Joe Kennedy, father of the late President John F. Kennedy, once said that, when shoeshine boys start giving you stock tips, the financial bubble is getting too big for its own good. By that same logic, when Hollywood actors start tweeting about a once-obscure part of artificial intelligence (A.I.), you know that something big is happening, too. That's exactly what occurred recently when Zach Braff, the actor-director still best known for his performance as J.D. on the medical comedy series Scrubs, recorded himself reading a Scrubs-style monolog written by an A.I. Braff reads, adopting the thoughtful tone J.D. used to wrap up each episode in the series. "A hospital is a lot like a high school: the most amazing man is dying, and you're the only one who wants to steal stuff from his dad. Being in a hospital is a lot like being in a sorority. You have greasers and surgeons. And even though it sucks about Doctor Tapioca, not even that's sad."

Artificial intelligence (AI) is giving University of Waterloo researchers new insights to help reduce wear-and-tear injuries and boost the productivity of skilled construction workers.

China's National Development and Reform Commission recently announced subsidies to 56 artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics companies. This was in line with its goal to become an'innovation nation' by 2020.

When artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on jobs and the economy comes up, the conversation centers on blue collar jobs. Per The State of Automation Report, there are 4.6M such jobs at risk in the USA due to AI. But, the jobs of MBAs and their white-collar brethren will also be impacted dramatically by AI. A growing wave of AI-infused Expert Automation & Augmentation Software (EAAS, pronounced /ēz/) platforms will usher in a new era of AI-assisted or AI-enhanced productivity. This AI-enhanced productivity is threatening jobs at the lower end of the white-collar spectrum as evidenced by these recent headlines. But to start, Expert Automation & Augmentation Software will be more focused on augmentation, i.e., helping humans do countless complex tasks that are either beyond human cognition and/or inefficient for human beings to do (read thousands of pages of patents and understand key topics). Think of these AI-enhanced assistants as junior analysts (lawyers, journalists, etc) who never tire and who can process information beyond human capacity but who will still need the steady eye of a manager to make subjective judgments.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs of South Korea drew up the'Sixth Construction Technology Promotion Basic Plan', a road map for construction technology policies that respond to the fourth industrial revolution such as smart construction automation. According to the basic plan, first of all, the ministry will develop smart construction technology to cope with the fourth industrial revolution. This means utilizing 3D design technology in order to overcome the disadvantages of difficulties in precise construction and accidents as work is done in the field. Especially, Korea will develop automation technology which produces with 3D printers at plants and enables AI-based construction robots after virtual construction. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is planning to prepare design standards and manuals to induce the use of BIM technology and to make BIM design obligatory for road projects which cost more than 50 billion won per project by 2020.

Grasping the true potential of artificial intelligence (AI) is like trying to understand how a mantis shrimp sees the world. Mantis shrimp have the best colour vision of any creature on the planet. Humans can perceive just a paltry snippet of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. We see that slice as a continuum of reflected colour from deep red to rich violet -- a rainbow flag of hues. We have three types of photoreceptors called cones, each sensitive to different wavelengths of light.

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" came in strong at the box office this holiday season, bringing around $1 billion worldwide to date since its mid-December release, along with an array of campaigns dedicated to celebrating the classic sci-fi series. IBM Watson decided to get in on the fun too, with their "Science and Star Wars" series hosted on the official Star Wars YouTube channel. The series features nine different episodes (a nod to the nine main Star Wars films, perhaps?) that focus on different ways real-life technology collides with some of the iconic series' most beloved gadgets, heroes and themes. There's lightsabers, droids, a study on "The Force" and, what caught our eye -- a closer look at C-3P0, artificial intelligence, and customer experience. For those not familiar with C-3P0, he's what's called a "protocol droid," and companion to trusty sidekick R2-D2. Though articulate, C-3PO's robotic body limits his range of inflection and physical motion that are, as IBM Fellow Dr. John R. Smith says, important indicators when assessing natural of human interaction.

Next December, there'll be a new entrant into the end-of-year, blockbuster science fiction movie category: the Peter Jackson film Mortal Engines. A teaser trailer for it dropped just before the holidays, and there's really only one thing you need to know about it. Now, I know the movie is based on a book series, which probably has a lot of detail about these giant ambulatory dwellings. But I like to try and see what I can figure out just from the trailer itself. So let's get into some off the wall estimations.

Sex robots could make men not women obsolete, according to a top mathematician. Dr Cathy O'Neil from Harvard University claims females of the future could get spoiled by'dashing menbots' who also do the dishes. It's a basic human need to want someone to love and have sex with but most women also look for someone who does their fair share of chores around the house. The mathematician says it is'entirely possible' that robots will outperform men and women of the future could choose to live with menbots instead. Dr Cathy O'Neil from Harvard University claims females of the future could get spoiled by'dashing menbots' who also do the dishes (stock image) There are around five makers of sex robots worldwide, with prices ranging from around £4,000 ($5,400) to more than £11,600 ($15,700) for a'deluxe' model.