An algorithm is able to identify genetic syndromes in patients more accurately than doctors can -- just by looking at a picture of a patient's face. The results suggest AI could help diagnosis rare disorders. "This is a long-awaited breakthrough in medical genetics that has finally come to fruition," Karen Gripp, a medical geneticist at the Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware and co-author of the new paper, said in a statement. "With this study, we've shown that adding an automated facial analysis framework … to the clinical workflow can help achieve earlier diagnosis and treatment and promise an improved quality of life." Severe genetic syndromes affect about six percent of children born globally.

Who wouldn't want to read to a face like that? (Credit: Michaelis and Mutlu, Sci. Back in the day, if parents wanted to encourage their kids to read without, you know, actually reading with them, educational TV programs like Reading Rainbow were the way to go. Now, robots might do the trick, according to a new paper in Science Robotics. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison studied the effects that a robot reading companion had on a group of 24 kids ranging in age from 10 to 12 years old. The team programmed the bot, which they named Minnie, to make thoughtful comments on whichever book the kids picked.

Light, on the other hand, travels 186,282 miles in a second. Imagine the possibilities if we were that quick-witted. Well, computers are getting there. Researchers from UCLA on Thursday revealed a 3D-printed, optical neural network that allows computers to solve complex mathematical computations at the speed of light. In other words, we don't stand a chance.

Light, on the other hand, travels 186,282 miles in a second. Imagine the possibilities if we were that quick-witted. Well, computers are getting there. Researchers from UCLA on Thursday revealed a 3D-printed, optical neural network that allows computers to solve complex mathematical computations at the speed of light. In other words, we don't stand a chance.

If you hadn't heard, Elon Musk is worried about the machines. Though that may seem a quixotic stance for the head of multiple tech companies to take, it seems that his proximity to the bleeding edge of technological development has given him the heebie-jeebies when it comes to artificial intelligence. He's shared his fears of AI running amok before, likening it to "summoning the demon," and Musk doubled down on his stance at a meeting of the National Governors Association this weekend, telling state leaders that AI poses an existential threat to humanity. "Until people see robots going down the street killing people, they don't know how to react because it seems so ethereal. AI is a rare case where I think we need to be proactive in regulation instead of reactive. Because I think by the time we are reactive in AI regulation, it's too late," according to the MIT Tech Review.

A Microsoft artificial intelligence has achieved the ultimate high score in Ms. Pac-Man, maxing out the counter at just under a million points. With its randomly-generated ghost movements, Ms. Pac-Man has proven a tough nut for AI to crack, as it cannot simply learn the patterns that govern the ghosts' movements. Maluuba, an artificial intelligence company recently acquired by the tech giant, succeeded in outwitting the hungry ghosts by breaking their gaming algorithm into around 160 different parts. They say it took less than 3,000 rounds of practice to achieve the feat, something never done by a human. The researchers didn't even know what would happen when they hit seven figures, Wired reports.

There are over 34,000 scholarly, peer-reviewed journals in existence today, collectively publishing some 2.5 million articles every year. It's estimated that a single researcher, depending on their discipline, will read about 270 of them in the same time frame. Scientists will never keep up. They're going to miss key insights. Fortunately, the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2) tossed them a life preserver.

The robot, named Gaia, outside of a dorm on Harvard's campus. Would you let a stranger into your apartment building? Granting an unknown person access to a building was a humorous premise for a Seinfeld episode, but the decision to trust a stranger reveals insights into human psychology and touches on broader issues of trust in society. But what if, instead of a human, a robot knocked at your door? It's a question that Harvard University senior Serena Booth set out to answer with the help of a small, wheeled robot -- well, more like a roving nightstand -- that she stationed at the entrances to several dorms on campus.

Computers are becoming rather versatile copycats, thanks to deep-learning algorithms. Just last year, researchers "trained" machines to transfer the brushstrokes of iconic artists onto any still image. Now, Manuel Ruder and a team of computer scientists from the University of Freiburg in Germany have taken the technology a step further: They're altering videos. The team's style transfer algorithm makes clips from Ice Age or the television show Miss Marple appear as living paintings crafted by the likes of Van Gogh, Picasso or any other artist. And the results speak for themselves.