In 2019, Greta Gerwig became the latest in a line of writers, directors, and producers to make a pilgrimage to a toy workshop in El Segundo, California. Touring the facility, the Mattel Design Center, has become a rite of passage for Hollywood types who are considering transforming one of the company's products into a movie--a list that now includes such names as J. J. Abrams (Hot Wheels) and Vin Diesel (Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots). The building has hundreds of workspaces for artists, model-makers, and project managers, and it houses elaborate museum-style exhibitions that document the company's history and core products. These displays can help a toy designer find inspiration; they can also offer a "brand immersion"--a crash course in a Mattel property slated for adaptation. When a V.I.P. visits, Richard Dickson, a tall, bespectacled man who is the company's chief operating officer, plays the role of Willy Wonka. He'll show off the sixty-five-year-old machines that are still used to affix fake hair to Barbies; he'll invite you to inspect life-size, road-ready replicas of Hot Wheels cars. The center even boasts a giant rendering of Castle Grayskull, the fearsome ancestral home of He-Man.

Microsoft on Tuesday announced a chatbot designed to help cybersecurity professionals understand critical issues and find ways to fix them. The company has been busy bolstering its software with artificial intelligence models from startup OpenAI after OpenAI's ChatGPT bot captured the public imagination following its November debut. The resulting generative AI software can at times be "usefully wrong," as Microsoft put it earlier this month when talking up new features in Word and other productivity apps. But Microsoft is proceeding nevertheless, as it seeks to keep growing a cybersecurity business that fetched more than $20 billion in 2022 revenue. The Microsoft Security Copilot draws on GPT-4, the latest large language model from OpenAI -- in which Microsoft has invested billions -- and a security-specific model Microsoft built using daily activity data it gathers.

Professor Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson, Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) says it is imperative that Africa takes the investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology and its responsible use seriously. "AI holds much promise and is seen as a game changer in transforming the digital economy. "Therefore, institutions of higher learning in the sub-Region should focus on programmes that are directed at equipping the next generation with the requisite tools to lead the digital revolution," the Vice-Chancellor advised. Mrs. Dickson was addressing a conference dubbed: "Responsible AI and Ethics – A Panacea to Digital Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa", held at the Great Hall, Kumasi. The programme was held under the auspices of the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Lab (RAIL), KNUST, and the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network (RAIN) Africa, which seeks to promote the responsible adaptation and use of AI in sub-Saharan Africa.

Companies can purchase legally clean datasets to act as the raw ingredients to synthetically generate content for training AI from the Dataset Shop. According to company CEO Michael Osterrieder, the project effectively solves the issues connected with myriad photographs being illegally scraped from the internet to train AI models. "Developers of AI now have no excuse to steal images from the internet to train their algorithms. It's time for the industry to move from the wild west and start acting in a legitimate and professional way," Osterrieder says. "We don't just pay lip service to AI ethics. It is core to who we are as individuals and as a company," he says.

The Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Professor Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson, has said the University remains committed to advancing research in Artificial Intelligence (AI). This she said is part of efforts to ensure that the country does not get left behind in the application of AI for national socio-economic development. "We at the KNUST are providing the enabling research environment to our cherished scientists to lead in scientific discoveries, harness innovation and foster scientific collaborations," the Vice-Chancellor said. "This is because Ghana and the sub-Saharan Region cannot be left out of the positive outlook that the application of AI is projected to make on global development and national socio-economic transformation. Mrs. Dickson, who was addressing a workshop in Kumasi on Friday, May 6, 2022, on the theme: "The Role of Responsible AI in Promoting the Sustainable Development Agenda in the sub-Region", said the global market contribution of AI as of 2019, according to the Grand View Research, was about US $39.9 billion.

The new approach, replacing stringent protections that currently bar practically all home-delivery options, goes into effect in two months, but some requirements are likely to take years to implement. The detailed regulations, which total more than 700 pages and parts of which had been in the works since the Obama administration, also aim to address concerns related to law enforcement, national security and privacy protection. "They get us closer to the day when we will more routinely see drone operations such as the delivery of packages," FAA chief Steve Dickson said in a written statement accompanying the rules. Mr. Dickson has told colleagues he intends to stay on under the Biden administration, according to people involved in the conversations, to fill out the remainder of his five-year term ending in 2024. The rules are unlikely to be affected by other personnel changes.

They had been staring at a mammogram for several minutes, and couldn't work out what was wrong. They sent the scan on to an arbitrator radiologist who declared that it was clear. That's when Mia, an artificial intelligence (AI) system developed by British start-up Kheiron Medical, stepped in. The AI immediately highlighted in green an area of concern, a pair of grey clouds which appear to the human eye exactly like the rest of the scan. This section of the scan, Mia concluded, was a sign of cancer.

With the number of cybersecurity threats increasing daily, the ability of today's cybersecurity tools and human cybersecurity teams to keep pace is being overwhelmed by an avalanche of malware. According to Cap Gemini's 2019 Reinventing Cybersecurity with Artificial Intelligence: The new frontier in digital security report, 56% of survey respondents said their cybersecurity analysts cannot keep pace with the increasing number and sophistication of attacks; 23% said they cannot properly investigate all the incidents that impact their organization; and 42% said they are seeing an increase in attacks against "time-sensitive" applications like control systems for cars and airplanes. Special report: Cybersecurity: Let's get tactical (free PDF) This ebook, based on the latest ZDNet / TechRepublic special feature, explores how organizations must adapt their security techniques, strengthen end-user training, and embrace new technologies like AI- and ML-powered defenses. "In the Internet Age, with hackers' ability to commit theft or cause harm remotely, shielding assets and operations from those who intend harm has become more difficult than ever," the report states. "The numbers are staggering -- Cisco alone reported that, in 2018, they blocked seven trillion threats on behalf of their customers. With such ever-increasing threats, organizations need help. Some organizations are turning to AI [artificial intelligence], not so much to completely solve their problems (yet), but rather to shore up the defenses."

Christie Rice, left, of Intel, welcomes panelists Jeff Donaldson of Intriosity; Dawn Dickson of PopCom; and Laura Rea Dickey of Dickey's Barbecue. Artificial intelligence has emerged as one of the most powerful tools for improving the customer experience, but retailers must be willing to accept operational change once they embark on their AI journeys. That was a key theme of a panel on driving innovation with AI during the Interactive Customer Experience Summit at the Omni Frisco Hotel in Frisco, Texas. Retailers will find themselves inundated with more data to manage, and they will likely uncover the need to make organizational changes and reassign some employee responsibilities. "Understanding how to use your data is the biggest thing," said panel moderator Christie Rice, worldwide kiosk and digital signage segment manager at Intel.

Manufacturing companies today are being bombarded with the requirement to embrace new capabilities such as Industry 4.0, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI)--but usually, lack the technical human resources to be successful. Coming to their aid is Tutelar Technologies, Inc. which provides device level interfaces and comprehensive process control through their software, Ujigami--without the need for sophisticated programming. It can be swiftly and effortlessly configured in a web browser to achieve the desired results--ensuring rapid and sustainable ROI. "Ujigami provides next generation capabilities--those promised by IIOT, Industry 4.0, AI, and more--without the need for extensive programming and customization," Edward Dickson, CEO of Tutelar Technologies, Inc. Ujigami is purpose-built plant floor software that offers Product Directed Manufacturing, Advanced Mistake Proofing, Dock to Dock Management and Control, Flexible Manufacturing Environment, Fastest Plant Floor Device Level Interfaces, Total Solution Ownership, and Global Reach. Ujigami software provides easy-to-use, real-time control of any manufacturing environment to deliver products with zero defects.