SEOUL (THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Artificial intelligence (AI) is growing smarter by the second, and soon it will be able to outsmart us and take our jobs - or at least many fear it will..

Let's start with the'Mike" anecdote. Could I blame the men in the meeting that they were expecting another man at the table? Not really: I've always been one of the few women in a man-dominated industry. As a student in industrial and civil engineering, as an ICT professional, I've always had to - sometimes literally - make my name. But, I must add, as soon as one realized that I performed as well as my male colleagues, I didn't face any obstacles or friction.

CIMB Bank Berhad has added new features to its mobile application, the CIMB Enhanced Virtual Assistant (EVA), to bring further personalised, convenience and improved experience to its customers. Launched in December 2016, CIMB EVA has delivered in enabling account overviews and transactions through chat or quick keyword access. EVA was recently enhanced to include Spend Analyser and natural language conversational capabilities. These features are made available through collaboration with Singaporean fintech companies like MoneyThor and Active.Ai. With CIMB EVA's Spend Analyser which was done in collaboration with MoneyThor, customers can manage their accounts better and make smarter financial decisions via single-tap spending insights for, among others, utilities, petrol, entertainment, dining and travel made on their CIMB debit, credit and prepaid cards.

A new crop of data preparation tools, powered by machine learning, are changing the way that businesses prepare their data for optimal use. Here's what you need to know. At analytics-capable companies, just about every business department is asking for more data to help them make better decisions. But many of these same companies are also struggling with one common problem: It simply takes too long to transform raw data into meaningful sets that analysts, data scientists, and business users can actually use to their advantage In fact, according to a report from Forrester, 59 percent of these decision-makers say that data prep is the key bottleneck they must over to achieve better business intelligence through analytics. One of the primary problems is that data preparation is a time-consuming, often-manual process that relies heavily on human labor.

AI's effect on the workplace will not be limited merely to repetitive, production line-type jobs. Increasingly, it also enters the realm of highly trained knowledge workers. It will also affect those who manage workers currently employed in such jobs. AI likely will reshape jobs all the way up to the C-level offices. That doesn't mean, though, that managers and executives will no longer be needed.

NEW DELHI – Tokyo-based drone service and solution provider Terra Drone Corp. will launch operations in India this year to apply unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tech within the industry field of Asia's third-largest economy. Terra Drone India Pvt., a local unit of the firm, was incorporated last month to focus on "data acquisition services," Terra Drone India Managing Director Kota Kandori said in an email interview with NNA. With an initial investment of $1 million (about ¥106 million), Terra Drone India will develop drones, supply materials and create related software, as well as provide survey data analysis with the focus on "industry areas like construction, mining, railway, power lines, etc.," he said. Drones have been used in India for aerial surveys and other purposes over the past few years, citing advantages such as low mobilization costs and efficient use of time, as well as the ability to conduct surveys in urban, forestry, mining and disaster-affected areas, according to a 2017 report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. The Ministry of Mines has separately issued a memo regarding mining sector drones to all state governments and public sector undertakings such as National Aluminum Co. and Hindustan Copper Ltd.

BlackRock is setting up a new centre dedicated to research in artificial intelligence, underscoring the heightened interest among asset managers in how machine learning can revolutionise many facets of the investment industry. The world's biggest investment group, with $6.3tn of assets under management, is establishing a "BlackRock Lab for Artificial Intelligence" in Palo Alto, California, according to an internal memo seen by the Financial Times. The memo, sent by Rob Goldstein -- BlackRock's chief operating officer who is in charge of the company's technology group -- said that the lab will "augment our current teams and accelerate our efforts to bring the benefits of these technologies to the entirety of the firm and to our clients". AI has emerged as a hot topic across the corporate world in recent years as the swelling power of modern computers and expanding reams of digital data have unlocked fields like machine learning and natural language processing. The asset management industry is particularly interested in the area, as they try to improve the performance of their fund managers, automate back-office functions to cut costs and enhance their client outreach by analysing vast amounts of internal and external data. Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, the world's biggest manager of retirement savings, recently said AI could ultimately even replace human fund managers.

Sony Corp. is jumping into the ride-hailing fray. The Tokyo-based electronics giant plans to form a joint venture with six taxi operators in Japan this spring, according to a statement Tuesday. The alliance comes as Uber Technologies Inc., the world's biggest ride-hailing startup, is in talks with another cab company as it tries to build its presence in the country. After years of little action, Japan's lackluster ride-hailing industry is suddenly seeing a lot of activity. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is visiting the country to underscore the importance of its ¥1.7 trillion ($16 billion) taxi market.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the peculiar ability to simultaneously amaze, enthrall, leave us gasping and intimidate. The possibilities of AI are innumerable and they easily surpass our most artistically fecund imaginations. What all we read in science fiction novels or saw in movies like'The Matrix' could someday materialize into reality. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, recently said that'AI can be our friend' and is good for the society. From decision-making to computing to robotics to vehicles and even cosmetics, AI has left its mark everywhere and it will usher in the grandest social engineering experiment in the history of the world.

Sometimes we take for granted how much the automobile is actually responsible for. Simply things like getting us to work or dropping off our kids at grandma's or making another grocery run. We do this everyday, getting in and out of the car almost subconsciously over and over again. Then there is the transport industry. Maybe you are about to nosh on some delivery, or better yet, lasagna made by you--from scratch. All of these things and products were at one point on a truck, being transported from place to place to end up at a store, which in turn was then transported by you in your vehicle to your house.