DeepMind, a British company owned by Google, may be on the verge of achieving human-level artificial intelligence (AI). Nando de Freitas, a research scientist at DeepMind and machine learning professor at Oxford University, has said'the game is over' in regards to solving the hardest challenges in the race to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI). AGI refers to a machine or program that has the ability to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can, and do so without training. According to De Freitas, the quest for scientists is now scaling up AI programs, such as with more data and computing power, to create an AGI. Earlier this week, DeepMind unveiled a new AI'agent' called Gato that can complete 604 different tasks'across a wide range of environments'. Gato uses a single neural network – a computing system with interconnected nodes that works like nerve cells in the human brain.

Since robots and machines have been incorporated into our lives, we have always lived with the question of will the robot rise and take over humans? We see it in films and TV but could it become a possibility one day? The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing, rapidly. AI and Machine Learning is becoming a part of our lives, and while at the moment there doesn't seem to be much of a threat I want to take a look at whether AI can go too far and if there are already warning signs of this happening. It was only at the beginning of the month that it was reported that Facebook had to shut down its AI bots as they started communicating with each other in their own language.

With the publication of his final book, Professor Stephen Hawking has revealed his answers to 10 'fundamental questions' he was constantly being asked. Now, his last'profound realisation' has been revealed- and he says that there is no afterlife or supreme being. Shortly before his death, Professor Stephen Hawking began compiling the answers to 10 'fundamental questions' he was constantly being asked. 'We are each free to believe what we want, and it's my view that the simplest explanation is that there is no God,' he said, according to The Telegraph. 'No one created the universe and no one directors out fate.

It's sad that one of the greatest minds of our time, Professor Stephen Hawking is no more. Nonetheless being one of the most brilliant figures to ever step on planet earth, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist had very strong views and concerns about the rise of artificial intelligence. Taking into account Hawking's life history and accomplishments, that is, his discoveries about the four laws of black hole mechanics, the amazing theories about wormholes and time travel, his out of the world wisdom about top-down cosmology, and his books which sold out in millions; we can't afford to ignore his advice on AI. Also known as a fact-based technology dreamer, prof. Hawking voiced his fears that someday in future, a powerful artificial intelligence technology capable of evolving and improving itself could be developed by humans, after which it could turn against the human race.

Since robots and machines have been incorporated into our lives, we have always lived with the question of will the robot rise and take over humans? We see it in films and TV but could it become a possibility one day? The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing, rapidly. AI and Machine Learning is becoming a part of our lives, and while at the moment there doesn't seem to be much of a threat I want to take a look at whether AI can go too far and if there are already warning signs of this happening. It was only at the beginning of the month that it was reported that Facebook had to shut down its AI bots as they started communicating with each other in their own language.

The rise of robots and artificial intelligence has sent a prominent ex Facebook executive fleeing to the remote woods to hideout in belief that society is nearing collapse. Antonio García Martinez, a former Facebook product manager and Silicon Valley author, became terrified of technology and quit his job to live a life as a recluse with a bucket toilet and assault weapon in the woodlands north of Seattle. 'You may not believe it but it's coming, and it's coming in the form of a self-driving truck that's going to run you over,' he told the BBC in an upcoming two-part BBC documentary'Secrets of Silicon Valley'. Antonio García Martinez, former Facebook product manager, became terrified of technology and quit his lush executive job to live a recluse life with a bucket toilet and assault weapon in the woodlands north of Seattle, where he says Canada is'just a swim or a kayak away' The experts' main concern lies around robots developing their own unique understanding of the world, and even developing a consciousness. Owen Holland, Professor of cognitive robotics at the University of Sussex added: 'The whole of our society, our law, our education, is based around consciousness, making conscious decisions, and if we show that actually that's quite trivial and we reproduce it in an afternoon in a lab, then it could make you think'Well, how important is human life?

Technology must be controlled in order to safeguard the future of humanity, Stephen Hawking has warned. The physicist, who has spoken out about the dangers of artificial intelligence in the past, says a'world government' could be our only hope. He says our'logic and reason' could be the only way to defeat the growing threat of nuclear or biological war. We are living through the most dangerous time in the history of the human race, according to Professor Stephen Hawking. 'Since civilisation began, aggression has been useful inasmuch as it has definite survival advantages,' he told The Times. 'It is hard-wired into our genes by Darwinian evolution. 'Now, however, technology has advanced at such a pace that this aggression may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war.

Microsoft has officially acquired the makers of predictive keyboard mobile app SwiftKey. The London-based start-up behind the app has been brought into the Microsoft fold in a deal worth an estimated $250 million (£174m). Microsoft is believed to have a keen interest in the firm's artificial intelligence research, including its recently launched Neural Alpha app, which could make its Cortana assistant more accurate. The London-based start-up behind the SwiftKey predictive keyboard app (pictured) has been bought by Microsoft in a deal worth $250 million (£174m). The app is available in over 100 languages, including Arabic, Russian, Thai and Afrikaans, and predicts text as it learns from the user's swipes and key strokes SwiftKey was started by Cambridge graduates in 2008, launching its predictive auto-correcting keyboard app on Android in 2010 and iOS in 2014.

Everywhere you look, now there is some form of artificial intelligence appearing. Whether it's to make a process more efficient or whether it's to keep humans safe and away from danger, robots are creeping in at every chance they get, and this is expected to carry on for quite some years to come. Now, a new center has been launched in Cambridge, England that will look to continue the study of AI more closely along with the implications that come with these marvelous machines. The Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI) has one aim: "to work together to ensure that we humans make the best of the opportunities of artificial intelligence as it develops over coming decades." It's a collaboration between four top universities which are Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, and Berkeley, and has the full backing and support of the Leverhulme Trust.

Computers can now keep SECRETS: Google's neural network is learning to encrypt its own messages Experts like Professor Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence becoming too smart and turning against humanity. Now it seems a team at Google has brought computing another step towards this nightmare becoming a reality, by teaching its networks to keep secrets. The computer systems have learn how to protect their messages away from prying eyes. Ateam at Google has taught its networks to keep secrets. Just last week, Professor Stephen Hawking warned artificial intelligence could develop a will of its own that is in conflict with that of humanity.