At the Cisco Partner Summit 2016 conference, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins today pledged to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in the months ahead as part of an effort to drive analytics, automation and security deep into both the data center and the core networks that connect them. "We'll be driving AI into the core and across the security layer," says Robbins. "The network has been watching everything that happens for the past 20 years. The time has come to unleash that power." While Robbins did not provide any specifics, he did say those capabilities will extend from public and private clouds out to endpoints using one common integrated architecture that provides a unified IT experience. In the meantime, Cisco today launched the latest extension of the Cisco UCS Series.

In terms of technological progress, there is a lack of inter-operability standards for data exchange between applications, which prevents radical personalization. To be truly useful, machine learning systems require greater amounts of personal data – data that is currently siloed in proprietary databases of competing technology companies. Those who have the data hold the power. Some companies, most notably Apple and Viv, have started to democratize this power by experimenting with third-party service integration. Most recently, some of the largest technology companies announced a major partnership to collaborate on AI research that benefits the many, not the few.

A new wearable aid for the blind and visually impaired people uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to better analyze fed data from cameras and sensors. The device is being developed by Swiss startup Eyra, and is named Horus, after the Egyptian god. Its an apt symbol since stories tell us that Horus lost his eye in a fight only to have it restored by another god. Horus is a wrap-around headband equipped with two cameras to watch for what's in front of the user. The images seen are narrated through earpieces that directly stimulate the tiny bones in the ear, with a technology called bone conduction.

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Spot the Robot Dog gets kicked. Why was I programmed to feel pain?" The question is played for laughs, but like so many memorable scenes from this most beloved of shows, it also taps into some of the deeper, overarching themes that define our modern civilization. Pain is a fundamental fact of life for many organisms on our planet; a crucial mechanism for identifying what kinds of actions pose serious threats to our physical and mental health. As robots become more sophisticated and interactive, should they also be programmed to experience pain to prevent injuries to themselves or others, and if so, to what extent? "Pain in the Machine," a 12-minute documentary released by the University of Cambridge on Monday, tackles this multifaceted and controversial issue. The film offers insights from artificial intelligence thought leaders, practicing physicians, and other interdisciplinary experts, and contrasts them with iconic popular culture moments that point to the larger philosophical questions inherent to artificially programming pain responses--including a nod to burning robot bit in The Simpsons. Like so many AI research fields, evaluating the utility and benefits of pain in robots inevitably flips the mirror back on our understanding of how those experiences function and protect us in our own lives. "Pain has fascinated philosophers for centuries," Ben Seymour, a Cambridge-based expert on the computational and systems neuroscience of pain, comments in the documentary. "Indeed, some people consider pain to be the pinnacle of consciousness.

Arthur C. Clarke famously stated that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." No current technology embodies this statement more than neural networks and deep learning. And like any good magic it not only dazzles and inspires but also puts fear into people's hearts. One known property of artificial neural networks (ANNs) is that they are universal function approximators. This means that any mathematical function can be represented by a neural network.

Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo said in a statement Tuesday that she is holding the company accountable because it is "unfairly demanding more money to complete an 8-year-old computer upgrade" and is "trying to double the price of this project." She referred to a 2013 pledge made by CEO Meg Whitman to devote more resources to get the project done in a way state residents deserved.

Microsoft hosts its Future Decoded event on an annual basis at London's ExCeL center in the fast-regenerating'docklands' area. But was this year's event just another set of polished executives striding around talking about so-called'business transformation', or were there guts and substance of any kind? The firm in fact devoted much of its opening statements and arguments to discuss intelligent machines, neural networks and Artificial Intelligence (AI). By way of introduction, Microsoft UK CEO Cindy Rose leads the software firm's British operations. The New York Law School educated Rose explained some of the company's new business models and detailed the firm's approach to now operating datacenters in the UK itself -- and this is always important for so-called'data residency' and data sovereignty.

Algorithms are hidden heroes of the modern world. Whether they are making sure you see your best friend's social posts, recommending you new music or suggesting your next favourite film, they have become central to our lives. However, we have only seen the start of algorithms' impact. There will be no sector left untouched by this oncoming revolution and the fashion industry is no exception. The technology is already making waves, playing a vital role in recommendation engines, which display items of clothing based on the user's browsing history.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the pace of technological advancement has been something of a mixed blessing when it comes to job creation (or retraction). As major industries moved from the age of manual labor into the era of automation (around 1760-1840, if you want to get geeky about it), the world as we know it has irrevocably changed everything about the way we work, with an undisputable trend towards improved operational efficiencies, enhanced worker productivity and outcomes not previously possible in earlier agrarian ages. If you missed that part of your Freshman year history class or still think Jethro Tull was the name of a singer in the eponymous rock group (they were named after the inventor of the seed plow, for the record), let me refresh your memory. In a short span of a hundred years, humans witnessed a boom in innovation and advancement that was unrivalled in human history. We talk a lot about the concepts of "disruption" and "innovation," but advances like the Bessemer process of steel manufacture, the Cotton Gin, the photograph, the telegram, the automatic weapon and sundry other advancements fundamentally altered everything from the way we moved from water wheels to steam engines to the way we now purchase clothes.