Artificial intelligence is making our lives easier, but won't be a threat to human existence, according to panel of practitioners in the space. "One of the biggest misconceptions today about autonomous robots is how capable they are," said Brenna Argall, faculty research scientist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, during a recent Chicago Innovation Awards event. "We see a lot of videos online showing robots doing amazing things. What isn't shown is the hours of footage where they did the wrong thing," she said. "The reality is that robots spend most of their time not doing what they're supposed to be doing."

Artificial intelligence could enhance the decision-making capacities of human beings and make us much better than we are. Or, it could destroy the human race entirely. We could soon find out. In an engrossing lecture Friday morning, political scientist and software developer Clifton van der Linden said the world may be on the brink of a super machine intelligence that has the full range of human intelligence, as well as autonomous decision-making. And that emerging reality has many of the great human minds worried about our future.

One of the theoretical advantages of software, artificial intelligence, algorithms, and robots is that they don't suffer many human foibles. They don't get sick or tired. They are polite -- or rude -- to everyone in equal measure. The reality, of course, is different. Technology is designed by humans in all their frailty. As a result, it is eminently capable of perfect human behavior.

Last year, FORBES MIDDLE EAST launched its first ever list of promising U.A.E. We have expanded it from 25 to 50, with an additional 50 to watch. Despite a tougher economic environment, venture capitalists are not holding back.

AI services like Apple's Siri and others operate by sending your queries to faraway data centers, which send back responses. The reason they rely on cloud-based computing is that today's electronics don't come with enough computing power to run the processing-heavy algorithms needed for machine learning. The typical CPUs most smartphones use could never handle a system like Siri on the device. But Dr. Chris Eliasmith, a theoretical neuroscientist and co-CEO of Canadian AI startup Applied Brain Research, is confident that a new type of chip is about to change that. "Many have suggested Moore's law is ending and that means we won't get'more compute' cheaper using the same methods," Eliasmith says.

Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. The chatbot that made a splash last summer by overturning 160,000 parking tickets is back again, but now it is helping provide free legal aid to refugees. Through a simple-to-use chat interface on Facebook Messenger, "DoNotPay" can "help refugees fill in an immigration application in the US and Canada." First, this is a pretty good service to use in your business if you employ immigrants that need inexpensive help with immigration paperwork. Secondly, here's another example of artificial intelligence technology that's automating process and creating new opportunities – which may have an impact on your future business.

Many of these people are being exploited in ways that have existed throughout history: About 22% are victims of "forced sexual exploitation," with others made to work in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, or domestic labor, according to the report from the U.N.'s International Labor Organization. Researchers and activists say part of the solution to this ancient problem may be surprisingly modern: Machine learning and similar statistical tools can identify suppliers of goods and services that are more likely to involve forced labor, whether they're electronics manufacturers in developing countries or escort services in the United States. In the U.S., where sex work is frequently advertised online, leaving a digital trail, these techniques can also help guide law enforcement to sex trafficking gangs and their victims. In international trade, that kind of information can help buyers work with their vendors to ensure ethical practices throughout the supply chain or, failing that, switch to new vendors to stay in compliance with regulatory requirements and their own customers' ethics. "A lot of companies are becoming a lot more purpose-driven, and I think there's a lot more importance even to end consumers today about the type of companies they're buying [from]," says Alex Atzberger, president of SAP Ariba, a massive business-to-business procurement network.

The inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has said the impact of fake news is increasingly concerning and unveiled plans to tackle "unethical" political advertising and the harvesting of data. The British computer scientist said, exactly 28 years after his invention, three new trends have become alarming in the last year. In an open letter, the 61-year-old said misuse of data has created a "chilling effect on free speech" and warned of "internet blind spots" that are corrupting democracy. One problem, he wrote, is that most people find their news and information through a "handful" of social media sites and search engines, which are paid whenever someone clicks a link. "The net result is that these sites show us content they think we'll click on -- meaning that misinformation, or fake news, which is surprising, shocking, or designed to appeal to our biases, can spread like wildfire," he said.

In this post on my series on "Optimization Methods for Large-Scale Machine Learning" by Bottou, Curtis, and Nocedal, I want to focus on model building in machine learning. Section 2 of the paper describes several case studies, with the purpose of showing how "the process of machine learning leads to the selection of a prediction function through solving an optimization problem." A prediction function is a mathematical function that links the model inputs to the quantity we wish to predict. From the practitioner's point of view, a prediction function is implicitly specified by the technique the data scientist has chosen (for example, regression or neural networks) and trained model parameters (what is actually learned when the technique is applied to data). For example, the structure of a neural network amounts to a description of a family of related functions.

The world's bestselling drone-maker has unveiled models that warn their operators when there is a risk posed by nearby aeroplanes or helicopters. The M200 series use ADS-B (automatic dependent surveillance broadcast) receivers to detect broadcasts from nearby manned flights. The transmissions allow users to see the position, altitude and velocity of surrounding aircraft so they can take evasive action if required. "It's an extra safety measure and will help drone operators work in restricted airspace," explained Dave Black from the commercial drone services firm Blackwing Aerial. "The way we tend to do this is to contact air traffic controllers before we fly, tell them where we are flying and then they contact us by phone if there's going to be any conflict. "But in time, the authorities may well also want this kind of feature fitted as standard before they approve operations with larger drones." Mr Black added that some enthusiasts had created their own ADS-B kit by connecting a receiver to a Raspberry Pi computer with customised software and then tying this to their drone. But he added that an integrated unit would be appreciated. The announcement was made at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. DJI announced last July that it intended to develop an ADS-B collision avoidance system in conjunction with uAvionix, a specialist in the technology. The M200 series drones, which debut the feature, are designed for industrial applications such as inspecting power lines and mapping construction sites. They have a range of 7km (4.3 miles) and can stay airborne for up to 38 minutes, but some country's regulators currently require them to stay within line-of-sight. The aircraft are bigger and heavier than many consumer drones - they weigh 3.8kg (8.4lb) and can carry a further 2kg of equipment - so potentially pose a greater risk if involved in a crash. However, one analyst warned that the new safety system could give drone pilots a false sense of confidence. "The problem is that ADS-B isn't yet required for all aircraft, so even if you had a receiver you're not necessarily seeing all the traffic in the area," explained Colin Snow, chief executive of the Skylogic Research consultancy. "Its use is also not required at the low altitudes at which commercial drones tend to fly.