The voyage of the Mayflower in 1620 brought early settlers to the future United States. A modern-day Mayflower brought no human beings at all. The robot ship designed by IBM used artificial intelligence to pilot itself. Nobody was in the crew as the ship crossed the Atlantic. Mechanical trouble forced a safe docking in Halifax, Canada, which leaves only one question - if the ship ever sank, would the computer make it to a lifeboat?

The robot ship designed by IBM was meant to dock in Massachusetts, but mechanical trouble forced it to dock in Halifax, Canada. The ship didn't have a crew.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to improve weather forecasting by more effectively using satellite and environmental data in a series of pilots with Google Cloud. Google entered into a three-year other transaction authority (OTA) agreement with the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to explore machine learning and artificial intelligence applications for not only weather but environmental monitoring, climate research and technical innovation, it announced Tuesday. Together NESDIS and Google will develop small-scale ML and AI systems and use results from those pilots to build full-scale prototypes for operationalization across NOAA. "Strengthening NOAA's data processing through the use of big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other advanced analytical approaches is critical for maintaining and enhancing the performance of our systems in support of public safety and the economy," said Neil Jacobs, acting NOAA administrator, in the announcement. "I am excited to utilize new authorities granted to NOAA to pursue cutting-edge technologies that will enhance our mission and better protect lives and property."