Researchers at the University of North Carolina's Center for Geospatial Analytics (CGA) are using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to help farmers better adapt their crops to changing climates. Speaking to ZDNet, CGA associate director Ranga Raju Vatsavai said his team of researchers has been working in partnership with Lenovo for the last two years to develop AI and ML solutions to help farmers preemptively identify ways to best optimise water and energy -- and ultimately address the threats to food insecurity. "Our area of research is to extract actionable knowledge from the datasets. Food, energy, and water are a good application because the population is going to reach 10 billion by 2050. Right now, we are utilising 70% of fresh water for agriculture," he said.

Why do enterprises buy into artificial intelligence systems? Where are they investing the most? As you go to your C-suites and boards with new concepts, where should you direct your pitches? Business process automation and customer support are foremost on the minds of executives and managers buying or implementing AI systems, and where many of the budget dollars. That's the word coming out of a survey of 100 executives by Leverton, which looked at corporate motivations for AI acquisitions.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly expanding within the financial services industry in the US, according to a new report from Broadridge Financial Solutions, a provider of technology to banks, brokers, asset managers, and other businesses. Broadridge surveyed 153 financial services professionals at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Operations Conference & Exhibition in May 2019, and found that the sector's top priority for AI applicationsis data mining, cited by 36% of the respondents. That was followed by post-trade processing (20%), market analytics (13%), and trading systems (12%). A majority of respondents (84%) said their company is in or past the "Enlightenment Age" of AI, during which they are at or beyond proof of concept. Twenty-nine percent have moved into the "Industrial Age", with pilot programs, and 20% are in the modern "Information Age," with AI in full production.

This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet / TechRepublic special feature, advises CXOs on how to approach AI and ML initiatives, figure out where the data science team fits in, and what algorithms to buy versus build. It depends who you ask. Back in the 1950s, the fathers of the field Minsky and McCarthy, described artificial intelligence as any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same activity, we would say the human had to apply intelligence to accomplish the task. That obviously is a fairly broad definition, which is why you will sometimes see arguments over whether something is truly AI or not. AI systems will typically demonstrate at least some of the following behaviors associated with human intelligence: planning, learning, reasoning, problem solving, knowledge representation, perception, motion, and manipulation and, to a lesser extent, social intelligence and creativity. AI is ubiquitous today, used to recommend what you should buy next online, to understand what you say to virtual assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, to recognise who and what is in a photo, to spot spam, or detect credit card fraud. AI might be a hot topic but you'll still need to justify those projects.

Video: Getting started with artificial intelligence and machine learning It depends who you ask. Back in the 1950s, the fathers of the field Minsky andMcCarthy, described artificial intelligence as any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same activity, we would say the human had to apply intelligence to accomplish the task. That obviously is a fairly broad definition, which is why you will sometimes see arguments over whether something is truly AI or not. AI systems will typically demonstrate at least some of the following behaviors associated with human intelligence: planning, learning, reasoning, problem solving, knowledge representation, perception, motion, and manipulation and, to a lesser extent, social intelligence and creativity. AI is ubiquitous today, used to recommend what you should buy next online, to recognise what you say to virtual assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, to recognise who and what is in a photo, to spot spam, or detect credit card fraud. At a very high level artificial intelligence can be split into two broad types: narrow AI and general AI. Narrow AI is what we see all around us in computers today: intelligent systems that have been taught or learned how to carry out specific tasks without being explicitly programmed how to do so.

Nvidia has announced at CES 2019 in Las Vegas that it will be building out artificial intelligence (AI) architecture for Mercedes-Benz cars. "We're announcing a new partnership going forward, creating a computer that defines the future of autonomous vehicles, the future of AI, and the future of mobility," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Tuesday. Mercedes and Nvidia are aiming to develop a single system with self-driving capabilities and "smart cockpit" functions, rather than the current system involving multiple small processors known as electronic control units (ECUs), where each ECU controls separate parts of the car such as the windows, door locks, power steering, and braking. Nvidia Drive will form the centre of the all-vehicle architecture, the companies said, "adding high-performance, energy efficient compute to handle AI software for advanced mobility technologies". "Centralizing and unifying compute in the car will make it easier to integrate and update advanced software features as they become available, whether for self-driving or AI-powered user experiences," Nvidia added.

It depends who you ask. AI might be a hot topic but you'll still need to justify those projects. Back in the 1950s, the fathers of the field Minsky and McCarthy, described artificial intelligence as any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same activity, we would say the human had to apply intelligence to accomplish the task. That obviously is a fairly broad definition, which is why you will sometimes see arguments over whether something is truly AI or not. AI systems will typically demonstrate at least some of the following behaviors associated with human intelligence: planning, learning, reasoning, problem solving, knowledge representation, perception, motion, and manipulation and, to a lesser extent, social intelligence and creativity. AI is ubiquitous today, used to recommend what you should buy next online, to understand what you say to virtual assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, to recognise who and what is in a photo, to spot spam, or detect credit card fraud. At a very high level artificial intelligence can be split into two broad types: narrow AI and general AI.

AI will revolutionize the world, or so sayeth Silicon Valley. But there are some potholes on the road to AI nirvana - starting with the people AI is supposed to help.

It depends who you ask. AI might be a hot topic but you'll still need to justify those projects. Back in the 1950s, the fathers of the field Minsky and McCarthy, described artificial intelligence as any task performed by a program or a machine that, if a human carried out the same activity, we would say the human had to apply intelligence to accomplish the task. That obviously is a fairly broad definition, which is why you will sometimes see arguments over whether something is truly AI or not. AI systems will typically demonstrate at least some of the following behaviors associated with human intelligence: planning, learning, reasoning, problem solving, knowledge representation, perception, motion, and manipulation and, to a lesser extent, social intelligence and creativity. AI is ubiquitous today, used to recommend what you should buy next online, to recognise what you say to virtual assistants such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, to recognise who and what is in a photo, to spot spam, or detect credit card fraud. At a very high level artificial intelligence can be split into two broad types: narrow AI and general AI.

ZDNet's Sandra Vogel posted a formal review of the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, giving it an outstanding 9/10 rating. I've been spending quality time with this business-ready powerhouse and think that the AI found in the camera is worth discussing in a bit more detail. Huawei's partnership with Leica has resulted in some fantastic cameras and performance that is tough to beat. DxOMark awarded the Mate 10 Pro it second highest overall score, 97, and best still image score, 100. Keep in mind, these scores are not scaled to 100.