Beneath an old Queenslander on the south side of the Brisbane River, beside a garage with a hand-painted sign that reads "recording" and above a computer in a cluttered spare room, is a Post-it note. The home – "not unlike Bluey's" – belongs to Bryce Corbett and doubles as an unofficial headquarters of the children's news podcast he founded and co-presents, Squiz Kids. Daily episodes tackle a headline story – like South Australia's proposal to ban children from social media – covered to inform, but not frighten, kids. The coating: a bit of fun science, pop culture and, of course, animal stories – the alligator that came to school, the world's funniest crab joke. Corbett's chat, too, is professional yet upbeat.

Despite the a wave of national strategies on artificial intelligence that has washed over the world, none have yet proposed or published specific ethical or legal frameworks for artificial intelligence. Over the past several years, a wave of national strategies on artificial intelligence (AI) has washed over the world, with many jurisdictions introducing policies for its regulation. With the exception of the European Union (EU), none have yet proposed or published specific ethical or legal frameworks for AI. Canada led the way, announcing national AI policies in 2017, and has since been followed by many other jurisdictions. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) AI Policy Observatory early last year released a continuously updated database of over 600 AI policy initiatives from 60 countries, territories, and the EU. Of course, not all are the same, but some are noteworthy.

President Trump Monday proposed cutting federal research spending--except in key areas including artificial intelligence and quantum technologies. Trump's budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1 proposes spending $142.2 billion in research and development, 9 percent less than in the current year. The White House says its proposal is 6 percent more than it requested last year. The budget request is something of a gambler's approach to funding American innovation, betting big in select areas. "I find it disappointing and concerning that funding for basic research is down," says Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a policy think tank in Washington, DC. "We just don't know where the next breakthroughs will come from."

The term "artificial intelligence" (AI) was first coined in 1956, at a conference at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire. Since then, AI has had its ups and downs. The period between 1974 – 80 has become known as "AI Winter," because heavy criticism about its progress led to a reduction in both government interest and government funding. The field experienced another winter from 1987 – 93, which coincided with a collapsing market for early general-purpose computers. Things have changed significantly since then.

Fourteen UK universities have been named as hosts for artificial intelligence doctoral training centres, as it was announced that government and industry spending of £370 million will create 2,700 new PhD places in biosciences and AI research in the country. Ministers said that there would be £100 million of government funding for AI Centres for Doctoral Training, along with £78 million from industry and £23 million from universities, providing 1,000 new PhD places over the next five years. Although the funding had been announced in 2018, it has now been confirmed which universities will host the first 200 students through the centres for doctoral training. UCL has secured two centres, while Swansea University is also among the hosts. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said in the announcement that the new doctoral students would "study AI which could help diagnose diseases like cancer earlier and make industries, including aviation and automotive, more sustainable", and would be "working closely with 300 leading businesses, including AstraZeneca, Google, Rolls-Royce and NHS trusts".

Both industries and governments alike have invested significantly in the AI field, with many AI-related startups established in the last 5 years. If another AI winter were to come about many people could lose their jobs, and many startups might have to shut down, as has happened before. Moreover, the economic difference between an approaching winter period or ongoing success is estimated to be at least tens of billions of dollars by 2025, according to McKinsey & Company. This paper does not aim to discuss whether progress in AI is to be desired or not. Instead, the purpose of the discussions and results presented herein is to to inform the reader of how likely progress in AI research is. For a detailed overview of both AI winters check out my first and second medium article on the topic. In this section, the central causes of the AI winters are extracted from the above discussion of previous winters.

AI'deep fake' software that can be used to make bogus videos that'threaten democracy' is being funded by a UK government research body. The AI technology - which has been described as a'propaganda weapon' - can mimic facial expressions and make it look like someone is saying something they're not. People are concerned it could be used to create fake news clips that falsely put words into the mouths of politicians or other powerful figures. The British firm developing this technology received £70,000 ($90,000) from a government-funded organisation this year, a new report has revealed. The AI technology (stock image) - which has been described as a'propaganda weapon - can mimic facial expressions and make it look like someone is saying something they're not Damian Collins, who chairs a UK select committee on fake news said deep fakes were'one of the most serious threats that democracy faces'.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented surge of investment into artificial intelligence (AI) research and applications. Within that, discussions about'ethics' are taking centre stage to offset some of the potentially negative impacts of AI on society. Mona Sloane writes that to achieve a sustainable shift towards such fields, we need a more holistic approach to the relationship between technology, data, and society. In June 2018, the Mayor of London released a new report that identifies London's'unique strengths as a global hub of Artificial Intelligence' and positions the capital as'The AI Growth Capital of Europe'. This plea coincides with the government's focus on'AI & Data Economy' as the first out of four'Grand Challenges' to put the UK'at the forefront of the industries of the future'.

President Barack Obama sees the government playing a role in the development of AI. In an interview with WIRED Editor-in-Chief Scott Dadich and MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito, President Obama said the government should facilitate a range of research in artificial intelligence. "The way I've been thinking about the regulatory structure as AI emerges is that, early in a technology, a thousand flowers should bloom," he says. "The government should add a relatively light touch, investing heavily in research and making sure there's a conversation between basic research and applied research." That means the government should help provide a path for getting AI into the real world.