In a story ripped from the opening scenes of a sci-fi horror movie, scientists have bridged a critical gap between the biological and electronic. The study, published in Nature Electronics (summarized in Nature), details a "hybrid biocomputer" combining lab-grown human brain tissue with conventional circuits and AI. Dubbed Brainoware, the system learned to identify voices with 78 percent accuracy. It could one day lead to silicon microchips fused with neurons. Brainoware combines brain organoids -- stem-cell-derived clusters of human cells morphed into neuron-filled "mini-brains" -- with conventional electronic circuits.

Last week, the popular Rank Math SEO plugin received a major update that includes a new artificial intelligence system. The Content AI feature is a SaaS product that behaves like a personal writing assistant to boost search rankings. "We built Rank Math's Content AI feature to revolutionize the content production and optimization process with proprietary AI that gives SEOs and content marketers a competitive edge," said Bhanu Ahluwalia, Rank Math's CMO. The system allows users to research what their content should look like based on a keyword. This data is stored on the user's server, so the same keyword used on multiple posts does not cost extra.

If AI is well equipped to expedite arduous onboarding processes, is it equally adept in the actual hiring process? Employers the world over have long dreamed of harnessing technology to widen their recruitment net. Well, to get the best talent in the door, to reduce reliance on human recruiter subjectivity, to achieve a more diverse, representative, and sustained employee base. The reality is that recruitment technology and AI can too readily propagate historical bias' in hiring. The humans feeding the systems with data are blind to their own prejudices working their way in.

Federal artificial intelligence (AI) technology leaders agreed today that a human-centered approach to data management and automation generates stakeholder buy-in and improves agencywide perceptions of AI projects. At CXO Tech Forum: AI and Robotics Process Automation (RPA) in Government on Dec. 5, government officials speaking on several panels emphasized the importance of human-centered design in the development of AI capabilities. Anil Tilbe, Director of Enterprise Measurement and Design at the Veterans Experience Office (VEO), said that human-centered design is "extremely important" in AI development. "Using human-centered design, you're prioritizing human intelligence," he said. At VEO, Tilbe and his team are using information gathered from veterans and Veterans Affairs employees to build the AI environment.

A new biometric technology that literally waves goodbye to passwords is due to be announced by Hitachi Europe Ltd. on September 10. This first-of-a-kind technology couples Hitachi's proven secure finger vein technology with any device that has a camera. So, could this be the beginning of the end for not only passwords but fingerprint scanning and facial recognition systems? I've been taking an exclusive first look at the new hand gesture biometric authentication technology. Hitachi has been a leading player in the biometric authentication business for many years, with its finger vein biometrics used by banks to replace passwords for authorizing transactions.

People want human connections, the speakers said, adding that AI will likely enhance the need for better interaction between humans, as SHRM Online pointed out in an article about companies using "bots" to aid recruiting. "HR leaders--we forget the candidate is also a customer.