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Sorry, but your AI needs to go back to school

#artificialintelligence

Too often, engineers are brainwashed into thinking they can create an impeccable artificial intelligence (AI) model -- a blank slate they release into the wild for independent learning. They think: "If I create flawless math on top of the right infrastructure, I'll have the perfect model." Train the algorithm, let it run free, and that's the end of the story, right? Just like human intelligence, artificial intelligence requires continuous learning to advance its expertise. Training a commercially applied AI is not a one-and-done exercise.


From Big Data to Big Insights: How the Apparel Industry Can Benefit from AI

#artificialintelligence

If there's any doubt as to why "big data" has become as ubiquitous in business as pens, chairs and coffee mugs, look no further than the margins. Since becoming the buzzword of the decade, big data has given countless businesses huge competitive advantages by redefining the quality of the information at their fingertips and the speed at which they can react. So why have apparel brands lagged in doing the same? In many cases, identifying the "next big thing" -- what will sell, and the rate at which it will fly off the shelves -- is still steeped in guesswork and unsupported instinct. For brands, the use case is abundantly clear.


Machine Learning in Medicine Weekly Roundup #2

#artificialintelligence

Machine learning is revolutionizing healthcare. Here are some highlights of interesting applications of how research in artificial intelligence is helping people. Habits are best changed in a group-support type setting. What these researchers accomplished was to create an AI based messaging platform that sends supportive messages to help people quit smoking. The way we move is a valuable insight to health and illness. People suffering from a stroke or parkinson for example have a certain pattern of moving.


How Movies Can Help Robots and People Get Along

WSJ.com: WSJD - Technology

How can people learn to work better with robots? First, have them watch robots on the silver screen. That's the finding of a recent study that had 56 undergraduate students rate their feelings toward humanlike service robots. Half of the group watched the science-fiction movie "Robot and Frank," which involved a robot, and the other half watched "Safety Not Guaranteed," a sci-fi romantic comedy that didn't involve robots, before they made their decision. The result: Those who viewed the movie with the robot were more likely to say that they would buy humanoid robots that assist the elderly.


In Search of a Perfect Team at Work

WSJ.com: WSJD - Technology

In 2013, Alistair Shepherd asked everyone in a business-school pitch competition to complete a survey with questions inspired by online-dating sites. It asked things like "Do you like horror movies?" and "Do spelling mistakes annoy you?" Shepherd predicted how well the eight teams would collaborate internally and how they would ultimately fare. He ended up ranking all eight correctly. What made for a great team? Those in which people had the most tolerance for their teammates' perspectives--and those in which people had the greatest diversity in personalities. Mr. Shepherd's experiment represents an attempt to get beyond the usual approach to workplace chemistry.


Alexa and Cortana May Be Heading to the Office

WSJ.com: WSJD - Technology

The next assistant in many offices could be named Alexa or Cortana. In 2016, Silicon Valley obsessed over how text-based bots in apps like Slack could make employees more efficient, turning complicated tasks or forms into conversational texts. Now, following the success of Amazon Inc.'s Alexa and Alphabet Inc.'s Google Home, people in the technology industry are increasingly thinking about how such voice-activated devices can be made useful in the workplace. The workplace offers challenges that experts say intelligent assistants built for home use so far haven't effectively met, mostly in the area of voice recognition. Workers at Goodwinds Inc. in New York City, for example, have used an Amazon Echo attached to the office ceiling for such tasks as adding events to their calendars and setting reminders for meetings, says Vinay Patankar, chief executive of the workflow-management startup.


How AI Is Transforming the Workplace

WSJ.com: WSJD - Technology

Move over, managers, there's a new boss in the office: artificial intelligence. The same technology that enables a navigation app to find the most efficient route to your destination or lets an online store recommend products based on past purchases is on the verge of transforming the office--promising to remake how we look for job candidates, get the most out of workers and keep our best workers on the job. These applications aim to analyze a vast amount of data and search for patterns--broadening managers' options and helping them systematize processes that are often driven simply by instinct. And just like shopping sites, the AIs are designed to learn from experience to get an ever-better idea of what managers want. A company can provide a job description, and AI will collect and crunch data from a variety of sources to find people with the right talents, with experience to match--candidates who might never have thought of applying to the company, and whom the company might never have thought of seeking out.


Google no longer needs CAPTCHA to tell humans and bots apart - SlashGear

#artificialintelligence

Anyone who's used the internet in the last decade should be immediately familiar with the reCAPTCHA system (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart), the little box on websites that has users type in distorted words or click on a checkbox to prove they're human. Well, this could soon all be a thing of the past, as Google has revealed it's developed a way to make the reCAPTCHA system completely invisible, with no need for human input. As Google explains, the Invisible CAPTCHA system uses a "combination of machine learning and advanced risk analysis that adapt to new and emerging threats." In plainspeak that means that the system automatically begins detecting user habits when they arrive on a webpage, including things like mouse movements and IP address. Assuming everything checks out, the transcription puzzle or checkbox won't be necessary, and the page's content will load like normal.


Deep learning: Why Now: โ€“ Africa AI

#artificialintelligence

Whenever i think about the impact that deep learning will have in Africa in the next 5โ€“10 years from now, My curiosity and passion to understand and implements deep learning increases. Improving Agriculture yields in Africa with deep learning becomes my first focus. As a result of these reasons, it is now possible for anyone to apply deep learning techniques to real problems in a way that is both affordable and fast.


B.C. teen creates Facebook chatbot to help students stay organized

#artificialintelligence

A Facebook tool that helps students be more productive and keep track of assignments developed by a Victoria teen has gone viral in an unexpected place. Alec Jones, 14, says his chatbot, Christopher Bot, that helps students stay on top of their homework has garnered more than 3,000 subscribers, with many of them based in Thailand. Chatbots are automated software programs, which Alec compares to iPhone's Siri, that respond to users in a conversational manner. The bot that he developed works through Facebook's Messenger platform. For students who forget to write down their assignments or deadlines when they are handed out or struggle to keep track of it all, Christopher Bot is designed to do the remembering for them.