Japan looks to extend intellectual property protection to creative works produced by artificial intelligence, aiming to match other countries in coping with changing notions of authorship and use in the digital age. But the law covers only productions "in which thoughts or sentiments are expressed in a creative way" -- a designation that does not apply to works produced via artificial intelligence with little human input or creative intent. Legislative changes are seen as necessary to address advancements in AI. Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will make recommendations as part of a broader policy plan to be released in May. A subcommittee report due out Monday will give some details on the process.

These terms of use of the Website ("Terms of Use") describe the terms on which Evalueserve UK Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of England under company number 06810791, with its registered office at Lewis House, Great Chesterford Court, Great Chesterford, Essex, CB10 1PF (hereinafter referred to as "Evalueserve") offers the users/ registrants of the Website ("You" or "Your" or "Yourself" or "User") access to the Website located at www.insightbee.com Your use of the Website constitutes Your agreement to all the terms, conditions and restrictions contained in these Terms of Use. YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE SIGNIFIES THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE TERMS OF USE AND THAT YOU AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY THE SAME. IN ADDITION TO THESE TERMS OF USE, BY USING THE WEBSITE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE PRIVACY POLICY OF THE WEBSITE AVAILABLE AT www.insightbee.com/privacy FURTHER, IN THE EVENT YOU PURCHASE ANY SERVICES (AS DEFINED BELOW) YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF LICENSE AVAILABLE AT www.insightbee.com/terms

Facebook now wants to expand your social circle in its messaging app, Messenger, beyond friends to include chatbots, which are designed to shop, search and generally just get things done for you. It's certainly a leap to think we, humans, want to connect with computer programs in the same space where we spill our guts to our closest pals, gossip with our co-workers and coordinate with family members to arrange life's most sacred events (weddings, funerals, etc.). "It's not completely weird for people 35 or younger to interact with machines," said EMarketer analyst Yory Wurmser. "The freakout factor is gone." Though seemingly unfriendly, chatbots, or bots for short, are just software systems that simulate conversations. And, thanks to your smartphone, you probably already encounter a handful of different bots every day, as Wurmser suggested.

China and Russia said Monday that the South China Sea dispute should not be internationalized and called for its settlement based on negotiation and consultation, Beijing's official Xinhua News reported. The comments come at time when the United States has beefed up its military presence in the contested region in a bid to help the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries tackle China's assertiveness. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov made the comments during a meeting on Monday. Wang insisted that China was protecting its rights and interests in South China Sea, and was free to choose how to resolve tensions in the area, Xinhua reported. The world's second largest economy's refusal of the Philippines' proposed international arbitration case over the matter was meant to uphold the dignity and authority of the law, Wang said, adding that China and Russia should be cautious against abuses of mandatory arbitration. Meanwhile, Hugo Swire, the British minister of state responsible for East Asia, said earlier in the day that a ruling -- expected in May or early June -- in the Philippines' international arbitration case against China's South China Sea claims must be binding.

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

There is something special happening in a generic office park in an uninspiring suburb near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Inside, amid the low gray cubicles, clustered desks, and empty swivel chairs, an impossible 8-inch robot drone from an alien planet hovers chest-high in front of a row of potted plants. It is steampunk-cute, minutely detailed. I can walk around it and examine it from any angle. I can squat to look at its ornate underside.

A new artificial intelligence system developed by researchers at MIT merges human and machine capabilities to hunt potential cyber-attacks and weed out false positives. Called AI2, the platform acts as a virtual analyst and has so far proven its ability to detect 85 percent of attacks. As the system presents its findings to human analysts, feedback is incorporated to continually improve its detection rates. A new artificial intelligence system developed by researchers at MIT merges human and machine capabilities to hunt potential cyber-attacks and weed out false positives. This allows it to detect suspicious activity, which is then presented to the human analysts for confirmation.

Bridgeworks – the Self Configuring Infrastructure Optimized Network (SCION) and Data Acceleration Vendor – officially launches its new Data Acceleration solution for Wide Area Networks (WAN) – PORTrockIT. PORTrockIT is an intelligent data accelerator that uses innovative machine intelligence capabilities. It offers a solution to network issues that inhibit the speed in which data can be moved, such as latency, congestion and packet loss. Designed as a plug-in-and-go technology, PORTrockIT can be implemented quickly, with minimal impact on existing IT infrastructure – keeping deployment cost and risk to a minimum.

This session took place in February 2016. Data mining, machine learning and artificial intelligence are becoming the most talk-about topics in digital health. With vast volumes of medical data available, exploiting these techniques to derive valuable insights may both challenge and reshape certain elements of our healthcare system. These new approaches are leading to redefining drug discovery, assisting and automating diagnoses and helping predict and prevent diseases using health record data – or even our digital footprint. But there remains much hype, confusion and misunderstanding in the field.

Welcome to 2016, where you can buy flowers, book a flight and order an Uber through messaging apps like Facebook Messenger and Slack. Last week, Taco Bell and its agency, Deutsch, unveiled the TacoBot, a Siri-like version of the cashiers that take your order at its restaurants. Taco Bell built the bot for workplaces that use Slack's messaging platform to communicate internally. Now, instead of someone jotting everyone's orders on a Post-it and hoping the drive-thru attendant gets everything right, they can ask TacoBot to put in the order for them. "I've described TacoBot as your own personal Taco Bell butler," said Andy McCraw, Taco Bell's digital innovation and on-demand product manager.