While artificial intelligence (AI) continues to develop at an astronomical pace, one of the most pressing questions is how to stop human bias getting "baked into" algorithms. Speaking at B&T's inaugural Breakfast Club this morning presented by Adobe, Adobe director of digital marketing Michael Stoddart said despite our control, algorithms are not neutral by their very nature. The impact of this is problematic bias, often resulting in conditioned sexism, according to Stoddart. Stoddart referred back to an algorithm where a "computer to man" was likened to "homemakers to women". For Stoddart, biases which are inherent in society can often be translated into technology.

Miniature robots that doctors could guide through a patient's body to kill cancer cells are closer to reality thanks to winners of this year's Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Three winners share the 727,000 prize for developing nanoscale machines--1000th the width of a human hair--that pave the way for applications in medicine, computing and engineering. The winners were Jean-Pierre Sauvage of the University of Strasbourg in France, Fraser Stoddart of Northwestern University in Illinois, USA, and Bernard Feringa of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Each devised different groups of molecules with moving parts that they could control remotely, despite their tiny size. "It's early days, but once you can control movement, you have many possibilities," said Feringa, interviewed after receiving notification of the prize.

Alfred Nobel wanted the prizes that bear his name to recognize achievements that offered the "greatest benefit to mankind." The world's tiniest machines -- celebrated in this year's chemistry prize -- may revolutionize daily life. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on Wednesday awarded the final Nobel prize in sciences for 2016. The 8 million kronor ( 930,000) chemistry prize went to Jean-Pierre Sauvage of France, Sir Fraser Stoddart of Britain, and Bernard "Ben" Feringa of the Netherlands. The scientists were recognized for their breakthroughs on molecular machines, which began with Dr. Sauvage linking two ring-shaped molecules in 1983.

Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry on Wednesday for developing the world's smallest machines, work that could revolutionize computer technology and lead to a new type of battery. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Sauvage, British-born Fraser Stoddart and Dutch scientist Bernard "Ben" Feringa share the 8 million kronor ( 930,000) prize for the "design and synthesis of molecular machines," the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. Machines at the molecular level are 1,000th the width of a human hair and have taken chemistry to a new dimension, the academy said. Molecular machines "will most likely be used in the development of things such as new materials, sensors and energy storage systems." Stoddart has already developed a molecule-based computer chip with 20 kB memory.