Dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence and robotics have improved exponentially in recent years with British companies like DeepMind leading the way in developing intricate neural networks previously thought impossible. However last week the Bank of England warned that'large swathes' of Britain's workforce is now under threat of unemployment as robots and algorithms take over jobs. Even industries previously thought immune, such as creative writing, are now being replaced by artificially intelligent programmes and earlier this month M&S announced it was replacing call centre staff with AI. Prof Al-Khalili added: "Many people are becoming increasingly nervous about what they see as unchecked progress in AI. "There are valid concerns about the widespread implementation of AI leading to an increase in inequality. Robotics and autonomous systems are predicted to bring about job losses, primarily affecting workers in low-skilled roles, and there is still little research on how the future effects of automation might vary across the UK. "We are now seeing an unprecedented level of interest, investment and technological progress in the field, which many people, including myself, feel is happening too fast."

Opportunity and crisis: A report from McKinsey has warned that late adopters of AI might be left playing catch-up indefinitely. A professor who is shorty set to take over as the President of the British Science Association has said that AI is the biggest issue of our time, and that he is concerned we are not discussing it enough. According to a report by McKinsey, by 2030, around 70% of companies will have adopted one category of AI. But, says McKinsey, less than half will have adopted what it has described as the five categories of AI, by that date. The report also predicted that AI could be worth $13 trillion to the global economy between now and 2030.

Until maybe a couple of years ago had I been asked what is the most pressing and important conversation we should be having about our future, I might have said climate change or one of the other big challenges facing humanity, such as terrorism, antimicrobial resistance, the threat of pandemics or world poverty,

Artificial intelligence poses a greater challege to the world than terrorism, the incoming president of the British Science Association has warned. Professor Jim Al-Khalili, a physicist at the University of Surrey, warned that progress in artificial intelligence is'happening too fast' and is not being regulated well enough. He said that AI will make Britain increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks and lead to greater inequality as thousands are rendered unemployed. At a briefing in London ahead of the British Science Festival in Hull this week, he said: 'Until maybe a couple of years ago had I been asked what is the most pressing and important conversation we should be having about our future, I might have said climate change or one of the other big challenges facing humanity, such as terrorism, antimicrobial resistance, the threat of pandemics or world poverty. 'But today I am certain the most important conversation we should be having is about the future of AI.

Scientists are recruiting members of the public to help clean up the shores of Great Britain. Plastic waste is scattered across the beaches of the UK and a computer programme is being developed to help spot the litter. The charity campaign needs human volunteers to help train an artificial intelligence algorithm that will automatically spot plastic in pictures taken by drones. Plastic Tide, the charity behind the project, hopes to harness cutting edge drone and algorithm technology to create an open source map of the plastic pollution problem. Peter Kohler, founder and director of The Plastic Tide, said: 'Marine creatures die each year through starvation due to eating plastic that stays in their stomach, making them feel full.

AlphaGo beating Lee Sedol, Go World Champion, may make us humans feel uneasy when confronted with such intellect, but should we instead be embracing artificial intelligence (AI)? Optimists see AI to be the saviour of customer experience in the financial services industry. Siri and Cortana are now at the frontline of providing information services, before we would of had to manually type into a search engine or call up a customer service team to find the answer. This seems just the beginning of AI enhancing customer experience, and its influence in the financial services sector is growing. The financial services sector has been excited with news of BBVA working on their virtual banking assistant Lola, RBS investing into a robo-advisory recording system and Mitsubishi UFJ challenging Lola with their humanoid virtual assistant Nao. All have promised a more efficient and reliable experience for the customer.

It is an issue troubling some of the greatest minds in the world at the moment, from Professor Stephen Hawking to Bill Gates and Elon Musk. So it is perhaps not surprising there are now growing fears among the public about the threat posed by artificial intelligence. A new survey has revealed that one in three people now believe the rise of AI computing will pose a serious threat to humanity within the next century. There are mounting fears among the public about the threat posed by artificial intelligence. A new survey has revealed that one in three people now believe the rise of AI computing will pose a serious threat to humanity.

Bill Gates has proclaimed the'AI dream is finally arriving' - despite admitting it could be a major concern for the future of humanity. 'The dream is finally arriving,' Gates said, speaking with wife Melinda Gates on Wednesday at the Code Conference in Southern California. 'The dream is finally arriving,' Gates said, speaking at the Code Conference in Southern California. 'This is what it was all leading up to.' Gates said enough progress has been made to ensure that in the next 10 years there will be robots to do tasks like driving and warehouse work as well as machines that can outpace humans in certain areas of knowledge, according to recode. He also suggested a pair of books that people should read, including Nick Bostrom's book on superintelligence and Pedro Domingos' 'The Master Algorithm.'

Bill Gates has proclaimed the'AI dream is finally arriving' - despite admitting it could be a major concern for the future of humanity. 'The dream is finally arriving,' Gates said, speaking with wife Melinda Gates on Wednesday at the Code Conference in Southern California. 'The dream is finally arriving,' Gates said, speaking at the Code Conference in Southern California. 'This is what it was all leading up to.' Gates said enough progress has been made to ensure that in the next 10 years there will be robots to do tasks like driving and warehouse work as well as machines that can outpace humans in certain areas of knowledge, according to recode. He also suggested a pair of books that people should read, including Nick Bostrom's book on superintelligence and Pedro Domingos' 'The Master Algorithm.'

AlphaGo beating Lee Sedol, Go World Champion, may make us humans feel uneasy when confronted with such intellect, but should we instead be embracing artificial intelligence (AI)? Optimists see AI to be the saviour of customer experience in the financial services industry. Siri and Cortana are now at the frontline of providing information services, before we would of had to manually type into a search engine or call up a customer service team to find the answer. This seems just the beginning of AI enhancing customer experience, and its influence in the financial services sector is growing. The financial services sector has been excited with news of BBVA working on their virtual banking assistant Lola, RBS investing into a robo-advisory recording system and Mitsubishi UFJ challenging Lola with their humanoid virtual assistant Nao. All have promised a more efficient and reliable experience for the customer.