Microsoft Translator is a cloud-based automatic text and speech translation (a.k.a.

The way you add a bot is the same way you'd add a contact; indeed, the Add Contact screen in Skype now has two categories: "People" and "Bots." As of right now, the only Bots available to add on Skype are Bing Music, Bing News, Bing Images, Getty Images and Build Bot (which is mostly centered around the Build conference). They're mostly in Preview mode at the moment (in other words, they're still sort of in beta), but they do appear to be functional. As you might expect, the chat bots respond to very specific keywords. For example, with the Bing Music bot, typing in "Hello" would bring up Adele's song (a link to her YouTube video, it looks like) rather than polite small talk.

We live in an era of accelerating change, when scientific and technological advancements are arriving rapidly. As a result, we are developing a new language to describe our civilisation as it evolves. Here are 20 terms and concepts that you'll need to navigate our future. Back in 2007 I put together a list of terms every self-respecting futurist should be familiar with. I reached out to several futurists, asking them which terms or phrases have emerged or gained relevance since that time.

In what is being called the start of the cognitive era for computing, IBM's new Watson computer program is able to mine data to think and solve problems. Significantly, it learns from its mistakes. Watson is already being used by businesses to deliver a competitive advantage. Examples include ANZ, one of Australia's largest banks, the energy company Woodside, and Melbourne's Deakin University. While artificial intelligence (AI) has benefits, there are also concerns.

It should come as no surprise that Satya Nadella put Cortana and AI at the center of his Microsoft Build 2016 keynote outlining Microsoft's future strategy. Two years ago, in his first letter to Microsoft employees, he identified machine learning as a key technology pillar that would enable a future where "computing will become even more ubiquitous and intelligence will become ambient." The big news from Microsoft Build is that Nadella is banking on "conversations as a platform" -- basically, advanced natural language processing -- and the new class of application Microsoft calls the "bot." Yes, an embarrassing episode has already occurred with the Twitter chat bot, Tay, which was taught racist palaver by mischievous users, but at least the incident demonstrated that bots actually learn. Microsoft officially introduced the Microsoft Bot Framework today as part of the Cortana Intelligence Suite, formerly known as the Cortana Analytics Suite.

Introduction to Bots A BOT is the most basic example of a weak AI that can do automated tasks on your behalf. Chat bots were one of the first automated programs to be called as'bots'. Web crawlers used by Search Engines like Google are a perfect example of sophisticated and advanced BOT.

The power of the cloud is a bit fuzzy to most of us, but Microsoft wants to improve that by giving developers a series of API tools. The suite, dubbed Cognitive Services, empowers developers to make their software far smarter, including tools for trainable speech-to-text processing and a quality of object recognition verging on actual magic. Under the slogan of "Give your apps a human side," Cognitive Services is a collection of APIs for developers to use in their applications. Two examples demoed at the Build conference include a brand-new object recognition engine, which is likely to replace Project Oxford. To demo what this API can do, Microsoft created Captionbot.ai, which is a tremendously addictive (and science-fiction-grade awesome).

Previous articles have detailed the ways in which they represent the next great leap in computer technology, allowing the possibility of things like vastly improved machine learning, artificial intelligence, and a number of other things straight out of science fiction. The problem has always been building them, but one major breakthrough just made getting there much easier. But to begin, you need to understand a bit about how quantum computers work. Now, research published in Science Advances details the creation of the first quantum Fredkin gate, a key component in making the quantum circuits that are required for quantum computers. Researchers from Griffith University and the University of Queensland used linear optics to perform the first demonstration of the quantum Fredkin gate. The Fredkin gate, or the controlled swap gate, is a three-qubit gate where, depending on the state of the control qubit, the quantum states of the two target qubits are swapped.The Fredkin gate typically requires a circuit of five logic operations to be implemented.

Lawrence Livermore's new supercomputer system uses 16 IBM TrueNorth chips developed by IBM Research (credit: IBM Research) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has purchased IBM Research's supercomputing platform for deep-learning inference, based on 16 IBM TrueNorth neurosynaptic computer chips, to explore deep learning algorithms. IBM says the scalable platform processing power is the equivalent of 16 million artificial "neurons" and 4 billion "synapses." The brain-like neural-network design of the IBM Neuromorphic System can process complex cognitive tasks such as pattern recognition and integrated sensory processing far more efficiently than conventional chips, says IBM. The technology represents a fundamental departure from computer design that has been prevalent for the past 70 years and could be incorporated in next-generation supercomputers able to perform at exascale speeds -- 50 times faster than today's most advanced petaflop (quadrillion floating point operations per second) systems. The TrueNorth processor chip was introduced in 2014 (see IBM launches functioning brain-inspired chip).

When Apple launched the Apple II in 1977, it was still far from certain that consumers would want or need a home computer. While hobbyists were tinkering with computers they built and programmed themselves, Apple saw a need for something easier, and introduced the Apple II. This article, republished from the May 1, 1978, edition of Computerworld, sets the scene at the time and describes how a young Apple Computer was looking to the future. With more than 100,000 units sold, the personal computer market is finally being recognized as much larger then the original hobby market, a spokesman stated, observing that there have already been forecasts of 2 billion in sales by 1985. Apple, which introduced a self-contained personal computer (Apple II) in June 1977, believes the personal computer will make home life better for middle-income families.