A grave warning over the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) to humans has come from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak today. While acknowledging the positive potential of the technology in areas such as healthcare, the PM said'humanity could lose control of AI completely' with'incredibly serious' consequences. The grave message coincides with the publication of a government report and comes ahead of the world's first AI Safety Summit in Buckinghamshire next week. Many of the world's top scientists attending the event think that in the near future, the technology could even be used to kill us. Here are the five ways humans could be eliminated by AI, from the development of novel bioweapons to autonomous cars and killer robots. Largely due to movies like The Terminator, a common doomsday scenario in popular culture depicts our demise at the hands of killer robots.

Center for A.I. Safety Director Dan Hendrycks explains concerns about how the rapid growth of artificial intelligence could impact society. A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to the Senate Committee on Armed Services found that the Department of Defense needs to issue department-wide artificial intelligence acquisitions guidance. The 44-page-long report shared last month found that the department has begun to pursue increasingly advanced AI capabilities. The office said the department has "historically struggled to acquire weapon systems software" and noted AI acquisitions pose "additional challenges." The GAO analyzed information provided by 13 companies in the private sector regarding how they successfully acquire AI capabilities to determine key factors. The companies considered multiple factors when acquiring such capabilities, including understanding the need and if AI is appropriate, making a business case for AI, tailoring a contracting approach to protect access to data and systems, testing and evaluating proposed solutions and forecasting fur AI capabilities that may be valuable.

In reporting in China on the country's "Two Sessions," a new anchorwoman "Xin Xiaomeng" was seen. She is a virtual anchor created through the application of artificial intelligence technology. "She" is the first artificial intelligence virtual female anchor in the world, with real anchor of Xinhua News Agency Qu Meng serving as her prototype. She was jointly created by China's Xinhua News Agency and Sogou. "Her" partner, "Xin Xiaohao," upgraded from "sitting upright" to "standing upright," broadcast the content of the Two Sessions with gestures and other body language.

Mental health issues greatly affect people in the UK. A government report entitled Thriving at Work highlighted that 15 per cent of workers have some symptoms of existing mental health conditions, which according to ONS labour figures means that just over 4.9m workers will experience a mental health issue. Thankfully businesses are following the general trend towards being more open about mental health, and in recent years have begun to put a stronger focus on employee wellbeing. This has included introducing simple workplace benefits like discounted gym membership or free fruit in the canteen through to more profound changes, such as introducing greater flexible working options to improve employees' work-life balance and even providing counselling services for staff dealing with mental health issues. Although this is the right thing to do, these actions are not entirely altruistic, as business leaders understand that when the workforce is unwell, the bottom line suffers.

"The sensationalist coverage these stories receive isn't very helpful and obscures the main issues," author Chris Middleton told Sputnik. "We're not talking about C-3P0 sitting at your desk, we're talking about smart devices, industrial machines, drones, autonomous vehicles, plus software that automates technology." Accountancy firm PwC analysed 200,000 jobs across 29 countries and suggests the first wave of job losses will begin in the early 2020s. "When you look at financial services, a lot of jobs are relatively routine jobs such as data analysis," said PwC chief economist John Hawksworth who suggests the closure of bank branches is indicative of the current situation. Around six and eight percent of positions in the financial sector could be lost because "a lot of jobs are relatively routine jobs such as data analysis," he said.

At first blush, the aging pop star Billy Joel wouldn't seem to have much to tell us about automation and the future of work. His main contribution to forecasting was the dystopian "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)," a 1976 song that ends with the island of Manhattan being sunk at sea. (Spoiler: It's 2017 and the island of Manhattan is very much buoyant. However, in sifting through the constant barrage of headlines, reports, projections, and warnings about robots and automation, the hook of another Billy Joel song, "Summer, Highland Falls," comes to mind: "It's either sadness or euphoria." Those seem to be the polar reactions to the advent of the next wave of disruptive technology. Automation and artificial intelligence, we are told, have the capacity to replace all manner of jobs quite soon. And the result will likely be sadness on a massive scale for many workers.

All-natural and organic are familiar terms to consumers, and anything artificial has become anathema to many. Unless we're talking artificial intelligence – or AI – then investors should be hungry to learn as much as possible about a technology that is becoming as ubiquitous as organic tofu. The vast majority of nearly 2,000 experts polled by the Pew Research Center in 2014 said they anticipate robotics and artificial intelligence will permeate wide segments of daily life by 2025. A 2015 study covering 17 countries found that artificial intelligence and related technologies added an estimated 0.4 percentage point on average to those countries' annual GDP growth between 1993 and 2007, accounting for just over one-tenth of those countries' overall GDP growth during that time. Interesting numbers – but just what is artificial intelligence?

Last month both the UK and US governments published reports on how artificial intelligence (AI) and automation will impact society in the coming years. It was landmark moment, thrusting AI into national and political conversations. At the same time Stephen Hawking, the renowned theoretical physicist, called AI the greatest threat in human history. While the government reports acknowledge a danger – mainly surrounding job loss and ethical issues – it is not the Skynet scenario Hawking implied with his speech. However, both he and the government reports believe AI and automation, if monitored closely, will transform not only business operations but the world as we know it.

Following recent reports from the Government Office for Science and the House of Commons Select Committee, Digital Catapult comments on how access to data can open opportunities to the UK's AI entrepreneurs. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the centre of two recent government reports. Yesterday, the Government Office for Science published an overview of AI that focuses on several significant areas: the effect of AI on productivity and economic value, advantages to government, effects on the labour market, ethical challenges and public trust. Earlier in October the House of Commons Select Committee published their report on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence that recommends that the government is to invest in education and training infrastructures, ensure digital inclusion and governance mechanisms, and provide leadership for future growth in robotics and AI. When considering where the government can provide a significant boost to UK AI and machine learning entrepreneurs, Digital Catapult believes there is a major opportunity in access to data.

All-natural and organic are familiar terms to consumers, and anything artificial has become anathema to many. Unless we're talking artificial intelligence – or AI – then investors should be hungry to learn as much as possible about a technology that is becoming as ubiquitous as organic tofu. The vast majority of nearly 2,000 experts polled by the Pew Research Center in 2014 said they anticipate robotics and artificial intelligence will permeate wide segments of daily life by 2025. A 2015 study covering 17 countries found that artificial intelligence and related technologies added an estimated 0.4 percentage point on average to those countries' annual GDP growth between 1993 and 2007, accounting for just over one-tenth of those countries' overall GDP growth during that time. Interesting numbers – but just what is artificial intelligence?