The media interest surrounding deep learning has grown exponentially in the last few years. But what does it actually mean, and how will it change business and society? Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that refers to mapping artificial neural networks to recreate some of the same processes that the human brain performs, and using algorithms with speech, images and text, to recognize, identify and understand patterns in the data. Although this sounds simple, it involves complex processes and functions – but once trained, the application of deep learning algorithms could be world changing. For instance, a machine that learns like a human, but can rapidly process thousands of images and recognize patterns, is already showing promise for applying deep learning to medical imaging.

Independent French developer Ocelot Society has announced their new game, Event[0]. The sci-fi game is focused on both narrative and exploration, only the focus is on building a relationship with a lonely artificial intelligence and not just walking down hallways. Featured above, you can view the game's announcement trailer. Clearly inspired by sci-fi classes like 2001: A Space Odyssey, players will be tasked with building exploring dialogue as they slowly build a relationship with the AI known as Kaizen. As you explore the ship and talk with the AI, you'll eventually uncover the situation and hopefully return to earth.

It's not easy to be healthy. And it's even harder to be healthy at work, where chances are--despite the vogue for standing desks and the like--you're parked in a chair for most of the day, focused on a screen. The average workweek, by one recent measure, is now 47 hours and counting. By and large, more time spent at the office means more time hunched over a computer, probably eating lunch at a desk. Stress--which has been linked to increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and other health issues--is just about inevitable as a result.

The worry is that new industries and occupations that will potentially be created won't come in time and won't be enough to provide jobs and incomes for the millions of workers displaced by new technologies. In the past few weeks, I had the opportunity to visit a handful of centers of innovation and speak with some of the world's leading experts in technology information and robotics. As is usual in this environment, there was an air of contagious optimism. But there was also a lot of worry about the impact new technologies would have and many doubts about the societal, economic and political capability to adapt to it.

Brain function is made possible by an interconnected structure of neurons, glia and microvessels relying on exchange of information with one another as well as with the extracellular compartment. This communication engenders the phenomenon of the mind, frequently referred to as the mental trilogy: cognition (thinking), emotion (assigning value to stimuli), and motivation (setting and achieving goals) (1). In order to accomplish these tasks the brain utilizes over 100 billion cells and 600 km of microvessels (2) embedded in an extracellular matrix (ECM) of proteins, polysaccharides and interstitial fluid (ISF) (3). As we are getting well into the 21st century, it has become clearer that the mind is the product of the brain, just as the body movement is the product of the musculoskeletal system. With the same token, it is clearer and clearer that psychiatric disorders are disruptions of cellular or molecular communication in brain networks.

Artificial intelligence is usually associated with futuristic sci-fi movies and the rise of the machines against humanity. What many people don't realise is that it's commonplace today, and something you've probably not noticed has become a critical part of your life. The intelligence Facebook uses to make friends suggestions or how Google photos recognises faces and places are both examples of AI, and machine learning, in action. AI is also being used in organisations worldwide to augment and assist human employees to do their jobs better and smarter. In South Africa, Stellenbosch-based CLEVVA has developed an AI platform that enables companies to rapidly and easily deploy Virtual Advisors across every aspect of their businesses.

About 12% of women in the US will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime, and there are expected to be close to 250,000 new cases of breast cancer in 2016 alone. With a breast cancer diagnosis comes fear, anxiety, stress, added expenses and--sometimes--a missed diagnosis. Approximately 5% to 17% of breast cancers are missed by a radiologist. Mammograms can also result in a false positive or an overdiagnosis, which leads to additional and unnecessary cancer treatment for the patient. According to a study by Health Affairs, between 22% and 31% of all diagnosed breast cancers are overdiagnosed, resulting in an additional 4 billion in health-care spending annually.

The world's first AI healthcare companion for the home can store, dispense and even order medication The rise of fitness trackers and exercise programs with a cult following have made it clear that our society is desperate to get and remain healthy. Those looking for a high-tech way to keep track of their well-being might be interested in a new home health robot called Pillo. A combination of face recognition, machine learning, automation and video conferencing make Pillo a personal health assistant that can even dispense your daily vitamins and medication. According to the company responsible for the device, the system uses facial recognition and can identify the face and voice of every user in a household, and dispense the right pills at the appropriate time. The medication is stored in a tamper-proof casing that can fit up to 250 medium-sized pills.

After decades of stagnation in research and development of artificial intelligence solutions, machine learning has blossomed again – and its seeds are spreading to financial services. Sofia Lotto Persio reports on how AI is improving the field. Almost 20 years later, in March 2016, Google's AlphaGo programme beat South Korean champion Lee Sedol at four matches of Go, a strategy game, in what represents another historic breakthrough for artificial intelligence (AI). In the two-decade span between these achievements, AI has progressed tremendously. Go is a much more complex game than chess, as there are more possible positions on the board than there are atoms in the universe.

So Brexit turned out to be the non-event for markets we expected with asset prices booming to record highs while support for remaining inside the single currency free-trade zone has risen within other European Union countries. As is often the case, the trade was to "fade" – or bet against – the apocalyptic hyperbole both before and after the referendum. Remarkably one boutique Australian quant shop did exactly this by leveraging academic studies of "blue green algae", which helped it generate enormous 32 per cent returns on the day of the vote. Taaffeite Capital Management (TCM) claim their "artificial intelligence" (aka computer code operating autonomously of humans) figured out that there were massive financial market mispricings that warranted shorts on equities and long positions on government bonds without actually knowing that a referendum was being held. The intellectual property underlying this "systematic" – or automated – trading strategy belongs to Massachusetts Institute of Technology PhD Desmond Lun, who is a 36-year old Australian professor of computer science at Rutgers University in the US, and a Melbourne University alumnus.