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FinTech business in Africa makes use of A.I & credit technology

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FinTech business in Africa makes use of A.I & credit technology. MyBucks, a German listed FinTech company that holds three brands GetBucks, GetSure and GetBanked, has said its partnership with NGO (non-governmental organisation) Opportunity International continues to take strides forward in their vision of bringing financial inclusion to the unbanked and underbanked in emerging markets – most specifically in Africa. In a move that is contrary to the current trend worldwide where banks are acquiring FinTech companies to add value and expand services, the partnership marks, according to the company, the first time a FinTech company has acquired banks to bridge the gap between the virtual and traditional worlds of banking. This is ultimately to enable faster, more efficient and less expensive access to financial services for clients. The conclusion of the acquisition of four banks and two microfinance institutions from Opportunity International will add Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique to MyBucks' country portfolio and regulatory approval has already been granted in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique.


Why Artificial Intelligence is the Next Frontier in Analytics

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The terms "analytics" and "artificial intelligence" get bandied about in the media as harbingers of the future. But until recently, it's been rare to see them discussed in a common context. We know that analytics drives many aspects of business strategy and decision-making nowadays, but only recently have researchers, computer scientists and data scientists begun to move in earnest on the notion that AI systems, with their ability to process disparate bits of information quickly and learn while they're doing so, can have a real impact on challenges faced in areas like healthcare, finance and engineering. Probably the most high-profile example of this was the creation of IBM's Cognitive Business Solutions Group earlier this year. The unit advises organizations on how to use IBM's AI solution Watson in ways that go beyond what was previously possible in research and analytics.


How Hollywood sees AI, in 16 films

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Artificial intelligence has been a Hollywood staple for years. Often, films dealing with the technology involve robots rising up to destroy humanity. Except for the possibility that, well, maybe it could happen? After all, the goal of AI, really, is to foster machines that think like humans, and heaven knows we're capable of some very nasty thoughts. AI experts, though, say most of these films don't offer a realistic portrayal of how we'll actually get along with the technology.


Activists Cheer On EU's 'Right To An Explanation' For Algorithmic Decisions, But How Will It Work When There's Nothing To Explain? Techdirt

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Activists Cheer On EU's'Right To An Explanation' For Algorithmic Decisions, But How Will It Work When There's Nothing To Explain? I saw a lot of excitement and happiness a week or so ago around some reports that the EU's new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) might possibly include a "right to an explanation" for algorithmic decisions. It's not clear if this is absolutely true, but it's based on a reading of the agreed upon text of the GDPR, which is scheduled to go into effect in two years. Slated to take effect as law across the EU in 2018, it will restrict automated individual decision-making (that is, algorithms that make decisions based on user-level predictors) which "significantly affect" users. The law will also create a "right to explanation," whereby a user can ask for an explanation of an algorithmic decision that was made about them.


Amazing analysis of the Brexit with machine learning

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For more than 30 years, Gibbs has advised on and developed product and service marketing for many businesses and he has consulted, lectured, and authored numerous articles and books. So the UK has just given itself a national headache. Whether you think the Brexit was the right decision or a dangerous and unmitigated screw-up (as I do), the consequences of the referendum will be non-trivial and take years to complete. But the mechanics of the UK exiting the European Union aside, the question of how people now feel about the Brexit is interesting. Are they awash in jubilation or has buyer's remorse set in?


How Computers Are Learning to Be Creative

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Blaise Agüera y Arcas, principal scientist at Google, works with deep neural networks for machine perception and distributed learning. In this TED video, he shows how neural nets trained to recognize images can be run in reverse, to generate them. The results: spectacular, hallucinatory collages (and poems!) that are machine generated. "Perception and creativity are very intimately connected," Agüera y Arcas says. "Any creature, any being that is able to do perceptual acts is also able to create."



Issue #57 H Weekly

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This week, self-driving Tesla had a fatal crash. Other than that – a lot about robots, can AI create an art, cloning animals and more! Ray Kurzweil and people like him believe the Singularity is just behind the corner and promise the new perfect world. They are very optimistic about the future. But sometimes you should listen to the other side to better understand the problem or vision.


Google Saves World from Artificial Intelligence • Capital Wired

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A cleaning robot was the example used by Google to future challenges of Artificial Intelligence. Google released a new paper on a highly controversial topic: safety rules for Artificial Intelligence. Even though in the last years the general opinion shifted as a result of more engagement with technology, Google seems to keep its ethical edge and consider all issues surrounding the overpowering ability a robot may have over the human existence. For this, Google went into the mundane and the paper treats a highly philosophical subject in relatively simplistic terms. While being highly practical, the issues raised are important to be considered.


Using robots to kill: ethics debated after Dallas shooting

USATODAY - Tech Top Stories

Witness video shows people running away from the scene of the Dallas shooting as police head towards the scene and usher people back. NEW YORK--When Dallas police detonated a "bomb robot" Thursday night to take down a sniper suspect, it was believed to be the first time a robot was used by law enforcement to kill a human being in the U.S. Dallas police chief David Brown explained in a press conference that "other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger." The action raises ethical questions about the role of robots in warfare, or in this case, police work, especially given continuing breakthroughs in machine learning and artificial intelligence. "I think for all of us, the first issue that comes to mind is some degree of relief," says Michael Kalichman, director of the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology. "While it's premature to judge exactly what happened, it certainly seems likely that this ended a tragedy that could have been far worse. However, we also can't help but think about where this will go next."