Do you remember what it was like the first time you got your hands on an iPhone? When you realized that all the things that you used to have to do on separate devices now could be accomplished on one single device? Well, the minds behind LogicBlox would like you to feel the same way about its foundational technology that collapses multiple technology stacks into a unified smart database environment that aims to enable enterprises to create sophisticated and easily iterated applications in one place. Transaction and analytics co-exist in the platform, with the system utilizing a single declarative language with extensions – such as Machine Learning capabilities and statistical relational models – to support prescriptive and predictive analytics. Users can leverage LogicBlox' full-blown database functionality to train Machine Learning models, for use in solving forecasting or optimization problems, for instance.

This exercise represents an intended worst-case scenario for machine learning, as my aim was to test the results on a scarce dataset (n 52). In the Catalan linguistic area in Spain there is no census data about native speakers. Indeed, there is no real useful data about Catalan language from a data science perspective. I focus my attention in this case because until 1950, virtually 100% of the population of the Catalan linguistic area was Catalan native speaker, but from 1950 until now, population has doubled by immigration, that in addition to demographic and political reasons, resulted in Catalan as a minority language in most of its former linguistic area. Currently, we don't have extensive quantitative data to know the real situation or evolution of Catalan language in its territory.

It's no secret that machine learning - more specifically, deep learning - has been playing an increasingly noticeable role in the world of art, as of late. From Deep Dream, to Deep Forger, to Beyond the Fence, and further, all varieties of art have been touched by the creativity of neural networks, and it seems that this has not gone unnoticed by those outside of the direct sphere of machine learning. Gene Kogan, of the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, has recently started up his inaugural offering of Machine Learning for Artists, an elective course in the school's Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP). The ITP has the mission of exploring "the imaginative use of communications technologies," and how they may be leveraged for bringing art and delight into the lives of individuals. They self-identify as "a Center for the Recently Possible," a term I think is fantastic.

Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT) and other rivals of Alphabet (GOOGL)-owned Google had better raise their game in artificial intelligence. So said Sundar Pichai, Google's chief executive, Thursday in an open letter. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin normally write the founder's letter, in the tradition of Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKA) Warren Buffett. But Pichai wrote this year's note. Pichai says that AI is key not only to its core search business and mobile computing, but also to Google's push into the enterprise (corporate) market and cloud computing.

"Can the brain do back-propagation?" Speaker Abstract and Bio can be found here: http://ee380.stanford.edu/Abstracts/1... Colloquium on Computer Systems Seminar Series (EE380) presents the current research in design, implementation, analysis, and use of computer systems. Topics range from integrated circuits to operating systems and programming languages. It is free and open to the public, with new lectures each week.

OpenAI announced its first product, OpenAI Gym, on Wednesday. OpenAI Gym is a toolkit for developing and comparing reinforcement learning algorithms in different environments, according to the company. OpenAI is the nonprofit AI research company founded late last year with the goal of advancing digital intelligence without concerns about profit. The project touts investors like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Infosys and AWS. OpenAI Gym is designed to be a proving ground for algorithms for reinforcement learning, which involves training machines to run trial and error tests.

A few months ago, Elon Musk and a few other big players in Silicon Valley announced their creation of OpenAI, a non-profit research firm that would provide an open platform for researchers to share and compare algorithms for artificial intelligence. "Our goal is to advance digital intelligence in the way that is most likely to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return," the team wrote in their introductory blog post. Now, the creators of OpenAI have announced a new platform for the organization, called OpenAI Gym. It's "a toolkit for developing and comparing reinforcement learning algorithms," as stated on the website. Interestingly, OpenAI Gym won't include leaderboards or competitions based on who can create the top scoring algorithm.

Forget personal computer doldrums and waning smartphone demand. Google thinks computers will one day cease being physical devices. "Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the'device' to fade away," Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai wrote Thursday in a letter to shareholders of parent Alphabet Inc. "Over time, the computer itself -- whatever its form factor -- will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day." Instead of online information and activity happening mostly on the rectangular touch screens of smartphones, Pichai sees artificial intelligence powering increasingly formless computers. "We will move from mobile first to an AI first world," he said.

"The implications for this victory are, literally, game changing -- and the ultimate winner is humanity," Pichai wrote. "This is another important step toward creating artificial intelligence that can help us in everything from accomplishing our daily tasks and travels to eventually tackling even bigger challenges like climate change and cancer diagnosis." Pichai's comments come at a time when artificial intelligence has been the source of intense debate among technologists. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, physicist Stephen Hawking and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have all hesitated to endorse the technology or have warned of its dangers, while others, like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, have said we should not be afraid of AI. Right now, Google works across screens, Pichai said, not just computers, but phones, wrists, cars and virtual reality devices.

Oxford's Global Priorities Project has compiled a list of catastrophes--both natural and self-inflicted--that could kill off 10 percent or more of the human population. It's a real buzzkill of a report and it says that any of these catastrophes could happen within the next five years. Titled "Global Catastrophic Risks 2016," the report ranks the most dangerous threats facing our civilization according to probability. The likeliest risks include nuclear war and pandemics (both natural and deliberately engineered), followed by disasters stemming from runaway climate change, geoengineering run amok, and disruptions posed by artificial intelligence. The report also included low-probability--but high impact--events, like asteroid impacts and supervolcanic eruptions.