It's become increasingly comment nowadays for cybersecurity companies to market their products and solutions as AI-based. After all, if cybercriminals are getting smarter, then businesses will need smarter defenses to counter them. And which of us who are working down in the trenches of our IT profession can say they can keep up with the flood of new malware, vulnerabilities, and threats? The cyber landscape seems to be growing more dangerous each week, and there's no way you or I can learn all we need to know about these dangers and how to repel, mitigate or sidestep them. Enter artificial intelligence (AI) into the room.

When you think about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and war, you might find yourself thinking about killer robots, like those we have seen in movies such as The Terminator. In reality, AI and warfare looks quite different from these popularized images, and today we see many countries around the world exploring the use of AI and implementing AI systems into their militaries and defense programs. With this increased interest in AI, there has also been a growing debate about the ethics and legality of using AI in warfare. While there are many concerning aspects about AI being utilized in warfare, one that is particularly troubling, but has also received less attention, is that of biased AI systems. Certain lessons can be learnt by looking at examples of biased AI in non-military settings. It has become increasingly clear from a number of investigations and studies that the biases that exist within our society will also become embedded into AI.

Cybersecurity is a constant concern for businesses of all sizes. There are countless threats to organizational data by a growing host of bad actors, and the risks of a cyberattack on your business are only growing. A recent study found that 76 percent of U.S. businesses had experienced a cyberattack last year alone. Given the large number of remote workers logging into company files from unsecured networks with no IT supervision, it's not a question of "if" but "when" your company will become infiltrated. For most businesses, well-known hacks like ransomware or phishing are top of mind.

Recent surveys, studies, forecasts and other quantitative assessments of the progress of AI highlighted the role of augmented intelligence, combining human intelligence with artificial intelligence to produce better results in cybersecurity defense and in getting more business value from the use of IoT data. Two thirds of UK financial institutions report they use machine learning (ML) in some form; ML is most commonly used in anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud detection as well as in customer-facing applications (e.g. Analysis of about 150 Federal departments and agencies identified 171 different uses of machine learning. Two of the leading agencies were the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Social Security Administration. The SEC uses machine learning to help identify scammers who may engage in insider trading.

Understanding how artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) can benefit your business may seem like a daunting task. But there is a myriad of applications for these technologies that you can implement to make your life easier. Through AI and ML, your business will benefit as it becomes more efficient at its operations and eliminates those mundane tasks that seem to be slowing you down. Additionally, AI-powered tools and automated systems can help your company improve the use of its resources, with visible effects on your bottom line. Fifteen members of Forbes Technology Council discuss some of the latest applications they've found for AI/ML at their companies.

A large majority of federal IT decisions makers (90 percent) think artificial intelligence could help prepare agencies to defend against real-world cyber attacks, according to a new report from MeriTalk, a public-private partnership focused on improving the outcomes of government IT. The study, underwritten by IBM, is based on an online survey of 150 federal IT managers familiar with their agency's AI plans and policies, conducted in September and October 2017. A majority of the respondents (87 percent) also think AI will improve the efficiency of the cyber security workforce and 91 percent note their agency could use AI to monitor human activity and deter insider threats. Federal agencies view cyber security as the best place for government to harness AI today, with 59 percent of the decision makers selecting it as the first AI application, followed by data analytics (45 percent), fraud detection (31 percent), and risk management (26 percent). On the other hand, just 21 percent of the respondents said they are "very comfortable" with their agency enlisting AI for cyber security today.