The growth of the digital economy has brought about different waves of technology, with the next one being a wave of connectivity. Computing has moved from the traditional desktop models to series of networks known as the Internet of Things (IOT). What this shift in paradigm means for us is that many of the objects that surrounds us will be on a network in one form or another. This recent development has doubled the research on sensor network technologies and advancement in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), to enable the invisible connection of information and communications systems. Driven by the prevalence and proliferation of smart devices enabled by open wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and RFID, the IOT is an evolution of the internet as we know it, into a network of interconnected equipment, objects and systems.

Scientists at Oxford University have developed a machine that can lip-read better than humans. The artificial intelligence system - LipNet - watches video of a person speaking and matches the text to the movement of their mouths with 93% accuracy, the researchers said. Automating the process could help millions, they suggested. But experts said the system needed to be tested in real-life situations. Lip-reading is a notoriously tricky business with professionals only able to decipher what someone is saying up to 60% of the time.

Everywhere you look, now there is some form of artificial intelligence appearing. Whether it's to make a process more efficient or whether it's to keep humans safe and away from danger, robots are creeping in at every chance they get, and this is expected to carry on for quite some years to come. Now, a new center has been launched in Cambridge, England that will look to continue the study of AI more closely along with the implications that come with these marvelous machines. The Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) has one aim: "to work together to ensure that we humans make the best of the opportunities of artificial intelligence as it develops over coming decades." It's a collaboration between four top universities which are Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, and Berkeley, and has the full backing and support of the Leverhulme Trust.

The Washington Post plans to cover every House, Senate and gubernatorial race in the country on Election Day with the aid of what it describes as artificial intelligence. The plan is to use a data-crunching program called Heliograf, which was built in-house, to bolster efforts by the Post's team of 60 political reporters to provide detailed coverage of nearly 500 contests across the U.S. Reporters will focus their attention on covering high-profile contests and races expected to be close or pivotal, while the program fills in the gaps. "This will give readers Washington Post-quality coverage at all levels but will also be used to alert reporters to things that they may not see, or draw their attention to a particular race that they didn't expect to be a close one," said Jeremy Gilbert, the Post's director of strategic initiatives. The Post first experimented with Heliograf to cover events at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer and will look to expand its use on Election Day. Using templates and pre-written previews, the program will automatically update stories as results come in, said Sam Han, the Post's director of data science.

Technological innovation will only continue to improve and, sometimes, disrupt what you've come to expect from any environment – whether in the business world or other spheres. Take a few moments to consider what one of most advanced forms of technological innovation – artificial intelligence – will have on business. In particular, we should contemplate what it'll mean in establishing relationships with customers and providing good customer service. By now everyone is aware of Uber disrupting what we expect from taxi services. The rather simple app for smartphones allows users to summon an available taxi wherever the customer needs it. This overturns what people expect from taxi services, providing people with a streamlined customer experience that previously did not exist at all.

For those of you unfamiliar with my work, I write frequently about Fourth Industrial Revolution (#4IR) themes such as Tech Innovation, Agtech, and Industrial Disruption. If I had to pick one area I find most exciting, most potentially disruptive and thus the best opportunity for return on investment, it would be A.I. Artificial Intelligence is the brain that makes everything work. It's easy to get lost in #4IR Tech Innovation jargon with complex topics such as: Industrial Revolution says that, ultimately, the innovation leads to disruption, change, and economic unrest… but also leads to a new era of opportunity and invention. Or is it the other way around? The anatomy of infrastructure is not unlike that of the human body, and we all know it's possible to live long, healthy lives.

If you needed any clarification that Artificial Intelligence is on everyone's mind, you need only tune into HBO's new buzzed-about series Westworld. But AI is quickly making its move from the futuristic and fictional to the realm of reality with many practical AI tools already available today. From space, robotics, transportation, healthcare, marketing, music, photography and more, many industries are affected by AI, and we've only just began to see the changes that are yet to come. Since AI is developing at such an astonishing rate, many industries are reaping the rewards of its integration. How much better can you manage your time, tasks and deadlines if each had a personal assistant to help schedule your calendars, tell you what's important and help you become more productive?

Sometime in the next few decades, I believe we will reach a level of Technological capability, where most of humanity will become unemployed, due to artificially intelligent machines being able to do their jobs, far more efficiently, and at a fraction of the cost. As we near this point, the Rich Ruling class on earth, will begin merging with the machines by implanting computer chips in their brains, so that they too can obtain super human intelligence, and by becoming, Transhuman, remain at the top of the Pyramid. Us humans who are still biologically natural, will have all the basic necessities of life provided for us by our Transhuman masters, but because of our inferior intellectual capacity, we will never have the opportunity to rise up the pyramid. It will be at this point in history, that the term survival of the fittest, will be replaced with a brand new Mantra... "ascension of the smartest".

LISBON – The Nissan-Renault alliance aims to offer Chinese drivers a new electric car costing just $8,000 within two years, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday as he touted an "explosion" in demand amid efforts to offset climate change. The electric auto market as a whole is stepping up a gear thanks to cheaper batteries, government incentives to consumers and better infrastructure for charging vehicles on the go, he said at the Web Summit in Lisbon. "For me, it is a no-brainer: electric cars are going to be a much bigger part of our industry in the future," Ghosn told AFP in an interview. Nissan was a groundbreaker in mass-marketing electric vehicles from 2008 and counts the popular Leaf in its fleet. But that higher-priced model does not compete against cheaper offerings from rival manufacturers such as BYD, Zhidou and SAIC in China, which is now the world's biggest auto market and also one of its worst polluters.

When it comes to maintaining the mental health and wellness of American citizens, the 2016 presidential election cycle has been less than ideal. In a recent article in Politico, therapists and their clients described how the last several months of political turmoil have thrown them for a loop. One psychologist even commissioned a poll of 1,000 voter-age respondents to probe the emotional impact of the election. The results: Nearly 30 percent of respondents reported emotional distress due to Hillary Clinton's campaign, while over 40 percent reported emotional distress due to Donald Trump's campaign. Perhaps most tellingly, a whopping 90 percent of those who reported emotional distress felt that the toll of this election was worse than any other election in the past, offering perspective into the general American psyche right about now.