Machines are capable of understanding speech, recognizing faces and driving cars safely, making recent technological advancements seem impressively powerful. But if the field of artificial intelligence is going to make the transformative leap into building human-like machines, it'll first have to master the way babies learn. "Relatively recently in AI there's been a shift from thinking about designing systems that can do the sort of things that adults can do, to realizing if you want to have systems that are as flexible and powerful and do the kinds of things that adults do, you need to have systems that can learn the way babies and children do," developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik, a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley, told International Business Times. "If you compare what computers can do now to what they could do 10 years ago, they've certainly made a lot of progress, but if you compare them to what a four year old can do, there's still a pretty enormous gap." Babies and children construct theories about the world around them using the same approach scientists use to construct scientific theories.

Survival: "Our entire existence is based on having the best detection mechanism possible," says Valerie Bannert-Thurner at Nasdaq. Certain things make Valerie Bannert-Thurner raise an eyebrow when looking for signs of bad behavior on the Nasdaq exchange. "I like the example of excessive cheering because the guys just can't help themselves but cheer," said Bannert-Thurner, who is senior vice president and head of risk and surveillance at Nasdaq. Another worrisome indicator is seemingly too-good-to-be-true trading profits. "If people are excessively profitable given how they trade and in comparison to everybody else trading the same instruments with similar styles, then we ask, is this luck or something else?" Bannert-Thurner said.

Artificial intelligence is learning to take on an increasing number of sophisticated tasks. Google Deepmind's AI is now able to imitate human speech, and just this past August IBM's Watson successfully diagnosed a rare case of leukemia. Rather than viewing these advances as threats to job security, we can look at them as opportunities for AI to fill in critical gaps in existing service providers, such as mental healthcare professionals. In the US alone, nearly eight percent of the population suffers from depression (that's about one in every 13 American adults), and yet about 45 percent of this population does not seek professional care due to the costs. There are many barriers to getting quality mental healthcare, from searching for a provider who's within your insurance network to screening multiple potential therapists in order to find someone you feel comfortable speaking with.

It's Monday lunchtime and gym-goers at Virgin Active in Moorgate, London, are grabbing a bike for their group cycle class. But this isn't any ordinary spin class, where the teacher enthusiastically shouts instructions like "sprint" and "climb" and the backdrop is an uninspiring grey wall. This is the "Pack", a class divided into three teams that compete in a series of interactive challenges while each rider's bike data is tracked in real-time and projected on to a screen. "We created the Pack in response to the growing demand for cycle-based classes and technology that tracks workout progress," says Virgin Active group chief information officer Andy Caddy. "It creates a wholly differentiated group cycle offering."

VIDEO: San Jose airport unveils robots to help passengers Robots at center of China's strategy to leapfrog rivals Robots at center of China's strategy to leapfrog rivals Robots at center of China's strategy to leapfrog rivals REDWOOD CITY (KRON)--Redwood City officials approved a pilot program this week that allows robots to deliver groceries and restaurant food to homes and businesses. Starship Technologies Inc. will launch the service with 20 robots. It will begin next month and last for nine months. Each robot is designed to carry three grocery bags and use nine on-board cameras to navigate. They travel four miles per hour and will be controlled by someone when they are crossing intersections, city officials said.

It's hard to believe that Black Friday and the 2016 holiday shopping season are almost here. The good news for those of us shopping for personal consumer electronics and tech gadgets for friends and family this holiday season is that there are some real bargains. Tech innovation has improved dramatically over the last year and because of competition the pricing has come down significantly. This year, I've structured the holiday tech gift guide a little differently. I had the opportunity to review many products this year, but I've narrowed the guide down to my top 30 featured products -- from tablets and phones to cameras and drones. I'm also putting together a future gift guide of less costly tech items in categories like kids, health/fitness, home/security and audio so be on the lookout for that. Always remember to check online for the lowest current prices on these items as most will be discounted as we get closer to the holidays. Remember, Hanukkah begins on the evening of December 24 this year. The Surface Pro 4 is the perfect holiday gift for a loved one looking for a device for work or play -- especially for the student who doesn't want to schlep around a heavy computer laptop. Powered by an Intel Core processor, it offers up to nine hours of battery life. Paired with the $60 Surface Pen you can use it for detailed sketches and handwritten notes.

Want to know if chatbots are gaining ground on apps? A Citi analyst, for example, reported that bots are growing at a much faster pace than mobile apps did at this same stage. In the realm of personal finance, bots have the real potential to radically improve the way we manage our money, weaving financial decisions into the fabric of our daily lives and giving us immediate insight into the long-term effects of our spending, saving, and investing habits. For instance, in the near future, when you walk into Starbucks, Siri might gently suggest that instead of spending $5 on a coffee this morning, perhaps you should put those dollars toward your child's college fund, which you've been neglecting lately. To further nudge you in the right direction, she might also let you know how that $5 investment in a college fund will appreciate over time and remind you that the single coffee purchase holds no long-term value. You compromise and opt for drip coffee instead of a latte, putting the leftover $2.50 into your child's 529 plan.

This story is part of a series inspired by the subjects and speakers appearing at BBC Future's World-Changing Ideas Summit in Sydney on 15 November. Find out more about the inspiring people coming to the meeting, including: Researcher Alex Gillespie on what artificial intelligence means for us Researcher Helen Christensen on how tech can spot and treat mental health issues Alan Finkel, Australia's chief scientist, on the future of energy BBC TV presenter Michael Mosley on the science of food and health Uber's Kevin Corti on the hidden patterns of city transport Researcher and TV presenter Emma Johnston on the impact of cities on oceans Experimental architect Rachel Armstrong on interstellar travel If you believe some AI-watchers, we are racing towards the Singularity – a point at which artificial intelligence outstrips our own and machines go on to improve themselves at an exponential rate. If that happens – and it's a big if – what will become of us? In the last few years, several high-profile voices, from Stephen Hawking to Elon Musk and Bill Gates have warned that we should be more concerned about possible dangerous outcomes of supersmart AI. And they've put their money where their mouth is: Musk is among several billionaire backers of OpenAI, an orgnisation dedicated to developing AI that will benefit humanity.

Behavioural change is a very tricky thing. We humans are so fickle. We see a bright shiny wearable device that can track our every move and we think it's our "silver bullet", a "ticket" to achieving our health and fitness dreams. Only for guilt to set in, as after a short time, the wearable device winds up in our top drawer. We knew the fitness data was great, but we really didn't know what to do with it. The truth is, behaviour change requires much more than data. Many programs have realized the magnitude of the problem and created incentive programs to reward people for being active, so they get a small pay-off on the road to achieving fitness. But in spite of these rewards, the drop-out rate remains problematic.

Today's technology is better than us in many areas of expertise. Artificial intelligence (AI) already beats us in games. It does a better job diagnosing illnesses. Cars, trucks, ships, trains and airplanes will soon drive themselves. In the future, artificial superintelligence will go beyond the abilities of homo sapiens. When robots manufacture our goods autonomously, and AI serves most of our needs, what will be left for us to do?