Since time immemorial, humans have longed to learn what the future holds for them. Soothsayers, fortune-tellers and clairvoyants have targeted that particular market with gusto, with hundreds of discredited and often absurd methods. Think reading tea leaves, consulting tarot cards, numerology and phrenology. In Ancient Rome, there were even religious officials called haruspex who interpreted omens by inspecting the entrails of sacrificed animals. Whatever form fortune-telling takes, the basic outcome is the same: seeking meaning in random patterns and phenomenon.

Toyota has been working on humanoid robots for a while. It recently unveiled the THR-3 that's built to test specific joints and movements by putting together a full body that can be controlled by a human operator. The robot can mimic a variety of human movements in real time. NBC News is a leading source of global news and information. Here you will find clips from NBC Nightly News, Meet The Press, and original digital videos.

For its updated news application, Google is doubling down on the use of artificial intelligence as part of an effort to weed our disinformation and help users get viewpoints beyond their own "filter bubble." Google chief Sundar Pichai, who unveiled the updated Google News earlier this month, said the app now "surfaces the news you care about from trusted sources while still giving you a full range of perspectives on events." It marks Google's latest effort to be at the center of online news and includes a new push to help publishers get paid subscribers through the tech giant's platform. According to product chief Trystan Upstill, the news app "uses the best of artificial intelligence to find the best of human intelligence--the great reporting done by journalists around the globe." While the app will enable users to get "personalized" news, it will also include top stories for all readers, aiming to break the so-called filter bubble of information designed to reinforce people's biases.

For its updated news application, Google is doubling down on the use of artificial intelligence as part of an effort to weed our disinformation and help users get viewpoints beyond their own "filter bubble." Google chief Sundar Pichai, who unveiled the updated Google News earlier this month, said the app now "surfaces the news you care about from trusted sources while still giving you a full range of perspectives on events." It marks Google's latest effort to be at the center of online news and includes a new push to help publishers get paid subscribers through the tech giant's platform. According to product chief Trystan Upstill, the news app "uses the best of artificial intelligence to find the best of human intelligence -- the great reporting done by journalists around the globe." While the app will enable users to get "personalized" news, it will also include top stories for all readers, aiming to break the so-called filter bubble of information designed to reinforce people's biases.

The message of many things in America is "Like this or die." The camera is a small, white, curvilinear monolith on a pedestal. Inside its smooth casing are a microphone, a speaker, and an eye-like lens. After I set it up on a shelf, it tells me to look straight at it and to be sure to smile! The light blinks and then the camera flashes. A head-to-toe picture appears on my phone of a view I'm only used to seeing in large mirrors: me, standing awkwardly in my apartment, wearing a very average weekday outfit. The background is blurred like evidence from a crime scene. It is not a flattering image. Amazon's Echo Look, currently available by invitation only but also on eBay, allows you to take hands-free selfies and evaluate your fashion choices. "Now Alexa helps you look your best," the product description promises. Stand in front of the camera, take photos of two different outfits with the Echo Look, and then select the best ones on your phone's Echo Look app. Within about a minute, Alexa will tell you which set of clothes looks better, processed by style-analyzing algorithms and some assistance from humans.

WASHINGTON- For its updated news application, Google is doubling down on the use of artificial intelligence as part of an effort to weed out disinformation and help users get viewpoints beyond their own "filter bubble." Google chief Sundar Pichai, who unveiled the updated Google News earlier this month, said the app now "surfaces the news you care about from trusted sources while still giving you a full range of perspectives on events." It marks Google's latest effort to be at the center of online news and includes a new push to help publishers get paid subscribers through the tech giant's platform. According to product chief Trystan Upstill, the news app "uses the best of artificial intelligence to find the best of human intelligence -- the great reporting done by journalists around the globe." While the app will enable users to get "personalized" news, it will also include top stories for all readers, aiming to break the so-called filter bubble of information designed to reinforce people's biases.

WASHINGTON- For its updated news application, Google is doubling down on the use of artificial intelligence as part of an effort to weed out disinformation and help users get viewpoints beyond their own "filter bubble." Google chief Sundar Pichai, who unveiled the updated Google News earlier this month, said the app now "surfaces the news you care about from trusted sources while still giving you a full range of perspectives on events." It marks Google's latest effort to be at the center of online news and includes a new push to help publishers get paid subscribers through the tech giant's platform. According to product chief Trystan Upstill, the news app "uses the best of artificial intelligence to find the best of human intelligence -- the great reporting done by journalists around the globe." While the app will enable users to get "personalized" news, it will also include top stories for all readers, aiming to break the so-called filter bubble of information designed to reinforce people's biases.

Mike serves as Head of Data Science at Uber ATG, UC Berkeley Data Science faculty, and head of Skymind Labs the Machine Learning research lab affiliated with DeepLearning4J. He has led teams of Data Scientists in the bay area as Chief Data Scientist for InterTrust and Takt, Director of Data Sciences for MetaScale/Sears, and CSO for Galvanize where he founded the galvanizeU-UNH accredited Masters of Science in Data Science degree and oversaw the company's transformation from co-working space to Data Science organization. Mike began his career in academia serving as a mathematics teaching fellow for Columbia University before teaching at the University of Pittsburgh.

TechRepublic's Dan Patterson talked with Michael Fauscette, CRO of software solutions company, G2 Crowd about the threat posed by video face-swapping technology. Patterson: Michael, let's talk a little bit about, it may seem like a funny novelty, but the serious threats involved with AI-based face swapping, how does this technology work? Fauscette: Well, it's something that's evolved very quickly over the last I would say, probably a year. And it was originally designed just basically a project was somebody playing around with technology based on artificial intelligence machine learning, and using face swap sort of algorithm that would let you cut somebody's face out of the video and put it onto the somebody's else's body. Of course, as you'd expect, the first trials of that were pretty rough and pretty easy to tell.

Two words you'll have heard a lot of over the past year or so. It's been such a popular term that it even made Word of the Year for 2017. But there is a much more to it than being a large part of Trump's vocabulary. This is a'uge problem that needs to be addressed and tackled. So, what is it then?