Self-driving vehicles, dating apps able to give relationship advice, humanoid robots that crack jokes and get upset... With a market expected to reach $35,870 million by 2025 globally from its direct revenue sources, artificial intelligence (AI) is not just the subject of science fiction books but a very real possibility for everyday life. In the ASEAN region, AI adoption rates are currently on the rise and growth has almost doubled in comparison to last year, according to a study carried out by IDC. Top AI uses in Southeast Asia include algorithmic market forecasting and automated asset and infrastructure management. Indonesia and Thailand are the undisputed regional leaders at the time of adopting AI.

Data science internships are highly sought after, as studying machine learning in a classroom setting cannot be compared to applying it to solve real client problems. Yet, hopefuls for data science internships will need to have more than just technical skills under their belts, said Mr Ng Sing Kwan, vice president, data science at e-commerce company Lazada. "A lot of people think that to be a good data scientist, they just need to have good coding skills and understand machine learning statistical concepts. But what they lack--and what we look out for--are problem-solving skills and business acumen," he said. Mr Ng, who transited from a business background to data science, was speaking at a panel discussion titled'What Does It Take To Land The First Data Science Job/Internship?', organised by volunteer-led data analytics community Analytics.Club Singapore in partnership with SGInnovate.

SINGAPORE - Singapore government-owned deep technology development firm SGInnovate has made an investment of undisclosed size into Singapore-based artificial intelligence (AI) start-up Aida Technologies. The announcement was made in conjunction with SGInnovate's Arise deep tech event, part of the innovfest unbound 2018 technology showcase. SGInnovate has a mandate to nurture deep-tech start-ups. SGInnovate said that its investment is centred on Aida Technologies' straight-through processing (STP) engine, which is deployed with a "major insurer" in Singapore and was built to speed up processing of its health insurance claims. Shortening processing times from "days to mere seconds", the STP engine processes thousands of claims monthly, SGInnovate said in a statement.

Widely regarded as the father of marketing science, he developed algorithms to automatically analyse scanner data--sales information obtained by scanning product barcodes at the cash register--and provide managers with informed insights. This problem-driven approach--a departure from early computer programmes, which mostly used classical statistics to analyse data--is also what underpins the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning strategies in use today, said Professor Phil Parker, chaired professor of management science at INSEAD. "Today, if you don't start with a very concrete objective, you may find yourself in a situation where you invest a lot of money in big data, and two years later, you wonder how to monetise it," said Professor Parker. "The best way is to start with a problem and then reverse engineer the proper algorithms." Professor Parker was speaking on 4 December 2017 at the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Festival, a three-day event organised by INSEAD, SGInnovate and Impact Hub.

NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, together with SGInnovate, is hosting the practical Deep Learning Fundamentals training. In this full-day workshop, you will start with the basic concepts of deep learning and quickly move to learning how to solve real-word problems using deep learning. NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute Certified Instructors will blend lecture and hands-on, real-world exercises to explore how to solve the most challenging problems with deep learning. You will receive a Beginner Level certificate from Deep Learning Institute! Aik Beng, Ng is a Senior Solutions Architect, Deep Learning at NVIDIA APAC.

The National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore will launch AI.SG, a national programme in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to catalyze, synergize and boost Singapore's AI capabilities. Up to $150 million will be invested in AI.SG over the next five years. The initiative will be driven by a government-wide partnership comprising NRF, the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office (SNDGO), the Economic Development Board (EDB), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), SGInnovate, and the Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS). AI:SG will bring together research institutions, AI start-ups and companies developing AI products, to grow knowledge, create tools and develop talent to power Singapore's AI efforts. For example, AI can be used to increase traffic throughput during peak hours, or to address healthcare challenges that are to come with an ageing population.

During the ongoing Smart Nation Innovation Week, Minister Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim announced two new initiatives by the National Research Foundation (NRF) Singapore as part of the key thrust area of investing in frontier technologies to develop Singapore's digital economy. NRF will be setting up a Singapore Data Science Consortium (SDSC), in collaboration with the National University Singapore (NUS), the Nanyang Technological University (NTU)1, the Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). This partnership between government and academia is expected to deepen Singapore's existing strengths in data science and analytics. It will facilitate collaboration between Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), research institutes and industry in data science R&D, with the aim of facilitating industry adoption of the latest cutting-edge data science and analytics technologies to address real-world challenges. The Consortium will work in partnership with the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to engage companies in six sectors: finance; healthcare; customer and retail; manufacturing; logistics; and transport.