In this special guest feature, Betsy Hilliard, Principal Scientist at Valkyrie, offers three emerging trends showing how AI will play a major role in a post-COVID world and shape the business landscape moving forward. Valkyrie is a science-driven consulting firm that aims to solve organizational and global challenges through AI and machine learning. Previously, she worked as a Data Scientist at USAA Bank and RIIPL (a Rhode Island policy research lab), and interned at Google, Yahoo! and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Betsy has a Master's in Computer Science from Brown University where she was a research assistant and published work on multi-agent learning in economic markets and Reinforcement Learning for human-agent collaboration. She studied Computer Science and Economics at Brandies University.

Valkyrie, a science-driven consulting firm that solves organizational and global challenges through AI and machine learning, and Actuarial Risk Management (ARM), a full-service global actuarial consultancy, announced that they have formed a strategic alliance. ARM and Valkyrie's collaboration brings actuaries and data scientists together for a first-of-its-kind advisory team built to penetrate data using advanced learning capabilities, offering customers a competitive advantage and a better means of assessing risk. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, risk management has become an increasingly important priority for businesses worldwide as they look to protect their employees, estimate impact and avoid serious financial losses. Austin companies Valkyrie and ARM will jointly offer clients a new view toward data forensics and predictive analytics that are informed by an actuarial perspective and coupled with data scientist-led bespoke models. "This new alliance strengthens our worldwide market presence by combining ARM's strong actuarial team with Valkyrie's deep knowledge of data science and machine learning," said Corwin (Cory) Zass, Founder and Principal at ARM, who recently spoke in a webinar about machine learning and the future impact COVID-19 will have on the life markets.

Unmanned drones, powered by artificial intelligence, may soon accompany US Air Force Pilots on missions as autonomous wingmen. Both Boeing's F-15 and Lockheed Martin's F-35 fighter jets are being considered for the'Skyborg' drone support program. The scheme would cut down on the amount of people in the jets and could both reduce the risk to pilots and be more economical. Drones can be manufactured for a fortieth of the cost of a new fighter jet and may be guided by the sole pilot inside the nearby fighter plane. To safely manage any such drones, however, AI will need to be sufficiently developed to make it immune to attacks that could exploit its operating features.

The International Space Station should prepare for the arrival of its first android crew members, Russian state media says. The Roskosmos space agency has approved a preliminary plan to send a pair of humanoid robots called FEDOR into space in August 2019, according to "a source in the space and rocket industry" quoted by the RIA Novosti website. Robots in space have become commonplace for space superpowers: the U.S. has two operational Mars rovers, China has a lunar lander on the moon and more on the way, and Russia has several now-defunct rovers on both the moon and Mars. In 2011, NASA sent Robonaut 2, a 330-pound manually controlled "humanoid" robot, to the ISS to look into how such robots might be used to perform simple, repetitive, or especially dangerous tasks. But while previous robots were shot into space on as cargo, Russia's pair of FEDORs -- the acronym stands for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research -- will "fly for the first time to the ISS as crew members, and not as cargo in the transport compartment," RIA Novosti wrote, adding that the robots will fly in an otherwise unmanned Soyuz rocket.

Artificial intelligence is here to take your jobs and steal your privacy. With the advent of facial recognition technology in products like iPhones, and recent data breaches at major companies such as Facebook, concern over the effects of AI in daily human life is as strong as ever. A survey released last week by Washington-based Brookings Institute shows America's fear of automation is alive and well. The national study, which polled more than 1,500 adults aged 18 or older, showed serious concerns about AI, a technology that has a growing presence in a number of industries. Of those polled, 39% expressed worry about the overall impact of AI, while 38% said AI will lead to fewer jobs for humans.

Chinese scientists have developed a robot that could be straight out of the Iron Man movies. The two-legged bot is outfitted with small jet engines that are attached to its feet. Robotics engineers at Guangdong University of Tech's School of Automation in China strapped two duct fans to the robot's feet which allow it to cross wider distances than it would have been able to previously. Robotics engineers at Guangdong University of Tech's School of Automation in China developed a bipedal robot that can cross wide distances, thank to two small jet engines It also solves a major problem commonly experienced by robot developers. Most bipedal robots are only capable of making static movements like walking forward in short, controlled steps.

A healthcare revolution is being predicted after the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics (ECR) received new funding. Researchers there are using artificial intelligence to create robots that will learn from their environment, each other - and us. The ECR is a joint initiative between Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. Its new Robotarium will open later this year thanks to £8m of support from the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Now the EPSRC is giving almost £1m more to develop four new robots that will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform healthcare and emergency response.

Icelandic video game developer and publisher CCP Games has reportedly put its Newcastle office up for sale in the wake of its decision to terminate its virtual reality development efforts. On the other hand, its Atlanta office has been shut down. Icelandic business publication mbl.is was the first to report about CCP Games' unfortunate situation. According to the publication, the company's Newcastle office, which housed the developers who worked on "Eve: Valkyrie," is now up for sale. Meanwhile, CCP's Atlanta office, which housed the people who worked on "Sparc," is already closed.

Japanese video game company Examu Inc. has decided to ask for support from the "Arcana Heart" community and the fans of the game series in order for it to bring the latest installment in the franchise to the PC platform. To get fans excited over the prospect of the latest installment coming to Steam, the developer announced that enough funding could lead to the development of more new characters and the inclusion of stories that would bring together the tales of the other titles, uniting the entire franchise. Ahead of the promised development of new characters, Examu has already introduced a new player in the game upon the launch of its Kickstarter campaign. Minori Amanohara has only appeared in the Japanese arcade version of "Six Stars," but the company has decided to change that and bring this special Valkyrie to the upcoming PC game. Minori is said to be a Hybride, a Valkyrie that can dually wield the powers of the Arcana and the Geist.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. I suppose you could decide that this project from MIT's Tangible Media Group isn't really a robot, but I think it's arguably robotic enough (and definitely cool enough) that we can let it slide for this week: We present AnimaStage: a hands-on animated craft platform based on an actuated stage. Utilizing a pin-based shape display, users can animate their crafts made from various materials.