Your Cognitive Christmas

Big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing are all the rage as we near the end of 2016 and whilst they might not be something you'll find gift-wrapped under your tree, the presents, the tree itself and even your Christmas dinner may well be a by-product of these technology trends. Could AI top the charts this Christmas? Researchers at The University of Toronto have created a programme that can automatically generate a song, based on any digital image. Whilst it's unlikely to top the charts this festive season (or indeed at any time), this particular masterpiece – inspired by a photo of a Christmas tree – will almost certainly put a smile on your face! "We are used to thinking about AI for robotics and things like that. The question now is what can AI do for us?" said Raquel Urtasun, an associate professor in machine learning and computer vision at Toronto's computer science lab.