Artificial intelligence has gone through some dismal periods, which those in the field gloomily refer to as "AI winters." This is not one of those times; in fact, AI is so hot right now that tech giants like Google, Facebook, Apple, Baidu, and Microsoft are battling for the leading minds in the field. The current excitement about AI stems, in great part, from groundbreaking advances involving what are known as "convolutional neural networks." This machine learning technique promises dramatic improvements in things like computer vision, speech recognition, and natural language processing. You probably have heard of it by its more layperson-friendly name: "Deep Learning." Few people have been more closely associated with Deep Learning than Yann LeCun, 54. Working as a Bell Labs researcher during the late 1980s, LeCun developed the convolutional network technique and showed how it could be used to significantly improve handwriting recognition; many of the checks written in the United States are now processed with his approach. Between the mid-1990s and the late 2000s, when neural networks had fallen out of favor, LeCun was one of a handful of scientists who persevered with them. He became a professor at New York University in 2003, and has since spearheaded many other Deep Learning advances. More recently, Deep Learning and its related fields grew to become one of the most active areas in computer research. Which is one reason that at the end of 2013, LeCun was appointed head of the newly-created Artificial Intelligence Research Lab at Facebook, though he continues with his NYU duties. LeCun was born in France, and retains from his native country a sense of the importance of the role of the "public intellectual." He writes and speaks frequently in his technical areas, of course, but is also not afraid to opine outside his field, including about current events. IEEE Spectrum contributor Lee Gomes spoke with LeCun at his Facebook office in New York City.

Chatbots could replace 1-800 numbers, and Facebook wants them on Messenger. But most businesses don't have the resources or technical skills to build chatbots themselves. That's why Facebook is currently providing developers with API tools to build chatbots and Live Chat web plug-ins for business clients, according to multiple sources and a leaked deck Facebook shared with devs. The tools will be announced at Facebook's F8 conference next week. Facebook already has a directory for approved marketing partners.

You might have heard about Google's new Cloud Vision API. If you haven't, you should check it out. It lets you upload an image and get a TON of machine-learning based information out of it, including landmark detection, face detection, emotion detection, adult content detection, and even OCR. My favorite feature has to be the label detection. Give Cloud Vision a image, and it will tell you what's in the image!

In line with its chin-out approach to new technologies, massive banners all over the GTC proclaimed that Nvidia's AI software learned to be a better driver than a human in "hours." I assume they are referring to the 3,000 miles of training that Nvidia's DAVENET neural network received before it was used to create the demo video we were shown. The statement reeks of hyperbole, of course, since we didn't see DAVENET do anything especially exciting, or avoid any truly dangerous situations, or display any particular gift. But it was shown navigating a variety of on and off road routes. If it was truly trained to do that by letting it drive 3,000 miles (over the course of 6 months according to the video), that is an amazing accomplishment.

In just a few years, it will provide customer service in airports, hospitals, train stations and other facilities, speaking four languages so that it can even serve the masses of foreign tourists streaming into Japan. It is Hitachi's Emiew3 -- a smaller, faster and more agile competitor unveiled Friday. The new robot marks the third generation, and first commercially viable member, of a series that began with an experimental model in 2005. The company seeks to put it on the market in 2018. In a demonstration Friday, an Emiew3 prototype surveyed its surroundings and approached an actress playing a lost foreigner.

Darktrace, the leader in Enterprise Immune System technology, presented a radical vision of cyber defense at InfoSec World 2016, Orlando, yesterday, where'immune system'-inspired technology can automatically find and respond to evolving cyber-threats. IT Security Architect at Steelcase, Stuart Berman, joined Sean O'Connor, Director at Darktrace on the conference stage as a guest speaker, to discuss how enterprises can tackle the cyber security challenges of tomorrow. As one of the world's leading manufacturers of corporate office environments, Steelcase is known for embracing new technology and innovation, and was quick to recognize the importance of adopting new models of security. Speaking at the InfoSec World Conference in Florida yesterday, Stuart Berman, who has over 20 years' experience in information security, shared his views on the future of cyber defense. "Math and machine learning are an important part of advanced threat defense, in the context of today's fast-moving, distributed work environments," Berman commented.

This story was delivered to BI Intelligence IoT Industry Insider subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here. More than half (51%) of professionals in the supply chain and logistics industry believe robotics and automation will provide a competitive advantage in their industry, according to a recently released survey from industry association MHI and Deloitte. That number is up from 39% in a similar survey last year, The Wall Street Journal reported. More of the respondents cited robotics and automation as a competitive advantage than other technologies that are more prevalent in the logistics industry such as sensors, cloud computing, and inventory management tools.

Business InsiderChatbots aren't robots, but they are supposed to be close to mimicking humans. Chatbots are the future, whether we're ready for them or not. "It's technology that's inevitable," Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella has said. On Tuesday, Facebook is expected to release a Bot Store in a launch that could define the next decade in the same way that the Apple App Store launch paved the path for companies like Uber to build a business off your phone. So what are these chatbots, and why is everyone obsessed?

Now, she is applying her creative talents toward building the personality of a different type of character: a virtual assistant, animated by artificial intelligence, that interacts with sick patients. Unlike the fictional characters Ewing developed in Hollywood, who are put through adventures and plot twists, most virtual assistants are designed to perform largely prosaic tasks, such as reading through email, sending meeting reminders or turning off the lights. Writers for medical and productivity apps make character decisions, such as whether bots should be workaholics, self-effacing or eager beavers. At a recent meeting of Microsoft Cortana's six-person writing team -- which includes a poet, a novelist, a playwright and a former TV writer -- the group debated how to answer political questions.

Until recently, Robyn Ewing was a writer in Hollywood, developing TV scripts and pitching pilots to film studios. Now, she is applying her creative talents toward building the personality of a different type of character: a virtual assistant, animated by artificial intelligence, that interacts with sick patients. Ewing works with engineers on the software program, called Sophie, which can be downloaded to a smartphone. The virtual nurse gently reminds users to check their medication, asks them how they are feeling or if they are in pain, and then sends the data to a doctor. As tech behemoths and a wave of startups double down on virtual assistants that can chat with humans, writing for AI is becoming a hot job in Silicon Valley.