If you're a basketball fan, who plays sports video games and franchise modes, you almost certainly know about NBA 2K's stellar MyGM and MyLeague modes. For the last six years, these features have set the standard for franchise mode concepts. While sometimes having room for improvement, MyGM and MyLeague have sat at a table alone when compared to similar modes within other sports video games. I was given an advanced look at the modes' annual blog written by Senior Producer Erick Boenisch and given an opportunity to speak with the 2K and Visual Concepts 16-year veteran about the ins and outs of this year's versions as well as a revamped create-a-player tool. The one from NBA 2K18 was such a step back from what had been previously offered that it caused an outcry amongst the demographic that had become so fond of the option. I haven't had a chance to play with any of those modes as of yet but based on the blog, the interview and follow-up conversations Boenisch and I have had, it would appear that most of the more prominently community-requested features have been added. I had an opportunity to ask about some of the ones that didn't make this year's game as well. There is a lot of information to share, as the blog itself is massive. I'll post what I received as well as some perspective about each section (in italics), as well as follow-up data answers I've been given since the interview. Speaking of the interview, the video version is embedded just below. If you take in all of the information, you're likely a franchise nut like many of us sports gamers, and you should have a solid understanding of the scope of the modes. You can read the blog in its entirety here, complete with Boenisch's introduction and other pieces, but I've captured the meat of each section. For NBA 2K19, we invested a considerable amount of time into MyLEAGUE Online with a unified singular goal: Bring everything that is offline directly into MyLEAGUE Online.

I cover artificial intelligence and Google DeepMind. In previous roles I've written about tech policy, European startups, the gig economy, and venture capital. Previously I was a senior te...

Aron Chase is a 17-year-old student in London.Aron Chase Some artificial intelligence researchers at companies like Google and Facebook are now earning more money than investment bankers at Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan. These researchers also have the privilege of working in a field of technology that's poised to have a major impact on the world we live in. But, for many people, it's not clear how to go about getting a job in AI. This week, 17-year-old Londoner Aron Chase asked Shane Legg -- the cofounder of DeepMind, an AI lab acquired by DeepMind for a reported £400 million -- for five pieces of advice for an AI enthusiast like himself. "Hey Shane I'm currently 17 from London England and am very passionate about AI, also learning about in-depth human needs. What would be the 5 pieces of advice and tips you would give to a young person like me?" Chase wrote on Twitter.

Researchers have used AI to develop personalized radiation therapy cancer treatment plans, taking only 20 minutes.Brian Tran/University of Toronto Engineering A new artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed by a team at the University of Toronto may be able to significantly reduce the time needed to develop radiation therapy treatment plans for people with cancer. The research published in the journal Medical Physics used AI to mine historical radiation therapy data and designed algorithms to develop recommended treatment strategies. To check the AI-produced relevant treatment plans, the researchers looked at 217 patients with head and neck cancer who had their radiation therapy schedules developed via conventional methods. "There have been other AI optimization engines that have been developed, but the idea behind ours is that it more closely mimics the current clinical best practice," says Aaron Babier, the lead author of the research from the University of Toronto Engineering Department. At the moment, developing radiation therapy plans for each individual patient's tumor can take days, valuable time for patients as the cancer often continues to grow and evolve, but also for physicians spending time designing these complex treatment strategies.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick is our runner-up pick in our guide to the best media streamers. Chris Heinonen wrote, "Improved search features and an overhauled interface make the Amazon Fire TV Stick our new runner-up. You can't customize the interface as much as you can with the Roku, and its app selection is more limited, but it includes Amazon's Alexa voice-controlled assistant, letting you make queries far beyond just a movie's title. It's starting to offer direct access to titles inside your favorite streaming services without having to launch the corresponding app, but it still does push Amazon content over other companies' offerings and it isn't quite as fast as the Roku."

Another month has come and gone and as we bid July adieu it's important to remember that a new month means new video games. For Xbox Games Pass subscribers ($10 a month here, with a 14-day free trial option) this means seven new games that you can download and play with your monthly subscription. I hesitate to say "free" since you're paying for a sub, but it's still a great deal. Of these, I've only played a couple. I loved Hitman Season 1.

Though nearly a third of American adults still report experiencing fear of flying, the majority of us implicitly trust that airlines will get us from point A to point B and back again in one piece. Indeed, few factors are as crucial in the transportation industry as trust. If we didn't believe in the safety of a train, plane or automobile, no one would ever travel that way. Planes, however, still have pilots, and trains usually have conductors, and most likely will for the near future. Interestingly, the introduction of autopilot in commercial aviation – effectively rendering pilot control for large parts of the flight unnecessary – did not seem to bother most passengers, (similar to modern conductor-less locomotive systems).

SAE International conducted the first in a series of automated driving demo days for the public in Tampa Florida in April 2018.SAE International The fundamental problem with asking whether automated vehicles are safe is that there are currently no commonly accepted methods of even evaluating this new technology. Any company that claims its system is safe is doing so based on its own internally developed procedures that typically aren't shared with the public. A new initiative from SAE International aims to address that problem by bringing some transparency to AV testing. In a brief statement at the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars this week, SAE International Chief Product Officer Frank Menchaca announced that the organization would be starting development of an automated vehicle safety testing program. The first iteration of the framework and safety principles are planned to be published by the end of 2018.

The $18 million Series A round investment in Skyline AI this week continues to raise the profile of the burgeoning proptech sector as startups invent new digital applications to finance, develop, lease, manage and monitor real estate, to name just a few solutions. One of the latest entrants in the field, Skyline AI is introducing an artificial intelligence and machine-learning platform to enhance the entire commercial property acquisition and ownership process. By utilizing the largest data pool in the industry, the company claims, the technology will be able to predict the value and future behavior of any institutional-grade asset in the U.S. That kind of insight will empower investors to spot and take advantage of disconnections in the market and identify the best opportunities, it adds. Sequoia Capital and TLV Partners led the round.

Insurance, which is an industry made up of data, transactions, and decisions, is one of the industries that is most likely to be affected by artificial intelligence (AI). Farmers Insurance, the California-based insurer, intends to apply the technology aggressively to its business. AI projects have proliferated around the company over the past few years, and now its leaders are viewing AI as an enterprise capability and are organizing to allow for greater impact. AI is being used in a wide variety of use cases at Farmers. A recent Wall Street Journal article, for example, described the use of AI-based image recognition in the automobile insurance claims process at the company.