How do humans make an artificial intelligence system better at conversations? One method-in-testing is a project in which a Google AI was force-fed 2,865 romance books, about 1,500 fantasy books, and more. The work was done by researchers with Google Brain, and involved feeding a total of 11,000 unpublished books to the neural network, then testing whether it could take a couple sentences from the book and create its own corresponding phrases. The results sound like cryptic, dark poems. The AI's task wasn't terribly simple - the two sentences were the start and end of a progression the neural network had to make -- a sort of machine-generated poem that had to form a sensible transition between the two sentences.

Wearables might be set to get a whole lot more useful in future if research being conducted by Carnegie Mellon University's Future Interfaces Group is indicative of the direction of travel. While many companies, big and small, have been jumping into the wearables space in recent years, the use-cases for these devices often feels superficial -- with fitness perhaps the most compelling scenario at this nascent stage. Yet smartwatches have far richer potential than merely performing a spot of sweat tracking. The other problem with the current crop of smartwatches is the experience of using apps on wrist-mounted devices does not always live up to the promise of getting stuff done faster or more efficiently. Just having to load an app on this type of supplementary device can feel like an imposition. If the primary selling point of a smartwatch is really convenience/glanceability the watch wearer really does not want to have to be squinting at lots of tiny icons and manually loading data to get the function they need in a given moment. A wearable needs to be a whole lot smarter to make it worth the wearing vs just using a smartphone.

Gel1…..I've been here 6 months, mostly watching and learning. Lots of smart people on the site and I've learned a lot from Phil and many others. I have to thank Phil and the many contruibutors for a 80% profit for 2009. I have learned a lot and am still learning ( even occasionally about political issues - ha!) Peace of mind / I have a portfolio mainly consisting of long term long calls, short term short calls and puts, and long term BCS. Three years, ago when I started my journey on this board I would be freaking out panicking as to what to do, as many of the short calls are ITM, Three years later (today) I look at the screen and serenely process the information. Three years ago, I inevitably made the wrong decisions which cost me a lot of money. Three years on I calmly roll the positions to whatever makes sense. I guess they call that the power of education. Phil, i wanted to thank you again for helping me protect future stock allocations at work - finally, i feel like i am owning my own destiny with stocks vs. letting the market dictate what you get – thanks again. Phil/BCS - Didn't realise they traded here.

Robots have done and are able to do some of the most amazing tasks we never thought we could trust to a machine. Now, robots have a hand in healthcare, perform delivery tasks by themselves, even milk cows. But one thing they have never been really good at is using hands. You get these amazing robots that look like humans, talk like humans, and have the pincers of a crab. A five-fingered robot developed at the University of Washington is capable of dexterous hand movements, and the ability to learn from its own experiences without human intervention.

"At BakerHostetler, we believe that emerging technologies like cognitive computing and other forms of machine learning can help enhance the services we deliver to our clients," Bob Craig, chief information officer for BakerHostetler, said in a statement. The AI won't be used in the courtroom, but it could be a key resource for lawyers preparing for litigation, the statement said. Ross claims its language processing capabilities allow it to respond to questions posed by lawyers about specific laws or cases. The computing system then gathers evidence, reads through laws and draws inferences about the material it has collected. The AI program also aims to keep lawyers up to date on new court decisions that could impact their own ongoing cases.

Scientists have created the world's tiniest practical engines, and these light-powered machines could one day power microscopic robots small enough to enter living cells, the researchers say. Delicious produce, fresh from farmer robot. At least, that's what Japan hopes. Although Google is selling Boston Dynamics to distance itself from "terrifying" humanoid robots, there's still plenty of robot projects underway. Don't lift with your legs or your back.

With all this talk about chatbots from Facebook and Microsoft, teaching artificial intelligence to be smarter has become a central topic of the tech world. But what about what AI can teach us? Ashok Goel, a computer science professor at Georgia Tech, put that question to the test when he added "Jill Watson" – and chatbot powered by IBM's Watson technology– to his list of of teaching assistants for an online course. The chatbot was so good at answering questions that students did not notice their TA was made of silicon until after they'd turned in their finals. Our biggest ever edition of TNW Conference is fast approaching!

Just when you need Big Data, it's nowhere to be found. After Facebook made headlines this week for allegedly meddling with its Trending Topics section, several analytics firms that have provided International Business Times with social media data in the past declined to provide numbers related to the ruckus. The kerfuffle was kicked off by a Gizmodo report alleging the company's Trending Topics section suppresses conservative topics of interest, thanks to the whims of its curators. Within hours of the news, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce wrote a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking representatives of Facebook to travel to Washington for a briefing on its curation guidelines. And Thursday, Facebook released its full guidelines for news selection, showing the extent to which human judgment is part of the process.

Google does not have regulatory approval for its NHS healthcare deal. Two weeks ago, New Scientist revealed that Google's artificial intelligence company DeepMind has access to the personal medical information of millions of UK patients through a data-sharing agreement with the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. A New Scientist investigation has found that the project is being carried out without the ethical and regulatory approval that experts say are required. Google and the Royal Free both claim to be acting in compliance with the rules as they interpret them. A collaboration between DeepMind and the NHS has the potential to do great things.

The future of health care is wearable devices that transmit our vitals to our physicians. Instead of self-reported data, which is often inaccurate (no offense, but your memory just kind of sucks), doctors will have real numbers to form the basis for diagnoses and treatment plans. In the wake of Apple's CareKit launch, connected medical device maker Qardio is launching a platform to share health data from its hardware with your doctor. QardioArm is a medical-grade smart blood pressure monitor that can send data to your doctor. The company has two FDA-approved products for consumers: the smart blood pressure monitor QardioArm and wireless scale QardioBase.