Feedback is New Scientist's popular sideways look at the latest science and technology news. You can submit items you believe may amuse readers to Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com Feedback has reached an age where even a small amount of alcohol makes us sleepy, so the notion of going to a wine tasting holds no appeal. It seems a terribly time-consuming and expensive way to have a nap. However, purveyors of fermented grapes could soon have a new demographic to cater to: rats.

Understanding the impact of technology on businesses and society at large is hard. This year's annual Thoughtworks Looking Glass report attempts to put a broad range of technologies into perspective so business leaders can get an idea of where tech is taking them. The report takes a holistic approach to analyzing the impact of 100 current and emerging technologies. Broken out into sections called lenses, the report "offers industry leaders recommendations on how to best compete and become disruptors themselves." "We use the lenses in the Looking Glass to help make sense of all of the individual trends with the lenses akin to the big'storylines' that we think will be important," said Michael Mason, Thoughtworks global head of technology.

Life during the Covid-19 pandemic would be even more difficult without the Internet and automation, making this year timely for the upcoming "Dune" film to portray a distant future where humanity is devastated by our dependence on machines. Director Dennis Villeneuve is set to release his adaptation of the science fiction epic on October 22, both on HBO Max and in movie theaters. The release was delayed from last December to make it safer for people to view and hear the space fantasy in theaters. WarnerMedia aims to distribute Villeneuve's vision of the first "Dune" novel in two films, but has not yet scheduled a release date for the second film after the first half is released. Frank Herbert's "Dune" novel begins in the far distant future, thousands of years after humans were enslaved by robots, fought a revolutionary crusade and banned artificial intelligence with a new anti-tech religion.

Last year, I decided to re-frame my personal brand strategy and launch a new blog. This is going to be fun! My first post is about artificial intelligence (AI) in digital marketing; specifically how the combination of AI & machine learning will shape the future of both industries. It's just not very visible to the mainstream market yet, and there are still many misconceptions about what AI actually is. The digital marketing industry, in particular, has been slow to wake up to this change – as noted by Google Cofounder Sergey Brin: "Current machine learning technology [AI] has already reached a point where it can do very well at specific tasks, such as image recognition… But we are still often limited by the fact that machines don't understand the meaning of the images they look at."

Today, artificial intelligence (AI) covers a smart but limited set of software tools. But in the future, as artificial intelligence becomes more and more complex and ubiquitous, we be could forced to rethink the rights and wrongs of how we treat AIs – and even how they treat us. Currently, AIs are narrow in nature, performing tasks like image recognition, fraud detection, and customer service. But, as AIs develop, they will become increasingly autonomous. At some point, they're likely to do wrong.

Human resource (HR) departments have long been integral to organizational success, and they're likely to remain that way for decades to come. But the nature of HR is likely to evolve with new technologies, research, and trends. For starters, we might see HR directing the charge in remodeling the form of the ordinary workforce. Increasingly, consumers and employers alike are valuing diversity and inclusion; firms are working harder to ensure a mixture of individuals from other backgrounds are included in any way levels of the company. Later on, this will develop into a much bigger priority. However, this is a slight change when compared with another generation of labor management.

In this article, we will discuss what I believe is one of the most significant issues facing the future of project management. Let me start by asking 3 questions. If you're a project manager and don't know the answers to those three questions, I suggest you read further because your career might depend on knowing them. So why is the 5th of December 2017 a significant date for those of us who take even a cursory interest in the development of AI and machine learning or what we call ML? The 5th of December 2017 was a pretty special day; on that day, one computer beat another computer at the Top Chess Engine Championship.

The short answer to this question is quite easy: it is practically impossible to predict the future of machine learning; one of the most dynamic, complex, and challenging fields mankind has ever created! The history of Machine Learning is tightly linked to the history of Artificial Intelligence and teaches us that its evolution was marked by ups and downs, periods of high interest and hype followed (usually in a rather unexpected way) by periods of "oblivion" – the so-called "AI winters". While its future is impossible to be accurately predicted, most of the trends and developments that have a serious impact on Machine Learning today can be identified and analyzed. One might even dare to assume these trends and developments will play a major role in shaping its future. For me, the best way to describe the future of Machine Learning is to use some of Sci-Fi cinematography's most famous words: "Clouded this boy's future is".

In spite of incidents of inaccuracy and bias, agencies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) court judges are starting to get accepted. However, AI has a lot to learn before we allow it to judge our moral behavior. Ganes Kesari, Co-Founder and Head of Analytics at Gramener, tells The Sociable that right now AI is not ready to take decisions on cases, and even in the future, it would be better off in the court in an assistant's role. AI needs to acquire skills in'understanding' context and interpreting scenarios "Today, AI is more suited to play the role of a judicial assistant than that of a criminal judge. It is smart at processing details, summarizing cases and looking up references. It is not ready to take decisions on cases just as yet," he says.

A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. And Lexus is taking the practice to new heights. On Wednesday, the Japanese luxury vehicle maker gave the universe a preview of the brand's design intentions for the distant future, releasing renderings of its first-ever space jet idea which makes an appearance in Sony's new "Men in Black: International" movie. Dubbed the QZ 618 Galactic Enforcer, the spacecraft's designers were not bound by the notions of reality, legality, practicality or factory warranties. So what you get is an out-of-this-world alien-fighter with specs you've never heard of.