Google's machine learning platform might be a few years from solving any of the world's major problems, but for one farming family in Japan, the TensorFlow platform has already reduced the amount of time spent sorting cucumbers into standards. Makoto Koike, a former embedded systems designer, implemented the TensorFlow platform into his family's cucumber farm. See Also: Are big data analytics more important than the cloud? The goal was reducing the amount of time his parents spend sorting cucumbers, which can reach eight hours per day at peak harvest. Koike crafted an Arduino powered conveyer belt and connected it to a Raspberry Pi 3 processor. Webcams hanging above the belt take low resolution photos of the cucumbers, which are sent to the cloud and assigned a standard.

There were two "tracks" for agents to compete on, offering very different challenges. Track 1 featured a map known to the teams, and rocket launchers were the only weapons. The agents started with a weapon but were able to collect ammo and health kits. Track 2 was a far harder challenge. It featured three maps, unknown to teams, and a full array of weapons and items.

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have laid out plans to invest 3bn over the next 10 years with the not insignificant goal of tackling all diseases. "Can we cure, prevent or manage all disease by the end of this century?" The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will focus on some of the world's biggest killers, including heart disease, cancer, infectious diseases and neurological diseases. One of its biggest investments is to be a 600m "Biohub" at UCSF, which will bring together scientists and engineers from Stanford, Berkeley and UCSF – who haven't collaborated in this way before – to develop tools to treat diseases. The second focus will be transformative technology, all of which will be made available to all scientists everywhere. "Throughout the history of science, most of the major scientific breakthroughs have been preceded by some new tool and technology that allows you to see in new ways," explained Zuckerberg.

The Smart and Scalable Urban Traffic Control system is a real-time, smart IoT-enabled adaptive traffic control system (in the sense of the Internet of Smart Intersections) that optimally schedules dynamic traffic flows in complex urban road networks, by integrating traffic theory with artificial intelligence (AI). Dr. Xie is the lead inventor of the system. He created the core control engine (the brain) of the system, including schedule-driven intersection control (SchIC) and decentralized coordination mechanisms. He has also designed and realized all strengthening strategies of the system to enable its real-world operations. Some extended work also includes: multi-modal urban traffic control (integrated with machine learning and computer vision techniques), integration with decentralized route choice framework, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication with connected vehicles, energy efficiency optimization, and data-driven congestion and incident management.

When we talk about artificial intelligence, many imagine a world of science fiction where robots dominate. In reality, artificial intelligence is already improving current technologies such as online shopping, surveillance systems, and many others. In the area of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence is being used via machine learning techniques. Indeed, the machine learning algorithms allow computers to learn and make predictions based on available known data. This technique is especially effective for daily process of millions of malware.

Conversational UI is getting a lot of buzz out in the world, and for good reason. We are in an exciting moment as we observe existing technology, design zeitgeist, and user needs aligning around leaner, more immediate, and human ways to engage with digital services. SMS is going through a renaissance, and designers are looking at this medium and interaction model to create new services and experiences. The immediacy and accessibility of SMS make it an ideal channel for building services in a world where systems continue to converge and apps are no longer the medium for digital experiences. As technology becomes more complex, users will need even more simplicity to engage with digital experiences.

RankBrain is an AI (artificial intelligence) system. Not to be confused with Google Brain, although certainly part of it. RankBrain is not an algorithm update in itself either, it is now part of the overall Google search algorithm. Rumours are that it is the third most important signal of over 200 ranking factors. RankBrain marks a significant shift in direction from the Google search team.

Approximately 8 of the 319 million people in the United States read the Wall Street Journal, good for 2 percent of the population. If you look at the language -- standardized English -- being fed into many natural language processing units, it's based on the language of that 2 percent. And many machines literally use the venerable, business-focused newspaper to better understand English language. It might seem like an obvious choice. Standardized English is taught in schools, it's used in legal documents, and it sets the basis for formal society.

Artificial intelligence is becoming big news in Big Law. The move towards increased automation of legal services continues to gather momentum, with another top law firm turning to (AI) in an attempt to lower costs and improve efficiency. Travers Smith, a London-based firm known for its strength in corporate and private equity, has begun trialing due diligence technology developed by U.K. software company RAVN Systems. The news follows last week's announcement that magic circle firm Slaughter and May had signed a deal with Luminance, a new technology company that launched with the backing of investment fund Invoke Capital. Slaughters had been working with Luminance for several months to help it develop its AI software, which is able to read hundreds of pages of legal documentation every minute and is designed to speed up the due diligence process.

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are the only two surviving members of The Beatles, but if they ever want to take the show back on the road, this AI would probably be a welcome addition. Sony CSL Research Labratory is releasing an album next year of songs written entirely by artificial intelligence. Of them, this derivative work could be the title track. The music for'Daddy's Car,'was written entirely by AI and put together by French composer Benoît Carré. Carré also wrote the lyrics and arranged the harmonies.