"Dave Palmer, Director of Technology and ex-Mi5 and GCHQ at Darktrace, would like to offer his opinion on why the machine is ready to fight back on its own," reads the invite I'm sent by Darktrace's PR team. It is pitched as a defence of machine learning from the slightly off kilter perspective of security. There has been an awful lot written about machine learning and automation recently. Much of this takes the angle that the more work machines can do the less jobs will be available for human beings. The emphasis is scare mongering, an angle which often flies in the face of all the big possibilities afforded by machine learning which still, after all, require vast swathes of human assistance.

Companies or enterprises are half as likely to encounter malware as consumers and other users without professional IT management, according to the newest Microsoft Security Intelligence Report released Friday. The analysis, based on tens of billions of reports from computers using Microsoft security software between July and December 2015, found about 11 percent of domain-joined PCs encountered malware during the fourth quarter. In comparison, about 22 percent of non-domain-joined systems did so during that quarter. Domain-joined computers belong to an Active Directory Domain Services domain -- used almost exclusively in enterprise environments. Non-domain computers also encountered more software-based malware, such as Adware and browser modifiers or software bundlers, but domain-joined ones encountered slightly more ransomware.

A woman accused of "capitalizing on her physical attraction" to steal the identities of people she met on dating and home rental websites will face a judge Wednesday after she was arrested at a luxury hotel in Santa Barbara, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Maria Christina Johnson, 43, is believed to have dated or rented from her victims to gain access to their homes, where she'd scavenged through their belongings to obtain enough personal information to open new lines of credit without their knowledge, authorities said. Johnson -- also known as Maria Hendricks, Gia Hendricks, Maria Christina Gia and Maria Hainka -- has been arrested and charged multiple times before for various forms of fraud, identity theft and burglary before, according to a statement from the sheriff's department. After she successfully assumed an identity, investigators say, she moved into high-end hotels and charged thousands of dollars of goods and services to her victims, even attempting to purchase a car at one point, authorities said. By the time she was arrested as a guest of a luxury, beachside coastal resort in Santa Barbara on Thursday, investigators estimated Johnson, who lists her occupation as a dog trainer, had spent more than 250,000 of her victims' funds.

Airlines around the world are eager to take advantage of rapidly emerging technologies to improve their passengers' experience and become more efficient. But while executives recognize the opportunities, they know they can't do it alone. The two industry leaders in aircraft engines and technology are collaborating to offer carriers their expertise and ideas in a business where cutting 1 percent of fuel usage amounts to 250,000 in annual savings per plane. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimates digital tools in aircraft maintenance could save more than 100 million a year for a large carrier with a fleet of about 500 planes. "Our TotalCare maintenance program was revolutionary in the '90s, so we're pioneers ourselves, and by collaborating with a fellow pioneer like Microsoft, we can absolutely bring innovative digital solutions to airlines now," says Alex Dulewicz, head of marketing for services at Rolls-Royce's civil aerospace division.

In the last few years, an increasing amount of public-private initiatives have adopted IoT solutions, ranging from smart grids to energy efficiency applications. The unprecedented growth of the urban population, meanwhile, highlights the importance of increased public-private cooperation in smart cities and the circular economy to deliver more scalable low-carbon development models. For example, IBM's China Research Lab is working with the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau (BEPB) and other municipal authorities in China to scale-up its air quality forecasting system, as part of IBM's Green Horizons Initiative. The system uses pollution data from a network of sensors spread throughout Beijing. Through complex modeling and machine learning techniques, it returns increasingly precise forecasts of air pollution levels in different neighborhoods.

Baidu, China's largest search engine, is under investigation after college student with a rare form of cancer said it promoted a fraudulent treatment center. Baidu, China's largest search engine, is under investigation after college student with a rare form of cancer said it promoted a fraudulent treatment center. Chinese health and Internet authorities have launched an investigation into Baidu, the country's largest search engine, following the death of a college student who accused Baidu of misleading him to a fraudulent cancer treatment. Experts believe the scandal will damage the credibility of Baidu's search results, and its long-term economic prospects. On Monday, news of the government investigation caused Baidu's stock to tumble by nearly 8% on the NASDAQ.

About one in four owners of premium cars would buy a self-driving vehicle, according to Volvo's chief executive, who has vowed to make the technology affordable. Håkan Samuelsson said Volvo had had a deluge of interest in its "Drive me" trial in London next year, when 100 drivers will test its new autonomous driving technology on motorways and major roads. The Swedish carmaker plans to start selling vehicles equipped with the technology as early as 2020. Volvo will test the technology in Gothenburg this year. It is also looking into conducting a trial in China, where congestion and road safety are major issues.

Currently at this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct the question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time. Also, as a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to your host to Richard Morin. Thank you, and good evening, everyone. Earlier today, we issued a news release announcing Cognex's earnings for the first quarter of 2016, and we've also filed our quarterly report on Form 10-Q. For those of you who have not yet seen these materials, both are available on our website at www.cognex.com. They contain highly detailed information about our financial results. During tonight's call, we may use a non-GAAP financial measure, if we believe it is useful to investors, or if we believe it will help investors better understand our results or business trends. For your reference, you can see a reconciliation of certain items from GAAP to non-GAAP in Exhibit 2 of the earnings release. I'd like to emphasize that any forward-looking statements we made in the earnings release or any that we may make during this call are based upon information that we believe to be true as of today. Things often change and actual results may differ materially from those projected or anticipated. You should refer to the company's SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-K, for a detailed list of these risk factors. Now, I'll turn the call over to Cognex's Chairman, Dr. Bob Shillman.

Seoul and Washington have agreed to join efforts to develop an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) technology to counter cyberspace threats, according to a joint statement quoted by the local media on Monday. The two countries "intend to explore areas of mutual value and benefit, which may lead to joint activities aimed at enhancing operational readiness to support cybersecurity, and resilience," the statement issued by the US Department of Homeland Security and the South Korean Ministry of Science reads as quoted by Yonhap news agency. The South Korean ministry told the media that the sides had agreed to cooperate on joint research on "AI-based cybersecurity" following the recent visit to the country of Reginald Brothers, the US under secretary for science and technology. Last month, South Korean media reported that North Korea had allegedly carried out a number of cyberattacks and stolen information from dozens of Seoul top government officials' smartphones.

At the 2016 Milken Global Conference on Beverly Hills, CA, innovators from many industries offer their visions of the future from gene editing to ending global warming. BEVERLY HILLS -- What is the future of humankind? That lofty topic is the big theme here at the Milken 2016 Global Conference in Beverly Hills, where some 3,500 politicians, scientists, technologists, sports stars and actors are focused on how to make the world a better place. How do we get folks to talk to one another again in a world dominated by digital devices? Will gene editing make us healthier and how far away are we from a major scientific breakthrough?