Following in the wake of the recent trouncing of humans by artificial intelligence platform AlphaGo, Google has announced the launch of a cloud-based machine learning platform. The search giant's new large-scale platform will be able to learn and make predictions'across a whole variety of scenarios', and is reminiscent of the fictional Skynet service from Terminator. A limited preview of the service is now available for users to build their own machine-learning models'that work on any type of data, of any size'. Following in the wake of the recent trouncing of humans by artificial intelligence platform AlphaGo, Google has announced the launch of a cloud-based machine learning platform. The search giant's new large-scale platform will be able to learn and make predictions'across a whole variety of scenarios' A limited preview of the service is now available for users to build their own machine-learning models'that work on any type of data, of any size'.

Even though it can't be widely generalized, it's still a very big deal. To put Google's AlphaGo win in perspective, let's consider the other two major victories of machines over humans in recent com... This is because AlphaGo displayed true cognition. Keep in mind we're not talking about Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) but it is Artificial Special Intelligence (ASI). Fairly significant, but not nearly as significant as presented in the press.

Supercomputers are about to achieve a quantity and level of intelligence which allows them to grow hyper-exponentially over a short period of time. We call them superintelligences and this sudden growth poses some risks because they will be much smarter than the best human brains in practically every field, including scientific creativity, general wisdom and social skills (Nick Bostrom). I don't question that this will happen, as Ray Kurzweil said "Our intuition about the future is linear. But the reality of information technology is exponential, and that makes a profound difference. If I take 30 steps linearly, I get to 30. If I take 30 steps exponentially, I get to a billion.".

Global technology leaders and senior executives from around the world spoke on a range of topics, including Digital India, Smart Cities, Make in India, Skill India and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D printing, drones, robotics, robotic surgeries and genomics, at the two-day EmTech India 2016 event, held in New Delhi on 18 and 19 March. The event was organized by Mint and MIT Technology Review, published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The speakers included Jack Hidary, senior adviser at Google X Labs; Bhaskar Pramanik, chairman of Microsoft India; and Sharad Sharma, co-founder of think tank iSPIRT. The full list can be accessed at emtech.livemint.com/speakers. Here are edited excerpts from their speeches. A moonshot is an initiative that accompanies a goal that was previously thought to be near impossible. Moonshot philosophy sounds like it is quite radical and risky, but actually it is low-risk. That is because it attracts the best human capital and finance. Moonshot approaches do a few things. First, they attract the best human capital, which is a key driver of growth. They attract the best financial capital as well; capital from big and long-term thinkers. One describes India as a moonshot nation. India itself is going through a radical transformation--the likes of what we have never seen. This is very different to what is happening in China or any other country in the world. It is a combination of smartphones, digital payments, broadband and power of energy storage coming together. Smartphones ease the access to the Internet and open up users to mobile apps and that really changes the name of the game.

In the neo-noir sci-fi classic, protagonist Neo is able to learn kung fu in seconds after the martial art is'uploaded' straight to his brain. Researchers from HRL Laboratories, based in California, say they have found a way to amplify learning, only on a much smaller scale than seen in the Hollywood film. They studied the electric signals in the brain of a trained pilot and then fed the data into novice subjects as they learned to pilot an aeroplane in a realistic flight simulator. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, found that subjects who received brain stimulation via electrode-embedded head caps improved their piloting abilities and learnt the task 33 per cent better than a placebo group.

Microsoft has created an artificial intelligence chat bot that is designed to become smarter the more people talk to it on social media sites such as Twitter. The bot, whose Twitter handle is'Tayandyou', has been dubbed by its creators as an "AI fam from the internet that's got zero chill." It has been created to allow researchers to help AI develop conversational understanding and and communicate in a human way. As well as being on Twitter it is also on messaging platforms Kik and GroupMe. It is explicitly aimed at 18-24-year-olds and speaks like a Millennial by incluidng emojis in its conversations.

In the neo-noir sci-fi classic, protagonist Neo is able to learn kung fu in seconds after the martial art is'uploaded' straight to his brain. Researchers from HRL Laboratories, based in California, say they have found a way to amplify learning, only on a much smaller scale than seen in the Hollywood film. They studied the electric signals in the brain of a trained pilot and then fed the data into novice subjects as they learned to pilot an aeroplane in a realistic flight simulator. The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, found that subjects who received brain stimulation via electrode-embedded head caps improved their piloting abilities and learnt the task 33 per cent better than a placebo group.

Depending on who you talk to, artificial intelligence (AI) will either be the saviour or nemesis of mankind. Elon Musk, of PayPal, Tesla Cars and SpaceX (sometimes described as a real life Iron Man) has likened AI to "summoning a demon" – i.e. once it's truly here it can't be controlled. Meanwhile, Demis Hassabis (himself referred to as a superhero of AI), founder of DeepMind Technologies – a British AI start-up acquired by Google in 2014 for 400 million – is on a quest for what he calls "the meta-solution to any problem" through AI. Debate will rightly rage about the future of AI, but what about the now? Research and development (R&D) into artificial intelligence has been going on for decades.

We don't yet understand either how to set or govern the rules of the new autonomous vehicle driving era – we need public debate before AV technology becomes widespread on our streets. On the 10 February 2016 the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration agreed to classify Google's artificial intelligence system as the legal'driver' of its automated vehicles (AVs). With this regulatory recognition, artificial intelligence and navigation systems' future role on our streets seems assured. But I believe we don't yet understand either how to set or govern the rules of this new driving era. To date, safety has been the main concern. How will the AVs interact with pedestrians, cyclists and human driven vehicles?

Somewhere in a Cupertino warehouse, a giant labors with robotic precision, its 29 arms singularly focused on one thing: an iPhone. But instead of putting pieces together, this robot is pulling pieces apart. It disassembles iPhones at the rate of one handset every 11 seconds--less time than it takes you to fish your phone out of an overcrowded bag. Apple calls the machine Liam. The project was kept secret for three years, says Mashable deputy tech editor Samantha Murphy Kelly, who was allowed a sneak preview of Liam in action.