US law enforcement has sentenced seven criminals who were part of an online fraud ring which duped victims out of their cash through romance, shopping and job opportunity scams. On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said that Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the Southern District of Mississippi sentenced seven citizens for their roles in online fraud schemes, which included counterfeit checks, "mystery shopper" websites and fake work-from-home jobs. According to Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell, all seven were members of a "large scale" international fraud ring which also used online dating sites as a platform to coax lonely hearts out of their money. In addition, fraudulent mystery shopper and personal assistance job opportunities were ran, in which victims -- believing they had legitimate work -- would be sent checks and instructions for various assignments. The checks, which were counterfeit, would bounce after the criminal ring received funds from victims, destined to be laundered in the US before transferring over to Nigeria.

Apple's Siri upgrades will let you dictate LinkedIn messages, verbally search for shoe photos on Pinterest, and hail an Uber, hands-free. When Apple unveils its new iPhone Wednesday, it's expected to push hard on software improvements available for its next mobile operating system, iOS 10, available for current iPhones and a predicted new iPhone model. The iPhone's voice-activated digital assistant Siri will be a key part of this upgrade, say tech analysts and developers. Siri, primarily used for voice commands to dial phone numbers, set reminders and get traffic information, has been opened to third-party developers after five years of existence. Apple, via a spokeswoman, said app developers are creating "completely new ways for users to interact" within apps.

Long hailed as a leader in technology, we've seen many interesting developments come out of the Cupertino office, especially today with the news about the new iPhone 7. Though there are plenty of new updates and products, there's also the question of what goes on behind the scenes to make these products possible. The answer can largely be summed up in two words: "machine learning." Machine learning has been around for quite some time, whether we realize it or not. In fact, the very idea that we don't notice it means the technology is effective, processing and learning from incredibly large amounts of data in real time, right underneath our noses. However, the term has just recently become commercialized and recognized throughout the media, resulting in a more indepth conversation around artificial intelligence among both consumers and technology professionals.

Apple already launched both developer and public beta programs allowing users to try out the software over the summer. The new iOS comes with a largely similar design to iOS 9, which Apple launched last year. However, Apple made several improvements to the operating system's functionality, allowing users to add stickers to iMessage, as well as digitally write messages to other users. The operating system also comes with an overhauled Apple Music redesign, helping users find more music and stream it. Most importantly for third-party developers, iOS 10 allows any app maker to access Apple's virtual personal assistant Siri and use the intelligent service to do everything from allow users to book a ride on Lyft to get directions from third-party mapping apps.

In my last column, I looked at how Amazon's Echo device and the Alexa voice service allows you to control things with your voice. You speak, it understands and obeys. Alexa is just part of a new wave of services that allow you to control things with your voice, from cell phones to intercoms and thermostats. You can even do things now like ask her to start your car. So, how do these listening devices transform your mellifluous voice into computer commands?

Sierra, the latest version of macOS (formerly OS X), will be available to download on September 20th. The update adds Siri to the Mac, the ability to copy and paste among Apple devices, and it enables picture-in-picture, which allows users to pop out a video from iTunes or Safari and keep it playing in a separate floating window. Plus, Apple Music has a new, streamlined UI and the Photos app gets an upgrade with a "Memories" view that collects shots taken in specific places or of certain people. The new operating system updates the messaging app as well, adding enlarged emojis, inline previews of videos and links, and the ability to respond to a message with a heart, thumbs up or other icon. We gave Sierra a spin in June and found most of its features to be intuitive and handy.

House Republicans are fighting to retain control of the chamber this fall, and they face looming priorities like stemming the Zika crisis and averting a government shutdown on a Sept. 30 funding deadline. But on Wednesday, they spent some a few lighter moments reviewing how the partisan divide can often be found on popular dating sites like OkCupid. At their first private session after returning from the long summer recess, House Republicans closed with a cheeky presentation on the interests most cited by liberals and conservatives in their dating profiles. "Yoga" ranked high among liberals; "Marines" by conservatives, according to a GOP source granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting. The presentation was based on a study released in July by OkCupid. GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield is known for lightening up the often rocky GOP huddles, sometimes by showing movie clips.

It's all over but the waiting for Apple fans, who should get to see two new models of the iPhone unveiled Wednesday in San Francisco. The launch event may provide some clues about Apple's future, as the company deals with a slowing smartphone market. Apple's iPhone sales have dropped over the past year for the first time in the device's history. As a result, the company has poured more effort into services such as Apple Music, its voice assistant, Siri, and smart-home management -- all as a way to make users even more reliant on iPhones, regardless of whether they are the latest model. Consumers may already have seen a glimpse of Apple's future this summer when the company showed off how its mobile operating system, iOS 10, which will allow outside developers to use Siri more deeply for their own apps and create new functions for Apple's Messages service.

The worlds of AI, Deep Learning and Machine Intelligence are rapidly evolving and it's hard to keep up! To help you get up-to-date we've rounded up the latest must-see AI news, interviews and videos. RE•WORK blogs Should We Be Rethinking Unsupervised Learning? Meet the Woman Behind the Personality of Microsoft's AI Assistant'Cortana' Deborah Harrison believes people should come to expect civility, humor, transparency and kindness from interactions with AI, just as they expect the ability to update a calendar. Democratising Deep Learning: Q&A With Prof. Neil Lawrence It has taken 20 years to go from defeating Kasparov at Chess to Lee Sedol at Go, but what have the real advances been across this time?

We have, up to this point, had decades of benefits accrued through computing -- but what innovations will push the envelope for our seniors? Artificial intelligence (AI) is the information of science. AI is misunderstood and glamorized by some, making it out to be something other than what it really is. It gives us the ability to use computers to perform tasks that usually require human intelligence. What was dubbed "artificial" is coming to be more appropriately thought to be cognitive intelligence, giving us tremendous benefits in all fields including aging, health, and safety.