With a pocketful of savings, Melbourne entrepreenur Michelle Mannering and three fellow founders are busy building a platform utilising artificial intelligence to make the world a smarter and better place. As a hacker-in-residence at Carlton Connect and a participant in the Melbourne Accelerator Program, Mannering and her team are one of the first residents in Melbourne's new "melting pot" for innovation. "My co-founders and I all met at a bunch of different hackathons," Mannering tells StartupSmart. Just a year after meeting, the team has launched Black AI, a startup offering a platform that is developing machine learning computer vision. "Basically, we just teach computers how to understand and interpret the world," Mannering says.

Someone at Google really likes sneakers: The company has just bought a French machine learning startup that taught a computer how to recognize 15,000 different types of them. Paris-based Moodstocks builds image and object recognition software using deep learning techniques, and offered an Android app and visual search API that could recognize certain kinds of object. By analyzing video from a smartphone camera, and correlating it with accelerometer readings to determine how the camera is moving around, the software is able to infer information about the three-dimensional shape of objects in the video, facilitating their recognition. In February 2015 the company demonstrated its ability to identify sneakers through its app. Three months later, after training the software using 15,000 photos of shoes from an online retailer's website, Moodstocks claimed to be able to shop online for all the sneakers on sale in a Macy's store. Google has been introducing elements of machine learning into its existing online services, including Google Translate and Inbox, a next-generation interface for Gmail.

Most women aren't just happy with the technological advancements that have aided in labor and delivery -- they demand them. But what if the next big innovation in childbirth is delivering a baby with the help of . . . According to findings from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, what was once relegated to sci-fi movies could play a vital role in future labor wards. In a video produced by CNN, you can see one such robot assisting doctors and nurses with everything from understanding patients' needs to making scheduling decisions. This role of "resource nurse," in which one person is in charge of assigning all the other nurses to care for patients, is complicated not only because it requires quick, effective decision-making but because it occurs in a stressful, often unpredictable setting.

MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory created an algorithm that utilizes deep learning, which enables artificial intelligence (AI) to use patterns of human interaction to predict what will happen next. Researchers fed the program with videos featuring human social interactions and tested it to see if it "learned" well enough to be able to predict them. While this lineup may seem questionable, MIT doctoral candidate and project researcher Carl Vondrick reasons out that accessibility and realism were part of the criteria. "We just wanted to use random videos from YouTube," Vondrick said. "The reason for television is that it's easy for us to get access to that data, and it's somewhat realistic in terms of describing everyday situations."

Cashfloat.co.uk, a trading style of Western Circle Ltd (WCL), deployed a major upgrade to their FCA-ready SEO blueprint (FRSB) to sustain top search engine rankings following the activation of the payday loan Google ads ban. The FRSB has transformed Cashfloat's business to 99% organic and has enhanced customer oriented online marketing. The quest to address the FCA regulation requirements together with constant Google algorithm updates and soaring competition has reached a new peak with the activation of the Google payday loans ads ban today. The Google ads ban has intensified the demand for a sustainable online marketing framework and, consecutively, the level of blackhat SEO attempts. Ofer Valencio Akerman, SEO Strategist at WCL, commented, "As a company that has never relied on Google Ads, Cashfloat's new FRSB is a product of much research and experiment. However, we expect fierce competition to follow the Google ads ban. We are already experiencing a major increase in blackhat SEO activities and lenders that are looking for quick wins."

MIT developed a deep learning algorithm capable of assessing physical interactions in videos and the sounds resulting from those interactions. The algorithm was then fed muted video clips of a drumstick hitting various objects and instructed to produce sound effects appropriate for each video. But the visual Turing Test is just one component of fully passing the Turing Test. MIT is currently developing an algorithm for passing the visual Turing Test, which is great for the machine learning community and is definitely a step towards having machines understand the consequences of interacting with different environments.

The Turing Test was designed by Alan Turing as a way of measuring how good a machine is at imitating human behavior. Passing the test means that the difference between a machine and human is imperceptible. In popular culture, the Turing Test is often portrayed as a computer attempting to seem as human as possible to the point where humans mistake it as one of their own. However, this is only one application of the Turing Test, which has different types. For instance, some machines can mimic human sounds while other can visually compete with what a human can do-- which is a large step toward autonomous vehicles.

Kepware Technologies, a software development business focused on industrial connectivity, has donated 10,000 to Acton Elementary School, in Acton, Maine, as part of its third annual school grant contest. With its headquarters in Portland, Kepware is committed to the advancement of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and workforce development in Maine and abroad. The donation will enable Acton Elementary School students to hone mechanical and computer skills essential for building and programming autonomous robots. "The solution to Maine's shortage of engineering talent starts with education," said Tony Paine, Platform President, Kepware. "Local programs and institutions aimed at nurturing STEM curiosity can help encourage Maine's youth to explore rewarding careers in science and engineering. We're honored to be able to assist in these efforts by bringing information and technology into the lives of students."

One of the consistent characteristics of the tech industry is an endless labelling of technology and approaches. Some of it is foundational resulting from some entirely new. Much of it is re-categorizing something, either because it is suddenly trendy again or because a set of ideas have been organized in a new way. When I was in my 20s, I found this exciting. Now that I'm in my 50s and am used to this, I find it relaxing, as it makes me feel at home.