Autodesk announced recently the availability of a shape-based search capability in A360. A blog article titled How Machine Learning Will Transform 3D Engineering describes the new capability, called Design Graph, as a "Google search-like functionality for the world of 3D models." Google search functionality is probably the wrong metaphor for 3D search. Web search is fundamentally text based, whereas searching for a part or a design requires a combination of textual and geometric terms and attributes, and sufficiently deep domain semantics. In fact, the blog article makes the very same argument later, describing Design Graph's purpose to "identify and understand designs based on their inherent characteristics--their shape and structure--rather than by any labeling (tags) or metadata" (i.e. Design Graph is not the first attempt to offer the engineering community a geometry-based search tool.

Microsoft announced on Monday that it has acquired an AI startup called Genee for an undisclosed sum. The startup, founded in 2014, has built a platform that aims to help people manage their busy lives by acting as their virtual assistant and helping them to schedule meetings. It aims to remove the pain of emailing back and forth to find a time and a place that works for everyone. It is particularly well suited to organising large groups, Microsoft claims. Founded by Ben Cheung and Charles Lee, (who will now join Microsoft), Genee uses natural language processing and optimised decision-making algorithms to make the virtual assistant as similar to a human assistant as possible.

The battle over how to make our lives more productive continues to wage on, especially on the email front. For Baydin, it has spent the past 6 years helping people bring some normalcy to their inbox through its Boomerang for Gmail plugin which provided a scheduled approach -- specify when you want to send or receive email. But solving distribution is just one part of the equation as the next part is just how do you create impactful communications so that it requires fewer emails to be sent. Enter Boomerang Respondable, a plugin for Gmail and Outlook that uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) to not only predict email replies, but suggestions on how to improve your writing and striking the right tone. Integrated directly into the Compose window of the support email client, this feature analyzes your writing style, such as word count, politeness, subjectivity, question count, and reading level to help get the point across.

We belong to the generation of AI technology. But, do we really feel it? I mean, I still make my bed every morning and cook my own meal every evening. Somehow, machines don't do the work for me. We at TemplateMonster decided to conduct our own research and picked 5 artificial intelligence programs with a "human face" that will come in handy for every website owner.

The blending of home-based diagnostic platforms with medical care at home is arriving. The Tricorder XPRIZE competition is well underway, with several teams set to compete in the final stages. Leading contenders include CloudDx and Scanadu, a company started at our first Exponential Medicine program, have successfully leveraged crowdfunding to enable their clinical trials. Gale by 19Labs is a next generation "first aid kit meets home health center" (see the below video for a demo) exemplifying how integration of home diagnostics paired with menu-driven (and potentially AI-driven) assistance and optional telemedicine connectivity can provide increased access to home-based diagnosis, triage and management of minor bumps and scrapes and also more complex medical conditions. Interactive and engaging, from coaching on diet and nutrition to reminding you to take your medications or offering psychological support and follow up -- the chatbots are on their way.

Tech giant Microsoft has acquired artificial intelligence (AI)-based scheduling service Genee that simplifies the scheduling and rescheduling of large group meetings for companies. Microsoft will integrate the AI technology into Office 365 before shutting down Genee. Co-founders Ben Cheung and Charles Lee, who plan to join Microsoft, started Genee in 2014 to simplify the time-consuming task of scheduling (and rescheduling) meetings. "It's especially useful for large groups and for when you don't have access to someone's calendar," Jha added. Genee uses natural language processing and optimised decision-making algorithms so that interacting with a virtual assistant is just like interacting with a human one.

Self-driving cars may be threatening to take the jobs of millions of human drivers, but there are still some areas where mankind has the upper hand. An artificial intelligence algorithm designed to teach an autonomous car to drive managed to do so using just 72 hours of driving data. While that may be impressive for a robot, it is still twice the amount of time it takes the average human to learn to drive. Computer giant Nvidia developed a convolutional neural network (CNN) to learn how to steer a car in any weather condition, using only the data taken from cameras and a car's steering wheel. Nvidia's project, called Dave, first began in 2015 in an effort to bypass the need to program specific features--such as lane markings and guardrails--into self-driving software.

Microsoft has bought a startup to boost its artificial intelligence capabilities, and rival Apple confirmed it has boosted its health focus with an acquisition of its own. Microsoft did not disclose financial terms of its deal to buy Genee, which specialises in using machine smarts to handle the time-sucking task of scheduling meetings. "Genee uses natural language processing and optimized decision-making algorithms so that interacting with a virtual assistant is just like interacting with a human one," Outlook and Office 365 corporate vice president Rajesh Jha said in a blog post. For example, Genee can be copied into an email exchange to act as a virtual assistant of sorts to pin down a time for a business or social meeting. Jha touted Genee as having designed "an intelligent virtual assistant specialized in the appointment decision."

South Africa's CLEVVA is making AI-powered virtual advisors a thing Artificial intelligence start-up Octo.ai raises 200000

On Monday, August 22, Microsoft Corp. has announced the acquisition of intelligent scheduling startup Genee, as part of the company's efforts to embed artificial intelligence in its digital experiences. According to The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft's Genee acquisition is part of the company's strategy to use artificial intelligence (AI) in order to improve the digital experience of its customers. The purchasing of the startup company and its app Genee will be used by Microsoft mainly for enhancing the intelligent capabilities of its Office apps suite. At the moment the details of the acquisition are not known, as the deal's terms were not yet disclosed. The vice president of Microsoft's Outlook and Office 365 business, Rajesh Jha, explained in a blog post that Genee is a startup that provided a virtual assistant for scheduling appointments and the acquisition will help building new Office 365 productivity services and capabilities.