As machine learning - the ability of computers to learn without being explicitly programmed - gets more mainstream and involved in our lives, here is how machines learn.

A supercomputer whirs away in London, crunching complex drug chemistries into deep learning algorithms to discover new medications. A few miles away, a DeepMind neural network scans millions of images from Moorfields Eye Hospital, searching for signs of eye disease. The application casually asks if you still have that headache from yesterday and if you'd like to book a doctor's appointment for tomorrow. Of all the fields that artificial intelligence will disrupt in the coming years, healthcare may see the greatest paradigm shift. AI's influence in the industry will be deep and broad.

Windows has a feature it doesn't like to talk about. While the OS lets you scrawl notes with a stylus, log in with you face (or secure the Web) via Windows Hello, and even order Cortana to set a reminder, what it's not so eager for you to do, apparently, is use its speech recognition engine to issue commands or take voice dictation. The reason for its silence may go back 10 years, to when Microsoft product manager Shanen Boettcher demonstrated voice dictation inside Windows Vista--and flubbed it. The technology kept a low profile after that, and today, few users know you can dictate a document within Windows. If there were ever a time for Windows to try again, though, it would seem to be now, when advances in computers and artificial intelligence provide a much better foundation for the technology.

WASHINGTON – With modern technology, people can watch hurricanes churn in real time and forecasts are on-target up to seven days in advance -- but experts say some puzzling storm traits are harder to solve. Using hurricane hunter aircraft, converted military drones, weather balloons and satellites that examine cyclones under various angles, "our observations are really telling us what is happening now," said Frank Marks, director of the Hurricane Research Division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "And also those observations are phenomenally useful to improving our ability to predict," he told AFP. All the collected data are immediately transmitted to meteorologists and entered into computer models that produce forecasts at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. Marks describes forecasts as simply "what we think might happen," saying experts' ability to make them has "improved dramatically for the last 35 years." When he began his career in 1980, forecasts could look ahead about two days.

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Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are transforming the healthcare industry, helping improve outcomes and changing the way providers think about delivering care. As Forbes notes, machine learning capabilities are helping improve diagnostics and predict outcomes, leading to better treatment plans and better attuned personalized care. As part of the healthcare machine learning revolution, British healthcare company Healx has secured 1.5 million in Series A round investment from Amadeus Capital Partners in order to apply machine learning and advanced analytics to the battle against rare diseases. The funding will be used to identify new uses for existing drugs and improve treatment plans for rare diseases afflicting some 350 million people worldwide, according to Tech City News. Hermann Hauser, Partner and co-Founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, said, "Healx has taken advances in machine learning, data mining, and analytics and combined them with deep pharma and life sciences expertise to address a growing need in the healthcare sector. With huge pressure on R&D budgets, drug repositioning will be essential in the fight against rare diseases. With this investment, Healx will take up a leadership position in the drug repurposing sector, expected to be worth over 31 billion by 2020."

This article was originally published on The Conversation. For a sci-fi fan like me, fascinated by the nature of human intelligence and the possibility of building life-like robots, it's always interesting to find a new angle on these questions. As a re-imagining of the original 1970s science fiction film set in a cowboy-themed, hyper-real adult theme park populated by robots that look and act like people, Westworld does not disappoint. Westworld challenges us to consider the difference between being human and being a robot. From the beginning of this new serialisation on HBO we are confronted with scenes of graphic human-on-robot violence.

Recursion Pharmaceuticals (UT, USA) has announced that it will receive 12.9 million in funding for development of its next generation drug discovery platform that combines high-throughput biology and automation with the newest advances in artificial intelligence (AI). So far, the company has successfully repurposed known drugs, bioactive compounds, and shelved pharma assets in the space of rare genetic disease. With its Series A funding, Recursion hopes to scale up its venture from the exploration of dozens of targets and diseases per year to thousands. Recursion intends to continue focusing on drug repurposing and repositioning, an attractive strategy for big pharma since it leverages existing safety and efficacy data to translate discoveries into the clinic more rapidly and more economically. The company will be primarily partnering with deep technology investor Lux Capital (CA, USA), with participation from Obvious Ventures (CA, USA), Epic Ventures (UT, USA), Data Collective (CA, USA), AME Cloud Ventures (CA, USA), and several angel investors.

Singaporean Artificial intelligence data analytics startup Nugit Pte. Ltd. has raised 5.2 million in funding from Sequoia India. Founded in 2013, Nugit uses artificial intelligence, natural language generation, and visual design to help marketers generate more usable reports based on the big data generated by advertising activity. The company's platform provides analytics for digital marketers and C-suite professionals, turning data into decision-ready reports which flow straight back into the enterprise workflow. Artificial intelligence technology powers data cleaning, integration and harmonization of data sources in real time on Nugit's platform, while their Natural Language Generation technology adds on insights written in easy to understand language and "decision-ready" reports are then delivered via email or powerpoint. The reports themselves are said to be built around'smart stories' and beautiful visualizations that deliver better quality reporting in a shorter time frame.

PREDICTING HOW artificial intelligence technology will evolve in the following ten or 20 years, or even beyond, is very difficult to say the least. However, certain is the fact that there is much to be gained to go around for everyone. It is estimated that by the year 2018, robots will literally be supervising more than three million of us at work; and by 2020, smart machines will become a major investment priority amongst at least 30% of all CIOs. As we speak many different fields spanning from customer service to journalism are already being set aside by increasingly able AI that can replicate human abilities and experience. Already before our eyes is an aspect that we once thought only belonged in future technology.