EA Sports, called the report detailing allegations against him "concerning".

Artificial Intelligence is an emerging transformative technology that is poised to revolutionize the way we live. The race is on to build AI systems that successfully simulate human intelligence. Companies have begun to recognize the advantages AI can bring into their products and have started pouring investments into research & development (R&D) efforts in the field, investing in larger compute power and acquiring talent from universities and start-up companies. Notably, the increasing adoption of AI has resulted into a predicted significant growth increase in the AI market, with market growth rate estimates reaching as high as 60% for 2017–2022.[1] Based on our analysis, IBM has had more AI-related utility patents and patent applications (P/PA) with filing dates over 2004–2018 than any other company.