Artificial intelligence (AI) causes a mixture of marvel and fear. A machine's ability to perform a human function is certainly fascinating, but what if machines get so good that they displace the need for humans altogether? It's an understandable dread that conjures up dystopian visions, but only if you fail to see the technology's true potential. As AI takes on human qualities, its mission isn't to threaten, but rather to enhance. Through complex learning algorithms, contextual analysis and image recognition, AI does work that humans, prone to distraction and fatigue, cannot match in accuracy or frequency. AI spots trends and patterns way faster than humans with its seemingly infinite capacity to learn, analyze, recognize and recommend.

Some 70 years ago, computer scientist Alan Turing famously set the bar for artificial intelligence: a computer that could convince a human conversation partner that it was a person. On a recent spring afternoon in the Flow Machines laboratory, located on a quiet street in the Fifth Arrondissement of Paris, senior researcher Pierre Roy was more concerned with his music-making AI software's ability to create a convincingly catchy song. "So far, from the technical standpoint, no one knows how to do a proper song, to tell a story," he said. Flow Machines, a project of Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Paris that receives funding from the European Research Council, is developing an AI program that can compose compelling, professional-quality music -- an aim shared by similar ventures such as Jukedeck in the UK and Google's Magenta project. Ever since Turing defined his test, popular culture has fixated on the idea of sentient AI, both benign and catastrophically malign.

Deals to AI startups reached a record high last year, from 160 deals in 2012 to 658 in 2016. Although non-US deal share has been increasing over the time period, well over a majority of deals, around 70%, went to startups in the US in the last 5 years. The top 3 states for deals were California (51%), New York (11%), and Massachusetts (9%). Using the CB Insights database, we mapped the most well-funded AI startups in each of the 34 states where there have been equity deals to an AI company in the last five years. The map only includes companies that have not exited and only includes equity financing.

For all the excitement about policing the web with image detection algorithms, machine learning, and other tools, the task of keeping the internet functioning and habitable still falls to people. Beneath the slick automation of companies like Google and Facebook hides a hidden army of manual laborers--many in countries like India and the Philippines. They perform the tedious, disturbing task that machines still can't, and that most Americans won't: Filtering social media sites for obscenities, abuse, and violence. In their short documentary The Moderators, filmmakers Adrian Chen and Ciaran Cassidy go inside an Indian firm doing that work, capturing a week-long training session for new employees. Their film, which WIRED is premiering online, centers on a group of young Indians starting their first jobs for Bangalore-based Foiwe Info Global Solutions, whose clients include a handful of dating sites in the US, Europe, and India.

The robot apocalypse is probably a ways off, but the pop culture robot apocalypse arrived years ago. Our movies imagine a doom spiral of slavery and extinction, but reality is a bit different: Robots build cars and dance for our pleasure. Imagine robots are terrifying and real robots are useful, but that doesn't stop us from fearing our potential overlords. To be clear, what I'm talking about is closer to prejudice than "robophobia," which is, by definition, an irrational fear. The fear of robots I'm referring to seems to stem from associations people make and conclusions that they draw. The fear is not irrational, but that doesn't mean it's well thought out.

How can machines help with composing music? Ed Newton-Rex of Jukedeck reveals how his company uses machine learning to create instant customisable music that's different every time. What possibilities lie ahead for this area of AI? Will we see computer-composed tunes infiltrating our playlists? Will it put film composers out of business?

After the Storm A sublimely simple family drama from Japanese writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda, a filmmaker assured enough to hide his mastery in plain sight. Nothing is overemphasized, and nothing escapes his attention. Frantz Beautifully shot in black-and-white with the occasional warm burst of color, French writer-director François Ozon's intricately layered post-World War I drama puts a feminist spin on Ernst Lubitsch's 1932 anti-war film, "Broken Lullaby." Heal the Living Unusual in its story, unexpected in its structure, made with an unerring instinct for emotional connection, this French drama wallops us without ever overplaying its hand. I Am Not Your Negro As directed by the gifted Raoul Peck, this documentary on James Baldwin uses the entire spectrum of movie effects, not only spoken language but also sound, music, editing and all manner of visuals, to create a cinematic essay that is powerful and painfully relevant.

Over 60% of Britons believe artificial intelligence (AI) and robots will soon have the potential to malfunction and even kill humans. This concern rises to 72% when those who understand and are interested in AI are asked about their fears over future robots. Participants were asked: "Films and TV series...portray intelligent robots who malfunction and kill humans. How far away do you feel we are from the technology depicted in the films?" Just 9% believed such a scenario is "very unlikely", while 45% said it was likely and 17% considered a future of robots killing humans as "very likely".

About Rylan: Rylan Schaeffer is a recent graduate from UC Davis with a double Bachelor's in computer science engineering and statistics. He's currently looking for a job or an internship, so if you know of any software engineering, machine learning or data science opportunities, please contact him. He lives in Mountain View and spends his time coding, swimming and reading science fiction when not blogging about academic papers. I've found that the overwhelming majority of online information on artificial intelligence research falls into one of two categories: the first is aimed at explaining advances to lay audiences, and the second is aimed at explaining advances to other researchers. I haven't found a good resource for people with a technical background who are unfamiliar with the more advanced concepts and are looking for someone to fill them in.

The next time you're strolling through a Walt Disney theme park, your snugly hug or photo with your favorite character may be with a super realistic robot-- and not a person in a costume. Disney Enterprises Inc. announced it has filed a U.S. patent for a 3D printed, interactive, soft robot. The application describes the new "soft body" robot to be built specifically for "physical interaction with humans." Disney has a dedicated robotics research department, which is currently developing several projects designed to create a "future in which robots interact with humans in complex, unpredictable environments." If thoughts of a sci-fi world where sentient Disney characters take over the planet and wipe out humanity crossed your mind, fear not, the patent details the robots will actually be operated via a romote controlled device.