The main technique behind recent advances in AI hardly lives up to the name "artificial intelligence". There is little intelligent about it: machine learning is a brute force exercise in big data analysis, looking for hidden patterns that have predictive value.

Facebook artificial intelligence researchers have come up with a novel way to make cartoonish avatars look like they're really playing musical instruments. The work could lead to fascinating augmented reality or virtual reality experiences in the future. In a new paper, Facebook research scientists Eli Shlizerman and Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman and collaborators Lucio Dery and Hayden Schoen talk about how they trained AI systems using YouTube videos of piano and violin recitals. They then used the trained systems to make avatars move their hands and fingers with fake instruments based solely on audio recordings, with the help of Apple's ARKit AR software for developers. Teaching machines to understand how people move is an active area of AI research and one that has been explored by researchers at other technology companies, including Google and Microsoft.

For any media company that's producing and distributing large volumes of content, highly specific metadata is the foundation that other publisher tools will be built upon. Metadata provides a way of finding, identifying and classifying videos thus making them highly searchable and shareable. Using Deep Learning, Vilynx exposes the multi-level intelligence of video assets to enable publishers more efficient content management. Most recommendation systems rely on the relationships between the content in videos to provide appealing suggestions about which other videos you might also want to see. To solve this, some publishers have resorted to semantic analysis of content as well as basic collaborative filters to power content recommendations.

The 20 most popular things our readers bought on Amazon in 2017 (Photo: Reviewed.com) If you make a purchase by clicking one of our links, we may earn a small share of the revenue. However, our picks and opinions are independent from USA TODAY's newsroom and any business incentives. At the end of the year, it's always fun to look back at what you've accomplished in the past year. So I was thrilled to dig through our data and learn a bit about what really resonated with our readers.

I had somebody ask me questions this week about underwater photography and videography with robots (well, now it is a few weeks ago…). I am not an expert at underwater robotics, however as a SCUBA diver I have some experience that can be applicable towards robotics. There are some challenges that exist with underwater photography and videography, that are less challenging above the water. This causes certain colors to not be visible at certain depths. If you need to see those colors you often need to bring strong lights to restore the visibility of those wavelengths that were absorbed.

Bee Gees singer Barry Gibb and Beatles drummer Ringo Starr have been knighted, and Strictly judge Darcey Bussell made a dame, in the New Year Honours. Ex-Deputy PM Nick Clegg and War Horse novelist Michael Morpurgo also receive knighthoods, and author Jilly Cooper and TV chef Rick Stein become CBEs. Among five honours for the World Cup-winning England Women cricket team is an OBE for captain Heather Knight. Ex-astronaut Helen Sharman joins the Order of St Michael and St George. Alexandra Shulman, who recently stood down as editor of British Vogue after 25 years; actors Hugh Laurie and Susan Hampshire, and leading artificial intelligence researcher Demis Hassabis are made CBEs.

A new Black Mirror episode has cast a chilling outlook on the rise of robotic companions like Boston Dynamics' nimble mechanical'dogs.' Boston Dynamics' videos chronicling the dogs' progression have risen to viral fame – but, despite their popularity and incredible abilities, some people, including the show's creators, have noticed something unnerving about the robo-dogs. In a new episode titled'Metalhead' from the just-released fourth season, Black Mirror explores what could happen if these machines turned on us, revealing the terrifying quest for survival in a world where robo-dogs can outrun and outsmart humans. For viewers, the appearance of the human-hunting robo-dogs may feel shockingly close to home. The episode came about, in part, 'from watching Boston Dynamics videos,' creator Charlie Brooker told EW Robert Daly presides over his crew with wisdom and courage. But a new recruit will soon discover nothing on this spaceship is what it seems.'

SDL, a leader in global content creation, management, translation and delivery, today announced its Five Future States of Content, a series of disruptive content trends for brands to watch in 2018. With content at the heart of every customer journey, SDL predicts content will hit a new dimension of organizational importance, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) playing a leading role in automating content creation, translation, organization and delivery. Self-creating and organizing content may seem like something out of a science fiction movie but advances in AI and ML make this, and other exciting advancements, a reality for brands now and in 2018. SDL's Five Future States of Content report looks at where AI and ML are set to make the greatest impact in the way content is securely created, managed, translated and delivered to global audiences. The demand for content is too high to keep pace with: Content will create itself In his book "The Grand Design," world famous physicist Stephen Hawking argues that the universe can create itself out of nothing.

Thanks to ever more rapidly advancing modern technology, we hardly have to move from the comfort of our beds to complete anything from shopping to scheduling appointments. But sometimes it's not all it's cracked up to be, as a series of hilarious viral tweets has proved. From receiving unwanted sex toys through the post, to witnessing rather spooky'flirtations' between an Alexa and a Google Home, perplexed gadget lovers have been sharing their virtual assistants' biggest fails on social media... Modern technology is advanced as ever, but sometimes it's not all it's cracked up to be, as a series of hilarious viral tweets have proved Perhaps the old school way really is the best? A peckish child was left disappointed after their McDonald's order turned out to be a book Things that go bump in the night! Alexa scared her owners when she let out a'ghostly wail' out of nowhere Alexa decided she'd rather turn on a lullaby than the lights... surely making for a rather dark musical experience A tweeter was left embarrassed after Alexa pointed out he didn't have a Porsche, when prompted to turn on the porch lights When add pampers turns to add cancer: One Tweeter was left perplexed by Alexa's apparent hearing impediment Alexa's attempt at initiative was quickly shut down by one owner'Do something': Alexa gave one owner a rather unhelpful #alexafail reminder The comments below have not been moderated.