Three Australian-US scientific teams will set their sights on minimising the impact of health pandemics, harmful environmental emissions and drought using AI approaches. Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic welcomed the announcement that the US National Science Foundation and Australia's national science agency CSIRO have awarded grants under their Collaboration Opportunities in Responsible and Ethical AI initiative. The grants total $1.8 million on the US side and $2.3 million on the Australian side, and include researchers from the University of NSW, RMIT University, University of Technology Sydney and the University of Melbourne. "These grants will support valuable research in ethical artificial intelligence, while strengthening relationships between US and Australian research organisations," Minister Husic said. "The NSF-CSIRO initiative will bring the best Australian and US researchers together from a range of disciplinary backgrounds, to share knowledge and learn from each other. "AI is an important driver of new scientific discoveries and economic prosperity, while also safeguarding national wellbeing.

A global summit which aims to boost effective collaboration between experts working in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being organised by academics at the University of Exeter. Working with MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) and STEMM Global, the University of Exeter's Professor Anna Baldycheva and a PhD candidate Kate Berseneva are launching the AI in Healthcare Summit, which will take place online on October 1st and 2nd, and is now open for registration. Professor Baldycheva, who heads up the organising committee, said: "Artificial Intelligence research is a key focus for the University of Exeter, and in light of Covid-19, the future is now. Galvanizing global experts is crucial to avoiding future pandemics. It's now crucial that we launch and drive innovation and development of AI for good, and our international summit will boost effective collaboration among leading AI academics, healthcare experts and business leaders to support innovation in healthcare."

Contactless technologies have come into the spotlight amid the spread of the new coronavirus as people have become more conscious of the risks of infection from touching doorknobs and buttons. While wearing face masks has become commonplace, Glory Ltd., a money-changer manufacturer, has developed an advanced facial recognition technology that is capable of distinguishing a face even when covered by a mask. Glory, based in Hyogo Prefecture, said it envisions using the new technology for walk-through entry control at offices, for example. The technology detects the shape of each person's eyes, forehead and nose -- the area that is not usually covered by a mask -- with the support of artificial intelligence and then confirms their identity, it said. The company said it will put the new product on sale in June at a suggested retail price of ¥2.2 million ($20,600).