AI and related technologies are most effective when used as a way to unleash creativity and increase autonomy in workers. The study was done by researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London, and commissioned by robotic process automation vendor Automation Anywhere. Released in September, the study looked at the role and impact of automation in the workplace, focusing on two "augmentation" technologies: Among the findings: Not only do enterprises that invest in augmented human intelligence promote a "more human workplace," but workplaces with cultures that foster learning also do technology augmentation more successfully. "The key [to success] was to invest in technology and people," said Mihir Shukla, CEO of Automation Anywhere. "Technology investment is straightforward," he added.

As part of Information Age's Artificial Intelligence Month, we are providing three CTO guides over the coming weeks on artificial intelligence: what it is, the industries most impacted and implementation best practices. In the dictionary, artificial intelligence is defined as: the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. This guide will focus on what is artificial intelligence, in the context of business, with insights from CTOs and AI experts. Harald Gölles, the CTO of omni:us, says that -- broadly -- "artificial intelligence (AI) is the exploration and development of intelligent behaviour in machines". "Businesses can rely on dedicated AI solutions to take automation to the next level and solve complex practices that are often too complicated and costly to maintain."

Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence? For me, this is a simple question with an even simpler, two letter answer: no. But not everyone agrees – many people, including the late physicist Stephen Hawking, have raised concerns that the rise of powerful AI systems could spell the end for humanity. Clearly, your view on whether AI will take over the world will depend on whether you think it can develop intelligent behavior surpassing that of humans – something referred to as "super intelligence". So let's take a look at how likely this is, and why there is much concern about the future of AI.

On Jan. 15, FBI agents arrested Jerry Chun Shing Lee, a former CIA case officer, and charged him with unlawful retention of classified information. Lee is the sixth person charged by the Justice Department in the past two years for espionage-related offenses suspected to have been conducted on behalf of the People's Republic of China. By comparison, prior to 2015, only one or two people on average per year were arrested for such offenses. The increased frequency of arrests--coinciding with a public March 2016 announcement by the Chinese government that intelligence efforts would be more heavily resourced--may indicate that China is scaling up traditional human intelligence efforts against the United States government. Lee's arrest seemingly stemmed from FBI agents' discovery of classified information in his notebooks in 2012.

The sun formed 4.5 billion years ago, but it's got around 6 billion years more before its fuel runs out. It will then flare up, engulfing the inner planets. And the expanding universe will continue--perhaps forever--destined to become ever colder, ever emptier. To quote Woody Allen, eternity is very long, especially toward the end. Any creatures witnessing the sun's demise won't be human--they'll be as different from us as we are from a bug.

Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence? For me, this is a simple question with an even simpler, two letter answer: no. But not everyone agrees – many people, including the late physicist Stephen Hawking, have raised concerns that the rise of powerful AI systems could spell the end for humanity. Clearly, your view on whether AI will take over the world will depend on whether you think it can develop intelligent behaviour surpassing that of humans – something referred to as "super intelligence". So let's take a look at how likely this is, and why there is much concern about the future of AI.

Should we be afraid of artificial intelligence? For me, this is a simple question with an even simpler, two letter answer: no. But not everyone agrees – many people, including the late physicist Stephen Hawking, have raised concerns that the rise of powerful AI systems could spell the end for humanity. Clearly, your view on whether AI will take over the world will depend on whether you think it can develop intelligent behaviour surpassing that of humans – something referred to as "super intelligence". So let's take a look at how likely this is, and why there is much concern about the future of AI.

This article presents a position highlighting the importance of combining artificial intelligence (AI) approaches with natural intelligence, in other words, involvement of humans. To do so, we specifically focus on problems of societal significance, stemming from complex, sensitive domains. We first discuss our prior work across a series of projects surrounding social media and mental health, and identify major themes wherein augmentation of AI systems and techniques with human feedback has been and can be fruitful and meaningful. We then conclude by noting the implications, in terms of opportunities as well as challenges, that can be drawn from our position, both relating to the specific domain of mental health, and those for AI researchers and practitioners.

We're empowered to engage in creative thought. Because we have much more insight, a lot of guesswork is eliminated. Instead of merely telling customers what they should do, a sales rep is able to explain why it's in the customer's best interest to do it. We're given more insight to creatively explore which sales script will resonate most strongly with each customer and which marketing messaging will drive the greatest levels of engagement. Perhaps most important, we're able to deeply personalize sales and marketing content, an endeavor that only 31% of marketing professionals believe they're effective at (despite 74% believing it has a strong impact on advancing customer relationships).

AI or not AI: that is the question. Computer scientists in Australia teamed up with an expert in the University of Toronto's department of English to design an algorithm that writes poetry following the rules of rhyme and metre. To test their results, the researchers asked people online to distinguish between human- and bot-written verses. The best version of the algorithm fooled people nearly 50 per cent of the time. In some ways, the computer's verses were better than Shakespeare's.