Blend360 is a world class marketing, analytics, and technology company that delivers the best results for our clients. Our primary focus is Data Sciences; leveraging data and applied mathematics to solve our clients' business challenges. Blend360 is known for our exceptional people, our get-it-done mentality, and delivering high impact and sustainable results. If you love to solve difficult problems and deliver results; if you like to learn new things and apply innovative, state-of-the-art methodology, join us at Blend360. Summary with focus on communication: Data Scientists at Blend360 work with business leaders to solve our clients' business challenges.

Data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence have been hot domains for a few years now. Many people want to work as data scientists and are putting in an immense effort to upgrade their skills through university, online course or self-study. However, there are a lot of challenges in the real world in terms of working and solving a business problem. Non-technical skills are equally important in order to work as a data scientist. In this blog, I am sharing my personal experience that I have come across in my work as a data scientist.

Online learning is boosting the average UK pay packet by £3,640, or £2 per hour, according to a new study. Britons are turning to the internet to learn new skills which is in turn boosting the UK's economic output, according to the poll of 20,000 of the country's citizens. The Google-backed survey indicates that many working people have used internet-based learning to increase their pay or to get a new job. Work-related online learning that makes use of search engines, video and social media could not only benefit staff but employers' productivity and economic heft. The report concludes that the more you learn the more you earn as people's hunger for knowledge and self-improvement is directly impacting salaries and professional progression'What we found is really encouraging – not just for the businesses and organisations that are benefiting from upskilling employees, but in terms of the economy as a whole,' said Polly Mackenzie, chief executive of Demos, which carried out the survey.

We've been told countless times over the past few years what an impact Artificial Intelligence (AI) is going to have on all our lives. But while it's true that Artificial Intelligence will certainly provide some huge opportunities, a recent survey we ran at Packt (See direct PDF) has found there are plenty of challenges. All too often, among the hype and excitement, it's easy to see artificial intelligence as a silver bullet towards a future of automation and innovation. However, it's also true that like any other trend that receives significant attention, the reality of implementing AI is tricky – it's far from a silver bullet solution. In August, we asked 2,800 software engineers – some of them working in data science and analysis, but many more in areas like web development and cybersecurity – for their perspective and attitudes to artificial intelligence.

There has been a rise in commercial brain-training programs in the last few years, with games such as the ones from Lumosity, which claim to tap cognitive functions such as attention, memory and cognitive flexibility gaining prominence. However, a new study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and published in the July 10 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests these training games or commercial brain-training programs do not boost people's neural activity and overall thinking abilities to make them think "smarter." Researchers analyzed brain functioning among 128 young adults between the age group of 18 to 35 years, who were given brain-training or made to play video games and Lumosity games five times a week for 10 weeks. The study found that the ones who played Lumosity games had not become better in terms of cognitive performance or standard tests of memory and attention as compared to players of computer video games. Researchers found that the individuals who played Lumosity games also did not show any differences or betterment in brain activity during decision-making tasks as compared to the ones who played video games.

The groundbreaking machine is currently under development from Italian researchers who hope to mimic the human learning experience. The hopes of the scientists are that the robot will develop and learn from nothing – much like a new-born child would. The project is being led by Goal Robots in Italy, who hope to have the first learnable robot within four years. Gianluca Baldassarre, from the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies of the National Research Council (CNR-Istc), who is co-ordinating the project, said: "The goal is to make robots that are able to learn independently, experimenting and making experiences exactly like young children, between one and two years old, and then apply their new acquired skills."

"We have changed the AI system twice, so now I think we might have to dismantle it." Although this robot is unthreatening and will eventually be designed to be used for housework, it could exacerbate fears that AI may develop itself to a point where it is superior to humans, and then wipe out humanity.