Republican members of congress reveal why they voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his seat, while one of his supporters reveals a contrasting perspective of the historic vote. An unseasonably warm, autumnal light bathed a corridor near the Hall of Columns on the first floor of the Capitol. But the well-trafficked hall was surprisingly empty when I encountered a lawmaker who was a friend and occasional ally of then-House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, unexpectedly announced his retirement just a few days before. McCarthy was poised to assume the speakership. But there were already rumblings that the McCarthy lacked the votes.

The first ultraintelligent machine is the last invention that man needs ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control, said Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom. His book, Superintelligence, is a crystal ball on AI's timeline and the future of humanity. Inarguably, artificial intelligence has become an integral part of our lives. Here, we look at the AI breakthroughs that precipitated this paradigm shift. In 1956, John McCarthy, one of the founding fathers of AI, coined the term "artificial intelligence" during the Dartmouth workshop in 1956.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the scientific branch that emphasizes the development of creating machines that can operate similarly to humans. This is the simplest type. It can decide without memory and the use of prior experience. This type of intelligence is reactive, meaning it can only react to a current situation. A good example of this type of AI would be IBM's "Deep Blue" that was created to play chess.

There has been an exponential increase in R&D related to virtual reality, photorealistic computer animations and augmented reality. Researchers from around the globe are working in these domains and have been creating machines which have the abilities of a human -- or humanoid robots. This is an emerging research domain which is now playing a crucial role in robotics research. However, according to the uncanny valley theory, the humanoid objects which imperfectly resemble actual human beings provoke uncanny or strangely familiar feelings of revulsion in observers. The IEEE spectrum ranks robots into three categories, -- top-rated, creepiest and most wanted.

We are reaching peak fried chicken sandwich in Los Angeles. So prolific is fried chicken between slices of bread that it may one day surpass pastrami as the quintessential L.A. sandwich. But when done well -- chicken crisp, bread excellent, pickles in abundance -- there's always room for a newcomer. "It's a sandwich that rules them all," Hymanson said. There's a lot of chicken sandwiches in the neighborhood, and we thought it would be nice to be part of the club." Kismet's take is a Goliath, with wings of iceberg lettuce sticking out the sides and a knife plunged into it, announcing it as a whole-meal experience.

People have been dreaming about Artificial Intelligence for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Well, it's starting to feel like the future is actually here, and AI can be seen almost everyone nowadays. So how should you feel about it? Here are 42 facts about the past, present and future of artificial intelligence to help you decide for yourself. In Ancient Greek mythology, the blacksmith god Hephaestus was believed to have built what were essentially robots. His "automatons," as they were called, were crafted from metal and designed to perform different tasks for him or other gods. They took many forms, including men, women, eagles, and horses.

Perhaps no quality seems more human than our ability to empathize with others. Yet today scientists and engineers around the world are developing an oxymoron for the 21st century: the empathic robot. It sounds like science fiction, but for years researchers around the world (especially in Japan and Korea) have been trying to build autonomous, human-like machines that could serve as domestic servants and provide around-the-clock care to the elderly or terminally ill--services that will become invaluable, they imagine, as the world's elderly population skyrockets in the coming decades. Electronic caregivers will need to be able to detect emotional signs of distress or anxiety--in order, for instance, to provide companionship and offer gentle reminders to take medication. "[Robots] are increasingly being designed to serve as pets, nurses, office assistants, tour guides, teachers, domestic servants, and even emotional companions," says Kwan Min Lee of the University of Southern California, who studies communication between humans and machines.

Ever since the the dawn of modern computing technology, scientists and innovators have been trying to develop a computer that can think like a human. With the goal of making human thought and decision making a mechanical process, algorithms and networks have grown to form the basis of what is now known as artificial intelligence (AI). Once laughed away as merely the plot of a science fiction movie, AI is now a very real, usable tool. A plethora of new startup companies are being founded on the basis of brining AI technology to the masses, and bigger corporations are joining the conversation too. While the AI market is growing rapidly, the technology still has its challenges, like being constantly misunderstood.

I once spent a week tailing the band Hanson, three teenage boys who had grown up on an island where the only pop available to them was from Time Life rock'n' roll anthologies, 1957-69. And the music they made reflected it -- their songs were the products of people who had thought deeply about Bobby Darin but had never heard Led Zeppelin or LL Cool J. And sometimes I think about Hanson when I'm sitting down to dinner at Kismet, the new quasi-Middle Eastern restaurant on Los Feliz's southern edge. It's not because the sleek dining room is old-fashioned -- the plant-filled Midcentury Modern groove could not be more present-day Los Angeles -- or because its customers, who all look like recent Wesleyan grads, are anything less than yoga-toned and chic. The menu, surpassingly light and vegetable-intensive, has the carefully layered flavors, the touches of heat, tartness and herbal intensity that we have grown to expect from the best new kitchens. The aesthetic of co-chefs Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson, whom you may know from Madcapra in Grand Central Market if not from their former restaurant Glasserie out by Brooklyn's Pulaski Bridge, is up-to-date: the tahini is made with sunflower seeds, the dining room smells of za'atar, and Aleppo pepper flows like water.

In a decade or so, people may not have to tidy their house, clean up after the dog, or even nag their spouse to do chores. A friendly, human-like robot will take care of routine tasks, and it won't whine or fight back. If technologists' predictions bear out, this second coming of robots could be more pervasive than the first in the '60s, when industrial robots revolutionized manufacturing. Designed to mimic the look and gestures of humans, the new breed of personal robots eventually may have artificial skin and muscles, as well as eye and facial expressions, and they might speak more naturally. But for this rapidly evolving field to take off, scientists will have to improve the quality and reliability of electronics first, and companies will have to find the application that every household must have.