Take a look at how 5G can push AI to release its full potential and few application scenarios. Field trials are underway, components are coming, and testing covers the spectrum in more ways than one. What are the challenges and how is the ecosystem shaping up? Find out more in this month's In Focus series. The power of AI applications will always depend on the strength of their networks.

This past fall, diplomats from around the globe gathered in Geneva to do something about killer robots. In a result that surprised nobody, they failed. The formal debate over lethal autonomous weapons systems--machines that can select and fire at targets on their own--began in earnest about half a decade ago under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the international community's principal mechanism for banning systems and devices deemed too hellish for use in war. But despite yearly meetings, the CCW has yet to agree what "lethal autonomous weapons" even are, let alone set a blueprint for how to rein them in. Meanwhile, the technology is advancing ferociously; militaries aren't going to wait for delegates to pin down the exact meaning of slippery terms such as "meaningful human control" before sending advanced warbots to battle.

When Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that blockchain and artificial intelligence would "revolutionize war," as Cointelegraph reported on Nov. 4, did he take things a bit too far? Jet engines have revolutionized warfare, and so have missiles and nuclear weapons -- but shared digital ledgers? Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, for one, told Cointelegraph that he agrees with India's minister when he was asked about blockchain's possible military uses: Digital technologies have been transforming warfare since the 1990's so emerging technologies such as blockchain have the potential to define the war industry over the coming decades. Data and data sharing will be critical for warfare in the future, particularly with the development of artificial intelligence." "Sharing data is fundamentally about transactions.

"Emerging technologies such as blockchain have the potential to define the war industry over the coming decades," former NATO Secretary General Rasmussen tells Cointelegraph. When Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that blockchain and artificial intelligence would "revolutionize war," as Cointelegraph reported on Nov. 4, did he take things a bit too far? Jet engines have revolutionized warfare, and so have missiles and nuclear weapons -- but shared digital ledgers? Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, for one, told Cointelegraph that he agrees with India's minister when he was asked about blockchain's possible military uses: Digital technologies have been transforming warfare since the 1990's so emerging technologies such as blockchain have the potential to define the war industry over the coming decades. Data and data sharing will be critical for warfare in the future, particularly with the development of artificial intelligence." "Sharing data is fundamentally about transactions.

The fact that the UK punches well above its weight in AI should be a source of national pride. After all, this country is home to the largest number of AI companies after America and China, and £6.21 billion was invested in UK technology last year . Our rich history in AI builds on the work of computing pioneers such Ada Lovelace, publisher of the first algorithm; Charles Babbage, originator of the digital programmable computer; and Alan Turing who helped crack the Enigma code. We are fortunate to house some of the world's finest academic institutions; the talent pool from Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial is exceptional.