The National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) and Academia Sinica have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that could help researchers predict earthquakes one day in advance. The model could predict earthquakes based on precursors to tectonic activity, researchers said. The research team, led by Academia Sinica researcher Lee Lou-chuang (李羅權) and NCHC associate researcher Tsai Tsung-che (蔡宗哲), developed an AI model using total electron content (TEC) data and the Taiwania 2 supercomputer. The model could predict a magnitude 6 or higher earthquake one day in advance by analyzing data from the previous 30 days, they said. Past studies also found that atmospheric TEC within a 50km radius of the epicenter of an earthquake show signs of change prior to a large earthquake, the Central Weather Bureau's Seismological Center said, adding that TEC above Taiwan proper was low just before the 1999 Jiji earthquake.

Staring closely at the screen, Jordan Wright deftly picks out a barely distinguishable shape with his mouse, bringing to life a stark blue outline from a blur of overexposed features. It is a process similar to the automated tests that teach computers to distinguish humans from machines, by asking someone to identify traffic lights or stop signs in a picture known as a Captcha. Only in Wright's case, the shape turns out to be of a Tupolev Tu-160, a supersonic strategic heavy bomber, parked on a Russian base. The outline -- one of hundreds a day he picks out from satellite images -- is training an algorithm so that a US intelligence agency can locate and identify Moscow's firepower in an automated flash. It has become a run-of-the-mill task for the 25-year-old, who describes himself as on the autism spectrum. Starting in the spring, Wright began working at Enabled Intelligence Inc, a Virginia-based start-up that works largely for US intelligence and other federal agencies.

COLD BENDING: Innolux plans to boost contribution from vehicle displays to 50 percent of overall revenue from 12 percent in the second quarter of this year Innolux Corp (群創) is deepening its partnership with the US-based Corning Inc in the production of cockpit displays through a subsidiary, as it pushes ahead with transformation efforts to fuel growth. Singapore-based CarUX Technology Pte Ltd (群豐駿科技), a vehicle display maker fully owned by Innolux, would incorporate Corning's cold-bending technology into its large curved vehicle displays, Innolux said in a statement yesterday. CarUX and Corning are expanding their collaboration from automotive glass substrates to glass substrate protection solutions, as they seek to build supply chain ecosystems to generate greater industrial synergies, CarUX said in the statement.

Spending on artificial intelligence (AI) in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to surge by more than 50 percent on an annual basis to US$6.2 billion this year, market advisory firm International Data Corp (IDC) said. "Artificial intelligence is having an impact across many industries with widespread utilization, but is still at a nascent stage in the Asia-Pacific," IDC associate market analyst for Asia-Pacific Ritika Srivastava said in a report on Friday last week. "From providing chatbots for better customer service to improving the efficiency of operations and tasks for their business models, industries like banking, retail and professional services are spending in this technology at scale," Srivastava said. The banking industry would lead the way in spending on AI and contribute about 10.7 percent of overall spending in the Asia-Pacific region, the report said. Banks would mostly focus on AI/cognitive systems for fraud analysis and investigation, while also investing in automated customer service agents, it said.

Artificial intelligence (AI) programs have bested humans in checkers, chess, go and two-player poker, but multiplayer poker was always believed to be a bigger ask. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, working with Facebook's AI initiative, on Thursday announced that their program defeated a group of top professionals in six-player no-limit Texas Hold'em. The program, Pluribus, and its big wins were described in the US journal Science. "Pluribus achieved superhuman performance at multiplayer poker, which is a recognized milestone in artificial intelligence and in game theory," Carnegie Mellon computer science professor Tuomas Sandholm said. Sandholm worked with Noam Brown, who is working at Facebook AI while completing his doctorate at the Pittsburgh-based university.

Microsoft Corp is focusing on Taiwanese specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) during its current recruitment season, a Microsoft Taiwan official said on Wednesday. Michael Chang (張仁烔), chief executive of the new Microsoft AI research and development center in Taiwan, said the company wants to recruit Taiwanese students because of the hard and soft skills that they possess. "Not only are some Taiwanese skilled at data analysis and coding, but they are also insightful, creative and good team players," Chang said. The talent pool is actually one of the main reasons that Microsoft decided to base its AI research and development center in Taiwan, he said. Microsoft Taiwan president Ken Sun (孫基康) told a news conference on Jan. 10 that the company planned to have a 100-person research team at the center within two years and double that number within five years, with a key focus on Chinese-language input for SwiftKey, user-intent technology and AI forward integration applications.

Apple fans who are worried about the firm's smart devices recording their private conversations may be in for some good news, according to a new find. Experts discovered icons in the latest version of iOS that suggest always-listening microphones on Apple's Homepod speaker can be disabled. The delayed £350 ($349) 'Echo-killer', which will be activated with the words'Hey Siri', is due for release in the next four to six weeks. If confirmed, the microphone mute feature will assuage privacy concerns raised over smart speakers eavesdropping on conversations. Apple fans who are worried about the firm's smart devices recording their private conversations may be in for some good news.

Forget PC doldrums and waning smartphone demand. Google thinks computers will one day cease being physical devices. "Looking to the future, the next big step will be for the very concept of the'device' to fade away," Google chief executive officer Sundar Pichai wrote on Thursday in a letter to shareholders of parent Alphabet Inc. "Over time, the computer itself -- whatever its form factor -- will be an intelligent assistant helping you through your day." Instead of online information and activity happening mostly on the rectangular touch screens of smartphones, Pichai sees artificial intelligence (AI) powering increasingly formless computers. "We will move from mobile-first to an AI-first world," he said.