AT&T uses artificial intelligence to tell if things are going wrong in its network. Soon, AI may know it before it happens. The carrier says it's been using AI for decades in areas like call-center automation but developed it for each use as they came along. Now AT&T is pouring its AI smarts into a one platform that can be used with multiple applications. "I can't just keep doing this once at a time. We need a foundation," said Mazin Gilbert, assistant vice president of the company's Inventive Sciences division, in an interview last week at the AT&T Shape conference in San Francisco.

The fear of intelligence in something other than the human mind has long been feared by scientists, conspiracy theorists and tech-minded people since the very notion it was possible was thought of. The argument that artificial intelligence could be the best or worst thing for humanity is a divisive battle, one with many good points on either side. Since the dawn of the artificial intelligence field people have been warning of a machine-revolt, over throwing human power in one sweep as the conscious machines take over the world. Some scientists believe that humanity is not doing enough to prepare for the inevitable rise of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a broad and active area of research, but it's no longer solely thought of in academics.

On Thursday, June 23, 51.9% of the over 33 million who voted opted for the UK to leave the EU. By June 27, the pound had fallen to a 31 year low against the dollar. On the same day, Ireland's foreign minister was forced to issue a plea asking UK nationals to "stop rushing for Irish passports", as post offices in Belfast ran out of application forms. Up to 7% of those who had voted to leave now regretted their decision, according to media reports. Regardless of the turnout, two commonly known economic principles ensure that referenda will always be inherently flawed policy instruments.

By John Markoff For more than a decade, Silicon Valley's technology investors and entrepreneurs obsessed over social media and mobile apps that helped people do things like find new friends, fetch a ride home or crowdsource a review of a product or a movie. Now Silicon Valley has found its next shiny new thing. And it does not have a "Like" button. The new era in Silicon Valley centers on artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, a transformation that many believe will have a payoff on the scale of the personal computing industry or the commercial internet, two previous generations that spread computing globally. Computers have begun to speak, listen and see, as well as sprout legs, wings and wheels to move unfettered in the world.

Since the dawn of technology, there have been fears surrounding the future. What will these advances bring? How will they change our lives? What does this mean for my livelihood? In the twenty-first century these fears are the same.

Artificial intelligence is approximating human reasoning more and more closely all the time. Wide-scale adoption by business may be approaching, with important implications for how people live and work. AI is paving the way for new business models and raising questions about how people and machines can best work together. Now, thanks in part to cheaper and faster computing power, intelligent machines help doctors comb through troves of medical images to identify diseases early, allow manufacturers to predict when their machines will break (and fix them before that happens), and provide the "brains" behind increasingly autonomous vehicles. It's also playing a central role in the consumer market, powering the latest virtual assistant, for example, or the engine that matches Airbnb guests with the housing they want.

It's been a startling 17 quarters since IBM has produced any sales growth, when compared to the year-ago quarter. The slide was somewhat inevitable, as CEO Ginni Rometty took on the unenviable task of trying to modernize the company and started selling off commoditized businesses she saw as being marginal to IBM's future. Since taking the reins at IBM in 2012, she has shifted the company's focus to cloud services, as well as analytics, cybersecurity, and other more modern tech services that big companies might need--which she refers to as "strategic imperatives." She also committed to investing 1 billion in Watson, the company's cognitive computing software, as it aims to sell the artificial intelligence software platform to companies. Her strategies seems to be working: The "strategic imperatives" and cloud business lines grew 12% and 30% respectively in the second quarter, accounting for over half of the company's revenue for the period.

Google's DeepMind has moved on from playing Go to more serious matters - attempting to solve some of the world's biggest health problems. Projects include a tie-up with London Moorfields eye hospital, which will see it using one million eye scans to train its artificial intelligence system to diagnose potential sight issues, and development of an app to help doctors spot kidney disease. Google's entry on to the healthcare scene has been welcomed by some, notably doctors who are desperate to apply some cutting-edge technology to antiquated NHS systems. But less so by privacy groups and some patients, who have been surprised and concerned that their data - in some cases not anonymised - can be shared with the tech giant. So what does Google want with our health data and should we be worried?