A new technique using artificial intelligence to read satellite images could aid efforts to eradicate global poverty by indicating where help is needed most, a team of U.S. researchers say. The method would assist governments and charities trying to fight poverty but lacking precise and reliable information on where poor people are living and what they need, the researchers based at Stanford University in California said. Eradicating extreme poverty, measured as people living on less than 1.25 a day, by 2030 is among the sustainable development goals adopted by United Nations member states last year. A team of computer scientists and satellite experts created a self-updating world map to locate poverty, said Marshall Burke, assistant professor in Stanford's Department of Earth System Science. It uses a computer algorithm that recognizes signs of poverty through a process called machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence, he said.

Dumna tarmac scare: SpiceJet bus driver's alarm sent flyers scurrying Poker-playing AI'bot' carries long-range impact Research report explores the artificial intelligence machines industry development trends ... Teacher's Day Special: Helping kids with special needs to shine

China's biggest search engine, Baidu, announced it will use Intel's Xeon Phi processor when the processor's release plan was disclosed on August 17 at Intel's annual developer forum in San Francisco. "When it comes to AI (artificial intelligence), Intel's Xeon Phi is a great fit," said Jing Wang, a senior vice president of Baidu, who joined Diane Bryant, executive vice president in charge of Intel's data center group, at the forum. Intel said Xeon Phi will help accelerate deep learning, a computerized technique increasingly used for tasks such as interpreting speech, identifying objects in photos and piloting autonomous vehicles. Baidu, having researched the application of artificial intelligence for years, is considering using the new chip to support its voice recognition system, called Deep Speech. Deep Speech is based on the collection of 7,000 hours of voice clips created by 9,600 people.

Do you know that two thirds of Chinese outbound travelers prefer individual travel? Data from the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) shows that Chinese outbound travelers reached 120 million in 2014, among whom 80 million chose self-guided tours. While we can appreciate the various options available in transportation, accommodation, and attractions, it can also become perplexing and even frustrating to dig through a sea of information just for a travel plan. "The abundance of choice allows everyone to personalize a journey, yet filtering out useless and repeated information can be time-consuming and not cost-effective," said Zhang Fan, founder and CEO of the itinerary planner Mioji. Moji means "brilliant idea" in Chinese.

In our quarterly analysis of companies pursuing healthcare-focused applications of AI, we reported that deals leapt from less than 10 in 2011 to 60 in 2015. So far this year (as 0f 8/23/2016), companies in this space have raised around 55 equity funding rounds. Some of the recent deals include a 25M Series A round raised by London-based health services startup, Babylon Health, backed by investors including Kinnevik and Google-owned DeepMind Technologies (Babylon will reportedly roll out a Siri-like voice recognition interface this year), and a 154M Series A round raised by China-based iCarbonX. "By 2025, AI systems could be involved in everything from population health management, to digital avatars capable of answering specific patient queries." We identified over 80 companies that are applying machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics to reduce drug discovery times, provide virtual assistance to patients, and diagnose ailments by processing medical images, among other things.

NAIROBI – Japanese and African leaders on Sunday pledged to fight terrorism and emphasized the importance of rules-based maritime order as they wrapped up a Japan-led international conference on the continent's development. In the Nairobi Declaration adopted at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), the leaders also agreed to promote investment in infrastructure that leads to job creation in the fast-growing region. "Japan's public and private sectors will offer cooperation for the development that is led by Africa itself," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a news conference after wrap-up of the sixth TICAD, convened in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told the same news conference that Japan does not press its own views on the continent and continues to be a force for African development. The triennial conference was held outside Japan for the first time, as Tokyo seeks to strengthen its economic and political presence in the continent amid China's increasing influence.

Seated against a deep red backdrop, gazing intently at hand-held mirrors, two eunuchs in sparkling saris inspect their appearance before Raksha Bandhan celebrations in the red light district of Mumbai. The photograph from the Reuters news agency is an arresting contemporary scene, but a new Tate Britain project is aiming to inspire deeper reflections with images from its own collection of paintings. Launching on Friday, Recognition is the winner of 2016's IK prize – an annual award, this year supported by Microsoft, for a project that embraces digital technology to explore and showcase Tate's collection of British art. This year, the challenge was to do it with artificial intelligence. The team behind the winning project, from the Italy-based communication research centre Fabrica, say their inspiration came from an intriguing conundrum: how can you apply rational thinking to a subject like art? Recognition matches stunning photographs from the 24/7 news cycle with centuries-old artworks, and presents them online.

This blog series is based on my upcoming talk on re-usability of Deep Learning Models at the Hadoop Strata World Conference in Singapore. This blog series will be in several parts – where I describe my experiences and go deep into the reasons behind my choices. Deep learning is an emerging field of research, which has its application across multiple domains. I try to show how transfer learning and fine tuning strategy leads to re-usability of the same Convolution Neural Network model in different disjoint domains. Application of this model across various different domains brings value to using this fine-tuned model.

Naturally, the board already has some advice. It recommends that the Pentagon gather more intelligence on other nations' AI capabilities, and develop "counter-autonomy" solutions. The military could deceive or overwhelm autonomous war machines, for example. Also, the writers suggest that the US pour many more resources into developing and testing learning AI, such as weapons that adapt to battlefield conditions. There's no guarantee that officials will heed the advice, or even that it's absolutely necessary.

Internet search giants making self-driving cars appears to be a trend, and Russia's Yandex wants in. It's partnering with Daimler, truck maker Kamaz and government-backed researchers at NAMI on an autonomous shuttle bus that could carry up to 12 people and travel about 124 miles on a charge. Yandex is contributing its experiences with artificial intelligence, computer vision and voice recognition, and it'll even be central to the interface -- you'll use a Yandex-linked mobile app to pinpoint your destination. NAMI will start testing the self-driving bus on closed circuits in 2017, and it's bound to be a while after that before you can see one (or something like it) cruising the streets. There's no guarantee that you'll ever get to ride this bus beyond Russian borders, but it wouldn't be surprising if Yandex's technology finds its way into more vehicles.