Apple published its first paper on AI last month and now the company is set to join five others in a newly-formed research group. The Partnership on AI announced today that Apple would become its sixth founding member, adding to a lineup that already touts Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM and Microsoft. The group was first formed last September as a means of supporting research, establishing ethical guidelines and promoting both transparency and privacy when it comes to AI studies. In today's announcement, the Partnership on AI explained that Apple has already been working with the group before it was made official last fall, but now the company is a full member alongside those other tech titans. Part of today's news was also that the group selected its board of trustees that will oversee the initiative.

Sci-fi and tech movies have been around for a surprisingly long time. They frequently tackle similar themes of exploring consciousness or over-dependence on technology which almost everytime leads to disastrous results. But, which movies are the essential ones to watch? You might be asking "What is your selection criteria?". Well, that is a good question. We may not be able to give you a definitive answer for each movie but for most of the list; it is self-evident.

Distilling a generally-accepted definition of what qualifies as artificial intelligence (AI) has become a revived topic of debate in recent times. Some have rebranded AI as "cognitive computing" or "machine intelligence", while others incorrectly interchange AI with "machine learning". This is in part because AI is not one technology. It is in fact a broad field constituted of many disciplines, ranging from robotics to machine learning. The ultimate goal of AI, most of us affirm, is to build machines capable of performing tasks and cognitive functions that are otherwise only within the scope of human intelligence.

A big name in tech was conspiciously missing from the list of companies that formed the Partnership on AI last year--Apple. But now Apple is reportedly planning to join the research group, which promotes education and interoperability issues around artificial intelligence. Existing members include Amazon, Google, Facebook, IBM and Microsoft, Here are the key details on Apple's pending involvement, from Bloomberg: Apple's admission into the group could be announced as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the situation. Representatives at Apple and the Partnership on AI declined to comment. While the introduction of the Siri virtual assistant in 2011 gave Apple an early presence in AI for consumers, it has since lost ground to rivals such as Google and Amazon.

A dermatologist uses a handheld microscope called a dermatoscope to examine skin lesions. Stanford University researchers think a new AI developed could potentially provide another layer of screening. Stanford University researchers say that they've trained a deep learning algorithm to identify skin cancer as well as dermatologists. The researchers pitted the artificial intelligence against 21 board-certified dermatologists when it came to diagnosing skin lesions. The deep convolutional neural network's performance was on par with the experts when it came to spotting the most common cancers--keratinocyte carcinomas versus benign seborrheic keratoses.

Identifying or authenticating people based on how they type is not a new idea, but thanks to advances in artificial intelligence it can now be done with a very high level of accuracy, making it a viable replacement for other forms of biometrics. Research in the field of keystroke dynamics, also known as keyboard or typing biometrics, spans back over 20 years. The technique has already been used for various applications that need to differentiate among computer users, but its widespread adoption as a method of authentication has been held back by insufficient levels of accuracy. Keystroke dynamics relies on unique patterns derived from the timing between key presses and releases during a person's normal keyboard use. The accuracy for matching such typing-based "fingerprints" to individual persons by using traditional statistical analysis and mathematical equations varies around 60 percent to 70 percent, according to Raul Popa, CEO and data scientist at Romanian startup firm TypingDNA.

Apple has formally joined the Partnership on AI as a founding member, confirming an earlier report, the organization announced today. Apple has joined the Partnership on AI as a founding member. The company has been involved and collaborating with the Partnership since before it was first announced and is thrilled to formalize its membership alongside Amazon, Facebook, Google/DeepMind, IBM, and Microsoft.Siri co-founder Tom Gruber, who heads advanced development of the assistant at Apple, will serve on the Partnership's inaugural Board of Trustees. The Partnership on AI is a non-profit research consortium established in September to "study and formulate best practices, to advance the public's understanding of AI, and to serve as an open platform for discussion and engagement about AI and its influences on people and society," according to its website. Apple has always been notoriously secretive, but it recently started allowing its AI and machine learning researchers to publish papers.

Airlines and airports can save an estimated $25 billion annually from flight disruptions by harnessing artificial intelligence, cognitive computing, predictive analytics and other progressive technical capabilities, says an industry report. According to a report by Sita, a technology services provider to air transport industry, predictive tools using artificial intelligence and cognitive computing are likely to be adopted by half of airlines and airports over the next decade, which can help them save up to $25 billion. Predictive technologies can provide passengers with more relevant information about their journey to help them create more seamless and personal experiences, Nigel Pickford, director market insight at Sita said. "Airlines and airports are focusing on technologies that will make them more responsive to issues in their operations. This will enable them to improve their performance and customer services," Pickford said.

When you imagine the ideal chatbot, what do you picture? The bot in your mind's eye may resemble something along the lines of blockbuster movie favorites like Baymax from "Big Hero 6," "Wall-E's" EVE, or my personal hero, C-3PO. You probably didn't imagine a small tower that lives on your shelf, like Alexa; a virtual being that resides in the cloud and is accessed through your smartphone, like Siri; or even a pop-up chat window on your computer screen that can answer questions about your favorite products. Besides their looks, there's another major difference between today's artificial intelligence (AI) and our movie favorites: Our most beloved fictional chatbots all possess emotional intelligence (EI). As we move into the future, AI needs humanizing qualities to improve the way it interacts with us, meets our needs for information, and even controls the other technology around us.

Identifying or authenticating people based on how they type is not a new idea, but thanks to advances in artificial intelligence it can now be done with a very high level of accuracy, making it a viable replacement for other forms of biometrics. Research in the field of keystroke dynamics, also known as keyboard or typing biometrics, spans back over 20 years. The technique has already been used for various applications that need to differentiate among computer users, but its widespread adoption as a method of authentication has been held back by insufficient levels of accuracy. Keystroke dynamics relies on unique patterns derived from the timing between key presses and releases during a person's normal keyboard use. The accuracy for matching such typing-based "fingerprints" to individual persons by using traditional statistical analysis and mathematical equations varies around 60 percent to 70 percent, according to Raul Popa, CEO and data scientist at Romanian startup firm TypingDNA.