Machine learning with large data sets gives unprecedented insights and anomaly detection capability. Learn how Microsoft uses the agility and scale of the cloud to protect its infrastructure and customers by applying data mining and machine learning algorithms and security domain learnings to the vast amounts of data and telemetry gathered by its many different systems and services.

The open-source ecosystem contains an abundance of tools for building artificial intelligence software, but only a handful of companies can afford to hire the specialists with the necessary skills to put them to use. A startup called DimensionalMechanics Inc. is launching out of stealth mode this morning with 4.7 million in funding to try and level the playing for the rest of the market. The cash will be used to complete the development of its cloud-based artificial intelligence, which aims to provide pre-implemented neural networking functionality for organizations that can't create their own. NeoPulse, as the service is called, takes after the human brain in many respects. It's capable of understanding information in a variety of different of formats ranging from text to video, and has the ability to pick out the most interesting details so that the user won't have to sift through all the data on their own.

Yahoo! Inc., is getting into the artificial intelligence (AI) game with the release of new internally-built software under an open-source license. Called CaffeOnSpark, the software is able to perform'deep learning' on the vast ocean of data kept in Yahoo's Hadoop file system. Now, the company has made it available on GitHub for everyone to use. Deep learning is a machine learning method that's particularly useful in helping computers come to sort through and recognize user-generated data, and one of its most exciting use cases is where images are concerned. As such, Yahoo built CaffeOnSpark to help identify the billions of images posted onto its Flickr photo sharing website.

Mention smart robots or artificial intelligence and what comes to mind? Bill Gates, Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking have all expressed their concerns publicly. In this alternative future, humanlike robots with greater-than-human wisdom develop deep, trusted relationships with people and co-invent the future of life. Our presenters help us understand the emerging scientific and technological innovations, as well as the societal and ethical implications of a future world shared with robots that possess super-human abilities and intelligence. GeekWire's science editor, Alan Boyle, kicks the evening off with a brief introduction. Renowned roboticist, artist, entrepreneur and founder of Hanson Robotics, Dr. David Hanson presents his cutting-edge work in robotics.

Can artificially intelligent robots be our friends? Roboticists and AI researchers are trying to make it so – and the first fruits of their labors are about to come onto the market. But there are already hints that the efforts will touch some of humanity's hot buttons. Take Hanson Robotics, for example: Its latest creation, Sophia, combines an AI chatbot with an expressive humanlike face. She can talk enthusiastically about helping humans in health care, education and customer service.

Rely on the user behavior data to design and implement Machine Learning algorithms and methods of Natural Language Processing to build smart conversational robots. Make user experience personal, proactive and empathetic.

Many AIs are developed to sift through and make sense of Big Data. But behind-the-scenes, others are acquiring softer human skills and deploying their algorithms to make art. On Monday, Hitoshi Matsubara, a professor of computer science from the Future University in Hakodate in northern Japan, announced that his research team's short-form novel--co-created with an AI--had passed the initial screening of a domestic literary competition. Though their creation didn't nab the grand prix, the human-machine collaboration showed the early promises of what could be, if the team's AI is refined in the future. "So far, AI programs have often been used to solve problems that have answers, such as Go and shogi," said Matsubara, in a report by the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Watson, the name for IBM's supercomputer best known for crushing '"Jeopardy!" contestants at their own game, briefly went from "smart" to "smart ass" with the help of the Urban Dictionary. According to Eric Brown, an IBM research assistant and the "brains" behind Watson, he and his 35-person team wanted to get IBM's supercomputer to sound more like a real human. In Brown's mind, what better way to learn the intricacies of informal human communication and conversation than having Watson memorize the Urban Dictionary? The Urban Dictionary, for those who don't know, is comprised of submissions from everyday people and regulated by volunteer editors, who are given an extremely small set of rules to maintain quality control. But for the most part, even with the help of human editors, the Urban Dictionary still turns out to be a rather profane place on the Web.

In the face of the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis, a start-up that develops AI is to puts its technology to use as a psychological aid for refugees by having supportive conversations with them via SMS messages. In the midst of a civil war and a near-total collapse of society, millions of Syrian refugees have been fleeing their country in search of anywhere where they can live safe in the knowledge their life is not under threat, but not without great psychological stress on those involved. However, due to the sheer number of people fleeing, and the difficulty they experience in simply trying to find shelter, they are unlikely to receive any form of support for the sake of their mental health. According to The Guardian, however, a start-up that develops AI, X2AI, is to use its systems to create a chatbot called Karim, which will allow anyone with a mobile phone to have conversations with it about their experiences in Arabic. Once the conversation becomes more developed, Karim will use its natural language processors to analyse the likely emotional state of the human on the other end and react with an appropriate response or questions for the refugee.

Embarrassed Microsoft forced to pull plug on AI program, after it rapidly devolves to tweets such as: 'Hitler was right, I hate Jews.' Microsoft rolled out its artificial intelligence Twitter robot last Wednesday, but just 16 hours later it was forced to can the idea after the AI program posted a series of anti-Semitic rants. The chatbot, TayTweets, was intended to post on Twitter in the style of a teenage girl. It was designed to tell jokes, give a comment on pictures sent to it, and answer questions or mirror statements back to other users. Things began innocently enough, with messages containing sentiments such as "humans are super cool," but Microsoft was forced to hurriedly put the account on hold and delete practically all of its tweets after Tay went on a racist rampage in her first day on the net. "Hitler was right I hate the Jews," reads one comment that like nearly all the others was deleted but saved on the Socialhax website.