Global catastrophes have historically brought moments of truth for all fields of business. In such times, their inner workings, strengths and weaknesses are laid bare for the whole world to see, as organizations rapidly alter their processes to come to terms with the new reality. Businesses that can make bold moves during such challenging times can quickly turn the misfortune into a benefit. So early indications are that businesses that value information as a currency, and have been quick to adapt machine learning and advanced data analytics, have emerged better from the economic aftermath of the pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic that continues to ravage the world has forced small businesses into building online ventures.

Cybersecurity failure could be among the greatest challenges confronting the world in the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2021. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded worldwide, fresh questions arise about how to safeguard countries and systems against attacks. To deal with the vulnerabilities of AI, engineers and developers need to evaluate existing security methods, develop new tools and strategies, and formulate technical guidelines and standards, said Arndt Von Twickel, Technical Officer at Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), at a recent AI for Good webinar. So-called "connectionist AI" systems support safety-critical applications like autonomous driving, which is set to be allowed on United Kingdom roads this year. Despite reaching "superhuman" performance levels in complex tasks like manoeuvring a vehicle, AI systems can still make critical mistakes based on misunderstood inputs.

Cybersecurity failure could be among the greatest challenges confronting the world in the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2021. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded worldwide, fresh questions arise about how to safeguard countries and systems against attacks. To deal with the vulnerabilities of AI, engineers and developers need to evaluate existing security methods, develop new tools and strategies, and formulate technical guidelines and standards, said Arndt Von Twickel, Technical Officer at Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), at a recent AI for Good webinar. So-called "connectionist AI" systems support safety-critical applications like autonomous driving, which is set to be allowed on United Kingdom roads this year. Despite reaching "superhuman" performance levels in complex tasks like manoeuvring a vehicle, AI systems can still make critical mistakes based on misunderstood inputs.

By removing the most common cause of traffic accidents – the human driver – autonomous vehicles are expected to reduce traffic accidents and fatalities. However, they may pose a completely different type of risk to drivers, passengers and pedestrians. Autonomous vehicles use artificial intelligence systems, which employ machine-learning techniques to collect, analyse and transfer data, in order to make decisions that in conventional cars are taken by humans. These systems, like all IT systems, are vulnerable to attacks that could compromise the proper functioning of the vehicle. A new report by ENISA and JRC sheds light on the cybersecurity risks linked to the uptake of AI in autonomous vehicles, and provides recommendations to mitigate them.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer becoming a part of our everyday lives, it already is. More consumers than not are living in smart homes and working in smart offices. The number of users of smart speakers like Amazon's Echo and Google Home is growing at a compound annual rate of 47.9 percent and between 2016 and 2020 is expected to grow from 16 million to 76.5 million. The hospitality industry is rapidly identifying ways to put AI into widespread use. With large sets of data becoming more prevalent and AI becoming more accessible, hotel marketers have the potential to transform how they operate to maximize returns, optimize processes and interact with guests for increased satisfaction and loyalty.

New research from ESET reveals that three in four IT decision makers (75%) believe that AI and ML are the silver bullet to solving their cybersecurity challenges. In the past year, the amount of content published in marketing materials, media and social media on the role of AI in cybersecurity has grown enormously. ESET surveyed 900 IT decision makers across the US, UK and Germany on their opinions and attitudes to AI and ML in response to this growing hype. The findings showed that US IT decision makers are most likely to consider the technologies as a panacea to solve their cybersecurity challenges, compared to their European counterparts – 82% compared to 67% in the UK and 66% in Germany. The majority of respondents said that AI and ML would help their organization detect and respond to threats faster (79%) and help solve a skills shortage (77%). "If the past decade has taught us anything, it's that some things do not have an easy solution – especially in cyberspace where the playing field can shift in a matter of minutes.