Can an algorithm know more about you, your choices and intentions than you do yourself? It was only by the time he turned 21 that Yuval Noah Harari understood he was gay. When questioned about a new algorithm that can decipher whether someone is gay or straight, based on a few facial images, the celebrated thought leader acknowledges that increasingly algorithms know more about us than we ourselves can possibly do. Using his own example, he says hypothetically if an algorithm available with Coca Cola had deciphered that he was gay even before he knew it, they could have served up ads with photos of a shirtless man, while Pepsi (if unaware of his sexuality), may have sent him ads with women in bikinis. As a result, he would automatically veer towards Coke.

Doctors have long known the data points can be leading indicators of potentially fatal medical emergencies. If physicians were able to analyze the data to identify when serious deterioration starts, they could save lives. Now computers have started doing just that. Researchers are using artificial intelligence algorithms to comb through the records of patients who suffered, say, sepsis or lung failure. The software examines data points from hours or even days before the onset of a crisis to see which combinations of factors might have predicted a fatal condition." One woman had turned on her air-conditioner, but said it then switched off without her touching it. Another said the code numbers of the digital lock at her front door changed every day and she could not figure out why. Still another told an abuse help line that she kept hearing the doorbell ring, but no one was there. Their stories are part of a new pattern of behavior in domestic abuse cases tied to the rise of smart home technology. Internet-connected locks, speakers, thermostats, lights and cameras …are being used as a means for harassment, monitoring, revenge and control."

China is changing how we think of surveillance and facial recognition as a unique universal identifier. This is the kind of infrastructure China requires to build its nascent social credit system that will go live for all of China by 2020. Powerful facial recognition systems like the ones built by Shanghai-based start-up Yitu Technology, also promotes more security for China to police its huge population. YITU Tech integrates state-of-the-art AI technologies with industrial applications to build a safer, faster and healthier world. For those of you who remember the show Person of Interest, it's fond memories for going back to the future.

In any scientific arena, good research is able to be replicated. If others can mimic your experiment and get the same results, that bodes well for the validity of the finding. And if others can tweak your study to get better results, that's of even more benefit to the community. These ideas are the driving force behind OpenAI Gym, a new platform for artificial intelligence research. OpenAI, announced earlier this year, is the brainchild of Elon Musk, Y Combinator's Sam Altman, and former Googler Ilya Sutskever.