What is even more impressive, though, are the people who make AI in the first place. Artificial intelligence is ready to revolutionize numerous industries, but if society wants to reap the potential benefits in the near future, we need to cultivate the talent behind it right now.

What can AI do?

Artificial intelligence’s usefulness abounds. The technology can compensate for human shortcomings—such as in medical fields. Healthcare professionals are well-trained, but they are still subject their own eyes and ideas. AI can help doctors make faster and more reliable diagnoses, create treatments, and even improve remote patient monitoring when combined with the Internet of Things.

AI’s ability to read data rapidly and assess patterns makes it an opportune method for circumnavigating traditionally arduous tasks. A company named BoonTech uses AI to pair freelancers with potential clients on its job platform, allowing both sides to skip sifting through proposals and applications. The system does not just match people together, either—it analyzes users’ personality traits so that they are more likely to enjoy working together.

The need to make AI better

Everyone has different ideas, perspectives, and thought processes; so if AI is left with a static pool of minds focused on its development, it too will become stagnant. We need an abundance of fresh engineering talent if we want artificial intelligence to improve.

AI is is adopting human prejudices, for instance. In 2015, Google Images and Flickr were caught labeling images of African American people as “apes” or “gorillas.” According to Charles Pulliam-Moore, a reporter for Fusion:

“The mistakes are made because algorithms, smart as they are, are terrible at making actual sense of the pictures they analyze. Instead of ‘seeing’ a face, algorithms identify shapes, colors, and patterns to make educated guesses as to what the picture might actually be. This works wonderfully for inanimate objects or iconic things like landmarks, but it’s proven to be a sticking point for people of color time and time again.”

In 2016, a man of Asian descent attempted to renew his passport in New Zealand—but the Department of Internal Affairs’ application website rejected his ID photograph because the software thought his eyes were closed. Google, Flickr, and the New Zealand governments’ software were developed by humans who did not think to account for human diversity. AI should be helpful, not nefarious, so avoiding such biases will require a broader range of perspectives in the artificial intelligence field.

What is the demand like?

There is a high demand for AI talent. A company named AI Gaming notes that technological behemoths like Google and Microsoft “poach” up-and-coming AI developers and professors from high-ranking schools, luring them with salaries sometimes between $300,000 and $500,000 annually. However:

“According to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) comprise over 95 percent of the total number of enterprises that represent the 35 nations who are members of the organization. Furthermore, SMEs employ 60 to 70 percent of the working population within those same nations.”

The AI employment market is massive, but conglomerates are enticing many developers away from smaller companies, ensuring that talent only works on their projects. Amazon and Baidu cannot hire everyone, though, so the more AI talent academia creates, the more opportunities startup ventures will have to acquire top-notch engineers.

How can people learn?

AI Gaming aims to build the world’s largest community of artificial intelligence developers. With its platform, anyone can create a “bot” to compete against other bots in online games. These games are not for humans to play, which incentivizes participants to continuously improve their bots’ abilities to solve problems.

AI Gaming is an excellent platform for education: no one needs prior coding experience to get started, and the site rewards students with cryptocurrency for completing curricular steps. Users can also earn certificates that verify their experience levels. AI Gaming hosts a recruitment system, enabling employers or agencies to connect with top-performing talent (that did not have to come from an Ivy League university).

Google is also launching its Learn with Google AI website. This resource offers a free course called Machine Learning Crash Course, which allows students to learn about AI technology and how to apply it to real-world issues. The site will cater to all levels of enthusiasts so that no one is discouraged from approaching the subject.

Artificial intelligence is an incredible technology, but it requires a wide range of equally incredible minds to create it. If we want to see benevolent AI implemented into more aspects of daily life, we need to prioritize talent development.

The post We Need to Prioritize AI Talent Development appeared first on ChipIn.

High tech, including AI, is one of the future-forward technologies getting a bump from the cryptocurrency boom. In fact, combining the two is also catalysing the pace of innovation in not just these two verticals, but has implications for industries far beyond.

How, where and why? Blockchain can help fuel crowdfunding efforts for AI projects. In turn, AI can help blockchained projects and platforms become more efficient – from energy consumption to stock market predictions and automation of all kinds, starting with payments.

Plus of course, blockchain makes access to AI more affordable in the first place. The scalability, security, and privacy that blockchain can also add to all of this mean that an integration of technical ability, the machines capable of performing such tasks on their own, cheaper, decentralized computing and the ability to literally fund such efforts with fiat or cryptocurrency is not only pie in the sky. It is literally becoming real.

The combination of blockchain and AI, will also, according to industry analysts, will absolutely accomplish two things. First, it will lower the barriers to access that currently hamper development. Second, no surprise, this lower barrier to access will create a great deal more innovation across all the industries that these two technologies touch. That is exciting news indeed.

The AI industry is projected to hit $15.7 trillion dollars by 2030, becoming one of the most important markets in the world. It will impact commerce, communication, transportation and almost every aspect of the human experience as it evolves. And blockchain technology will also, inevitably, play a huge role in that, in several different ways.

The last five years have seen an explosion of AI algorithms in practical use. Smart services – including self-driving cars, face and voice recognition and image translation are now possible and mainstreaming. This is the result of major advances in machine learning and the availability of much cheaper cloud computing.

While academic achievements in this space are available to the public, most are being developed by large corporations with deep pockets. This means that AI is in danger of being a “black box” technology, for the most part, that benefits only a select few.

Effect.ai proposes a radically different, blockchained alternative.

They are creating a private, decentralized ecosystem for AI development and AI related services called The Effect Network. The network will be empowered by smart contracts deployed on the NEO blockchain.

The Effect.ai team will deploy this network in three phases, powered by the system token called the EFX and then a separately dedicated token called the AIX.

The first phase is to build a Mechanical Turk (comparable to similar services in the market now offered by Amazon, Fiverr, One Space, and Guru). The platform will connect a supply and demand of tasks on a decentralized network. Completion of these tasks will create the data sets that people need to teach the AI algorithms.

The second phase is to create the Effect Smart Market. This is planned as a decentralized exchange where people can purchase, exchange and improve each other’s AI services. The algorithms will also be able to communicate and offer services to each other.

The third phase of the deployment will be to distribute both via the Effect Network. This will decrease costs involved with running the algorithms. It will also allow algorithms on the network to run globally without a single point of failure.

The platform will be immediately competitive with current services available in the Mechanical Turk space. This means Effect.ai will offer a private, decentralized marketplace for work that (for now) requires human intelligence. In other words, it is a global, on-demand workforce platform.

Unlike existing centralized models, however, the Effect Mechanical Turk is a peer-to-peer system, meaning that supply and demand connect more directly and efficiently.

The crowd-sourcing technology enables those with requests to create tasks that can be completed by workers in exchange for compensation. The tasks are described and compiled through smart contracts. The job offers are called Human Intelligence Tasks or HITs. When a worker completes one of these tasks, they are paid through the platform token, the EFX.

How does it stack up with say, Amazon in direct metrics?

First are costs. The Effect Mechanical Turk will be free to task requesters (in comparison to a 20-40% chunk taken by Amazon). More countries are included (195 in Effect.ai to 43 in Amazon). Fund withdrawal from Effect.ai is instant. In Amazon’s M-Turk, this process can take between 4-21 days.

Workers are also paid more. The average hourly rate of an Effect.ai worker will be about $9.40 compared to Amazon’s $2.13.

It all starts with Effect Requesters. These are people who register their tasks on the Effect Mechanical Turk. They can decide how much EFX will be paid to Workers who complete the tasks. Requesters can retrieve the results of such work when completed from the Effect Mechanical Turk and use them to train their AI algorithm. This creates an on-demand, scalable and distributed workforce at prices set by the employer and met by anyone for whom this is economically feasible.

Workers in turn, can choose from tasks on the platform that are made available to them by Requesters. They might be either included or excluded from tasks based on criteria such as location, age, gender or other criteria. Workers will be able to claim payment after task completion automatically via the smart contract created to request the work in the first place.

Tasks are essentially job offers, posted on the platform. They require human, rather than machine intelligence to complete. They will be managed by a database of smart contracts that both Requestersand Workers can utilize to organize job posting and payment. At some point, human workers will not be required for all tasks. The platform will also enable Requesters to rent Bots to perform some tasks. The creators of the bots and the algorithms behind them, in this case, would be compensated for their use.

Here are the details of the upcoming Effect.ai token sale:

Token name: EFX (with AIX token planned)

Token base: ETH and NEO

Token supply: 650 million tokens

Token sale target: €4.28 million (soft cap), €14.820 million (hard cap)

Token sale date: 18 days in March, exact days TBD

Accepted currencies: NEO and ETH

Investment criteria:Minimum investment of €50 euro and a max of €25,000

Effect.ai’s Website

Effect.ai’s whitepaper

The post Effect.ai – NEO Powered Decentralized Artificial Intelligence Network appeared first on ChipIn.

The application of AI can be seen in practical problems in real life where extremely impressive results have been achieved especially in technologies that relate to vision, speech, machine translation, as well as decision making.

Even if you move out of the scope of research and development, AI is starting to gain a foothold in many businesses’ processes, with important processes such as database systems and user queries being powered by AI.

However, there are inherent problems within the industry that needs to be dealt with before it grows even bigger.

The learning process of AI and other machine learning models are hindered by an overload of data that are unlabeled and uncategorized.

These data can be classified but converting random dataset to a labeled dataset (a set of data with classes or tags to inform or educate the machine learning model) is very expensive and time-consuming.

Because of this problem as well as differences in businesses’ resources and processes, the gap between early AI adopters and individuals who adopt it much later will drastically widen, which grants early adopters an unfair advantage over others.

Neuromation is a platform designed for the AI ecosystem. The platform offers a much-needed solution to the industry which unites market resources, the scientific community, as well as other parties in an all-in-one, user-friendly marketplace.

The main focus of the Neuromation platform will be on synthetic datasets that have been proven time and time to yield compelling results for use cases.

The use synthetic datasets in machine learning and other processes will significantly decrease the cost of AI adoption as well as ease the process of mass adoption by the public.

So, what does the platform really do?

The platform will utilize a smart combination of datasets, decentralized computing power, as well as advanced machine learning models to help AI researchers across the globe connect with each other.

In layman’s terms, Neuromation aims to build the world’s most advanced AI data platform where businesses can access the platform and library of datasets to utilize and adopt AI technologies for their own use.

There will be an integrated exchange within the platform where users can either contribute or purchase the components of an AI model with one another; much like buying separate parts of a Lego set to build one complete project.

The Neuromation platform moves one step further ahead efficiency-wise by using distributed computing as well as proof of work tokens to help with the platform’s processes and transactions.

With offices in San Francisco, Tel-Aviv, Tallinn, Kiev and Moscow, Neuromation is led by Maxim Prasolov, a respected serial entrepreneur with tons of excellent projects and businesses under his belt.

Another important individual in the platform is Sergei Nikolenko, a respected CRO and scientist in the industry.

Sergei is a key individual in the machine learning department and contributes greatly to the platform’s technological growth while being the platform’s researcher in the field of machine learning and analysis of algorithms.

Neuromation also has two key advisors to the platform’s goals; they are David Orban, the founder of Network Society Ventures, and Andrew Rabinovich, the director of deep learning at Magic Leap.

Orban is responsible for the platform’s international integration into a deep learning community. Andrew, on the other hand, is the main man behind Neuromation’s object recognition technology, allowing the platform to achieve unprecedented results in algorithms training based on synthetic datasets.

Prasolov will lead a team of experienced developers and talented individuals to help power Neuromation, a platform set to revolutionize the AI industry.

Neuromation has been awarded the 1st Prize by the blockchain investors consortium at D10E

As mentioned earlier, Neuromation aims to combine the components needed to as well as synthetic data to build efficient deep learning solutions—all of this to be done on one platform.

Service providers registered on the platform can provide specific resources for the execution and development of the three key components: synthetic data sets, distributed computing services, as well as Neuromation’s machine learning models (which will be explained further down below).

Here is an excerpt taken from Neuromation’s whitepaper that describes how the platform will work:

“Imagine a place where you can go and easily address all requests to acquire AI capability. A vendor will create the data generator for you, then a group of Neuromation Nodes will use the generator to quickly create a massive virtual data set. You can then select a set of Deep Learning architectures to train on that data. Then another group of Neuromation Nodes will do the training in record time!”

Neuromation will consist of three core modules, each with its own processes and libraries.

Synthetic dataset module

Users have access to the synthetic data set module which can be utilized to create data generators, order data sets from the data generator, as well as requesting data labeling for models.

Libraries available in this dataset can be applied to deep learning models and data generators, as well as a library of datasets which can be acquired from the platform’s integrated marketplace.

Machine learning module

The machine learning module will include deep learning model processes, importing models to the platform, ordering training on selected data sets, as well as acquiring custom models from the marketplace.

Like the synthetic dataset module, this module will include deep learning models which can then be offered on Neuromation’s marketplace.

User module

Users can purchase tokens in the user module as well as having access to the platform’s services and the ability to use or provide processing power to the network.

The user module will contain the user data and user models library.

The back-end of the Neuromation platform will also contain the Market Module which enables the efficient matching of buying and selling orders for datasets, models, and labeling services as well as enabling liquidity in the system.

NeuroTokens (NTK) (which will be sold during the token sale) are the primary exchange mechanism for synthetic data generation, distributed model training, data labeling and other AI services in the Neuromation platform.

Neuromation also applies a token burning policy which is the process of buying back tokens from the open market and removing it from the total supply to increase the inherent value of the tokens.

Here are the details of the upcoming NTK token sale:

Token name: NTK

Token base: Ethereum (ERC-20)

Token supply: 100,000,000

Token pre-sale duration: currently live till 1st of January 2018 (pre-sale duration extended)

Token sale duration: January 7th – 15th of February 2018

Token sale target: 60,000 ETH (hard cap)

Token exchange rate: 0.001 ETH = 1 NTK

Neuromation’s Website

Neuromation’s Whitepaper

The post Neuromation – The Decentralized & Distributed Synthetic Data Platform For AI Apps And Businesses appeared first on ChipIn.

For as long as computers and the Internet exist, viruses that spread to cause damage for personal gain and even for the joy of it sometimes cause billions in dollars of damages to affected individuals.

At the same time, the steps taken to stop viruses have also led to a booming growth in the multi-billion dollar cybersecurity industry. This is of course, due to the hundreds of antivirus services, malware protection suites, and other software available to users on the market.

Despite the emergence of many antivirus tools, the problems associated with malware and hacking only seem to become worse. Cyber attacks have overcome the technology of current security measures by adapting to changes extremely quick, just like a real virus.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however. The rising popularity of the blockchain and P2P networks this year shows there is a way to deal with cybersecurity and malware attacks that seem so stubborn to current practices.

With that being said, the biggest problem right now is the amount of time it takes for firms to develop a solution to cyber attacks.

Identifying threats are becoming harder and harder every day and by the time the knowledge or fix is distributed to the public, many other viruses would have popped up in the period between the discovery and the fix.

LevelNet aims to solve the problems mentioned above in today’s cybersecurity industry with a simple and elegant solution by integrating nearly every existing anti-virus technologies into one simple, user-friendly application.

As a distributed system, LevelNet enables participants to share data about threats globally instantly which allows the entire system to become much smarter and faster than today’s cybersecurity measures.

The reason why this happens is that antivirus solutions are currently distributed among many independent products and suppliers. An analogy can be made with the human immune system; current antivirus measures are like each organ in the body having its own antivirus system.

LevelNet, however, integrates these products into a single, more efficient immune system which removes the boundaries and limits of having only one anti-virus product–taking protection to a whole new level.

LevelNet is led by a team of strong and highly experienced individuals including CEO and founder Pavel Shkliaev and CTO, Alex Bodiagin, both respected individuals in the scene.

LevelNet is based in Irvine, California and is already in business since 2016 which means the idea of LevelNet is proven and in demand.

As mentioned earlier, the LevelNet platform can integrate with any current cyber protection solutions for enhanced protection, hence allowing users to rapidly detect time-sensitive cyber threats for as long as they’re users of LevelNet.

There are main features in the LevelNet platform:

• An annual subscription to LevelNet for each device which ranges from $0.99 to $9.99
• The LevelNet Network & End-Point App. A feature that integrates users into a single universal cybersecurity network where users can exchange data about current threats on their devices in real time, hence making the LevelNet platform smarter every single second
• The LevelNet Cloud. The Cloud is a database of incidents in the platform which is updated in real-time as well as forming a reputation service for files and other

In case you haven’t noticed, all of these features allow LevelNet to defend against threats even when there are no antivirus measures in a system; the network defends against threats even if you don’t have any antivirus software on your PC, phone, or laptop!

How does this work?

Each user in the LevelNet network exchange information about security incidents and threats detected on their device with other users instantly when it happens. As the network receives the update, LevelNet will automatically learn to offer better protection to users.

Because of this, users no longer need to approach security measures separately or individually as they do not provide enough protection. With LevelNet, all of the necessary countermeasures you need are united under one app for your convenience and security.

LevelNet poses several advantages not found in other antivirus software:

• LevelNet users enjoy the benefit of blocking viruses, security threats, and hacks in real-time
• LevelNet works with existing antivirus software to enhance your protection so there’s no need for a complete revamp of your system
• Even if a threat is detected only in a single user’s system, the entire antivirus network updates almost instantly to safeguard other users
• Users exchange information with each other which allows for real-time threat detection and protection for everyone
• Your private and sensitive data is protected securely by the LevelNet blockchain

The LevelNet token sale will include two type of ERC-20 compliant tokens: LVL tokens and LVLS tokens.

LVL tokens are required for access to LevelNet’s features; token holders will have a membership status that provides access to the platform’s full suite of services and software.

On the other hand, LVLS token holders have a more active role compared to LVL token holders.

The LVLS token is a financial instrument that offers token holders access to the fund’s profits and register of fund shareholders, the opportunity to nominate a representative to the Board of Directors, as well as the right to call board meetings.

LVL token holders can exchange their LVL tokens for LVLS tokens once they pass a KYC/AML procedure to safeguard the ecosystem of the network.

Here are the details of the upcoming LVLS token sale:

Token name: LVL

Token base: Ethereum (ERC-20 compliant)

Token supply: 70,000,000

Token sale duration: November 15th, 2017 – December 15th, 2017 (pre-sale is currently LIVE)

Token sale target: $55,000,000 (hard cap)

Token exchange rate: $1 = 1 LVL

LevelNet’s Website

LevelNet’s whitepaper

The post LevelNet – The First Real-Time Distributed Cyber Security Platform That Learns And Adapts appeared first on ChipIn.

Not only did those plucky explorers in their snappy uniforms get to spend their lives cruising around the galaxy battling alien foes and discovering exciting new worlds, but their technology was miles ahead of anything I could hope to get my teenage hands on.

Struggling at the time with dial-up internet and a mobile phone the size of a house brick, the show opened my eyes to the possibilities of what technology could be in the future – touch-screen computers, sentient AI, lasers, and holograms.

And how incredible it would be, I thought, to have a computer that you could talk to – one that could answer questions just like the ship’s computer did.

Well, it seems a few other people had the same idea.

Branching out from the early (and, frankly, not very successful) attempts at voice recognition used in mobile phones, there is now a range of devices available for you to buy that finally make talking to your computer a reality.

Aside from ‘intelligent personal assistants’ like Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana built into our phones and computers already, you can now purchase stand-alone ‘smart speakers’ for your home. Without needing to push a single button, these devices spring to life, once they hear their name said out loud, are capable of searching the internet for you, running apps, reading you the news headlines, and even controlling other smart aspects of your home.

Here, we’ll take a look at the current smart speaker options on the market and find out what’s to come in the years ahead.

Best Smart Speakers

1. Amazon Echo – £149.99 / $179.99 on Amazon

Originally launched on an invite-only program for Prime members, the Amazon Echo has grown in popularity since late-2014 to become the leading name in smart speakers and in-home virtual assistance.

Amazon Echo is a hands-free speaker you control with your voice. Echo connects to the Alexa Voice Service to play music, provide information, news, sports scores, weather and more.

Physically, the Echo is a short, black, reasonably stylish cylinder featuring just two buttons (mute and listen), an LED ring to show you which mode it’s in, and a not-unimpressive speaker system that supplies 360-degree sound. But the real magic is on the inside, where Amazon’s Alexa technology lives.

Making use of seven noise-cancelling microphones, the Echo listens out for the word ‘Alexa’ – the name of its AI persona. After hearing its wake word, Alexa is capable of using any of its 3,000-strong roster of skills to perform tasks, search the internet, and control apps.

Amazon Echo Dot

Available for around a third of the price, the Amazon Echo Dot features the same technology as the Echo but in a much smaller form factor. While speaker quality has taken a hit in such a small shell, it’s a great starting point for anyone looking to dip their toe in the smart speaker waters.

2. Google Home – $129.99 from Google

Currently only available in the US, the Home is Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo, and an effort to expand on the Google Now functionality built into most modern Android phones.

A little shorter and wider than the Echo, but no less stylish, the Home has a touch panel on the top for controlling volume and music playback, and, just like Android phones, answers to ‘OK Google’.

A simple voice request triggers Google Home to play music, podcasts or radio from services like Google Play Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandora and TuneIn.

Capable of many of the same features as the Echo, the Home comes with a huge range of apps and connectivity out of the box, working with Spotify, Google Music, and YouTube to provide a nearly unlimited jukebox selection, and can make use of all the same smart home appliances as the Echo. Where it falls down, though, according to some reviewers, is in speaker quality and microphone quality, where it is outmatched by both the Echo and other non-smart WiFi speakers.

Peculiarly, the Home also lacks compatibility with some of Google’s own services and can’t connect to your Gmail account or Google Calendar. It’s worth remembering though that Google has been in the smart speaker game for not nearly as long as Amazon, and will doubtless be throwing its full weight behind improvements and innovation in the coming years.

And it’s precisely that history of innovation and invention that Google will need to make use of if it is to keep up with its competitors in the coming years. Seeing the success of the Echo, and with much of the mobile and smart home industry leaning towards AI and interactive assistants, many other big-name brands are now looking at launching their own Echo and Home alternatives.

1. Apple’s ‘Siri Speaker’

From Apple, we’re likely to see a Siri-based speaker in the next few years, bringing the Apple ecosystem into the home in the same way as Google and Amazon have done recently with Chrome and Fire devices.

Introduced in 2015, Siri has now become part of all Apple Platforms

The as-yet unnamed speaker is still in R&D, so there are no specifics available yet, but if reports from The Verge are to be believed it could focus on improved speaker and microphone quality, as well as facial recognition software – perhaps taking on its rivals on ground more familiar to Apple, namely high quality at a high price.

2. Cortana and the Microsoft HomeHub

Not wanting to be left behind by the other tech giants, Microsoft has announced plans to enter the AI personal assistant arena too. Originally rumoured to be building their own Echo rival, it’s now expected that Microsoft will focus on releasing a series of “HomeHub” updates for Windows 10 in 2017 and 2018. Rather than releasing new hardware, the update will provide some of the same smart functionality to household PCs, allowing voice control of smart home tech and, presumably Microsoft’s own XBox-Windows system.

Is this how the all new Microsoft Home Hub with Cortana will look like?

Microsoft is also allowing several third-party companies to produce smart tech that uses the Cortana personal assistant, so, with a reported 133 million users worldwide already, it’s reasonable to assume that she will make an appearance in HomeHub in the future.

3. New Alexa Devices and the Echo V2

Alexa is an intelligent personal assistant developed by Amazon Lab126

Amazon has also been working with several third parties to get the Alexa system more widely adopted by other manufacturers. Both Sonos and Lenovo are working with Amazon to improve their current offering, with Sonos looking to use the tech to provide seamless wireless control of their speaker range. By integrating the Sonos platform with Alexa, Sonos users will be able to control their wireless sound systems with their voice using either the Dot or Echo. Currently, the Dot is often used simply as a way to introduce Alexa into the home, as its small size brings with it some sound quality issues – but in the future, a Echot Dot may be all you need to control an entire suite of Sonos products.

4. Lenovo’s Smart Assistant

Lenovo Smart Assistant with Amazon® Alexa® Voice Service is designed to give you a helping hand in and around your home.

On the face of it, smart speakers have enjoyed surprising popularity since their launch. Despite the slightly unsettling feeling the first few times you start talking to a speaker, devices like the Echo and Home have found a place in the houses and routines of many early adopters, and tech strategy firm Activate has recently estimated that there will be more than 21.4 million smart speakers sold in the US before 2020.

But what about consumers? Is the wider public ready and willing to adopt smart speakers into their homes?

This chart shows the percentage of people who have one or more of these devices at home in 2015 | Source: Statista.com

According to Amazon, the Echo Dot was their best-selling product throughout Christmas 2016, outselling all of its other devices. In fact, the top four selling items on Amazon, all Fire devices, come packaged with the Alexa software – and those sales figures could be read as a shining endorsement of in-home AI. It is worth noting that Amazon doesn’t stock the Google Home, though, and doesn’t release sales figures either, so the real picture is a little unclear.

While Amazon claimed to have sold more than five million Echos in the US alone during its first two years, Google has yet to release any data – so again it’s tricky to get a good idea of their relative popularity at this stage. Research conducted in the US did show however, that awareness of Echo products among Amazon customers rose from 20% to 69% in just two years, suggesting that Alexa, and perhaps other AI devices, are now much more of a mainstream market than they once were.

Sales figures aside, we can start to build up a picture of how popular smart speakers are with their owners by looking at usage statistics – a good measure of whether people actually enjoy owning one after they’ve bought it.

A survey of Echo owners in 2016 found that while people tended to try out the flagship features at least once, like playing music or setting alarms, very few people found themselves making frequent use of the device’s skills. Just 17% of those asked had Alexa regularly read them the news headlines, even though 66% had tried it at least once, and just 10% were making regular use of the voice-controlled shopping services.

Amazon Echo User Study done by Netpop.com

That same ‘lack of engagement’ with the Echo device is shown in a report by VoiceLabs that looked at how many of Alexa’s ‘skills’ were actually being used by Echo owners. Of the more than 7,000 skills available at the start of 2017, a massive 69% had either zero or just one customer review – suggesting that the majority of skills simply aren’t being used by customers. Worse still for app developers, the stats show that, on average, just 3% of Echo owners continue to use an app two weeks after first installing it, showing that many are finding the apps either not that useful or just a fun gadget that gets old fast.

That’s not to say that all skills or apps are unpopular, and the same survey found that some had a two-week retention rate of more than 20%. What the studies reveal, though, is that app developers could have their work cut out to find a niche for smart speakers that isn’t already filled by existing smartphones. Securing the long-term attention of Echo and Google users may take time to figure out, and could take something more compelling than the ability to set an alarm or turn the lights on.

It could be a few years until we really start to see whether smart speakers are here to stay, but much of their success hinges on being able to improve their devices in the next generation and correct some of the flaws present in current models.

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WE all want speakers that go boom, plumbing down to the deepest depths while putting our subwoofers to the test. We also want speakers that boost each cello and each violin as if we are sitting front row at the orchestra. But it’s ultimately all for naught if a Bluetooth

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The range of smart speakers on the market today might be packed with features, but they’re still not perfect. So what of the drawbacks and flaws with current devices? And will the next-gen provide any solutions?

Some of the biggest flaws with both the Echo and Home are issues with speaker and microphone quality – but it’s safe to assume that these will only get better over time once the concept is more popular and the public are willing to part with more cash for a higher-end product. According to analytics company comScore, 50% of all searches will be done by voice by 2020, so the pressure is on manufacturers to ensure that the technology keeps up with demand.

Software issues can be a drawback too. Aside from the lack of Google integration mentioned earlier, both Google Now and Alexa rely on existing voice recognition software and have to work within the limitations of current search engine algorithms. Many Alexa users particularly have been left frustrated by Amazon’s decision to use Bing for the Echo’s search function, as, anecdotally, results can be somewhat less precise than users are used to from Google.

Google Now and Alexa rely on existing voice recognition software and have to work within the limitations of current search engine algorithms.

The current roster of skills is an issue for some users too. Aside from the problems highlighted in the VoiceLabs study mentioned earlier, many Echo owners have found that a large portion of the skills available simply either don’t apply to them or won’t work in their area. Skills such as booking an Uber with your voice might appeal to an urban crowd, for example, but are often unavailable outside of major cities, while many apps are locked to work only in the US or specific regions. Live out in the countryside, or in a country or area without full support, and you could find that Alexa’s skills are in short supply.

If the industry continues to trend in the direction of smart homes and AI assistants, though, the combined might of Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Apple should be able to overcome any software glitches after several iterations, provided the consumer demand keeps up.

Where smart speakers and other smart tech runs into some potentially insurmountable hurdles, though, is the issue of privacy. By virtue of how these devices work, waiting to hear their wake-up word, both the Home and Echo are always listening to their surroundings, recording what they hear to listen for instructions.

In an age when people are becoming more conscious of internet security, this ‘always on, always listening’ approach has some people worried. In 2015 Samsung made headlines when the company admitted that its smart voice-operated TVs were potentially constantly recording conversations and uploading them to their servers for voice analysis, sparking fears that they were inadvertently capturing sensitive and private information in the process.

Promises that smart speakers are no more intrusive than a regular Google search don’t have everyone convinced, though.

Recently smart speaker manufacturers have gone to great lengths to stress that this isn’t possible with newer devices, however. The Echo features a mute button to disable any listening, and both Amazon and Google say that their devices are only listening for their wake-up cue and don’t upload any recordings until asked to perform a task. Both smart speakers also allow the user to delete any previously saved data and offer a reassuring level of control over what data is saved – though limiting this too much does have a negative impact on the AI’s learning potential and can reduce functionality overall.

Promises that smart speakers are no more intrusive than a regular Google search don’t have everyone convinced, though. In December last year, prosecutors in Arkansas took Amazon to task in an effort to gain access to a murder victim’s Echo recording log. Similar to how authorities around the world frequently make requests for phone records and internet search records, prosecutors hoped that the Echo’s microphones may have recorded something relevant to the crime, and perhaps had even overheard the murderer when they were in the home.

Though Amazon declined to provide the information until prosecutors can provide a good enough legal reason, the case highlights privacy fears about our conversations, movements, likes and dislikes being recorded and used against us at a later date. The problem is only exacerbated by the inclusion of third-party hardware and software, with some speculating that it’s only a matter of time until a compromised smart device or app could be used to commit crimes, defraud or blackmail it’s owner.

It’s hard to see how Amazon, Google and the others now joining the race will be able to overcome these security issues, as voice recording is integral to how smart speakers operate. It may be that only through constant reassurance, enhanced security and a rigid defense of their customers’ data that the public can be convinced to finally allow an always-listening set of ears into their homes.

How developers choose to tackle these privacy issues will ultimately determine whether in-home AI assistants become a must-have gadget or are a flash in the pan fad. But if security can be improved, the flaws ironed out, and even more, utility added in the next few generations, we could soon think nothing of talking to our tech.

Do you have a smart speaker, or are you waiting for the next generation’s improvements?

Have you had any problems with security and privacy with yours?

Let us know in the comments below.

The post What does the Future Hold for Smart Speakers? appeared first on ChipIn.

The recent NHS computer hack using Wanna Decryptor ransomware shut down IT systems with 75,000 attacks in 99 countries. The unprecedented ransomware breach froze computers across the health service with hackers threatening to delete files unless a ransom was paid.

Only last week the popular font sharing site DaFont.com was hacked, exposing 699,464 accounts in the breach. The passwords were scrambled with the MD5 algorithm, which nowadays is easy to crack. The hacker unscrambled over 98% of the passwords into plain text.

According to Zdnet.com, the unidentified hacker explained his motives for the attack:
“I heard the database was getting traded around so I decided to dump it myself – like I always do”. He said it was “mainly just for the challenge and training my pentest skills.” He exploited a union-based SQL injection vulnerability in the site’s software, a flaw he said was “easy to find.”
These attacks have unleashed a media frenzy, but what of the other undocumented attacks that are happening every minute?

Cybercrime can be committed with minimal resources and from a remote location. The same systems that have made it easier for people to conduct e-commerce and online transactions are now being exploited. Detection of criminals is difficult and it’s a relatively low risk activity for high rewards.

Last year, Ginni Rometty, IBM’s chairman, president and CEO, said “Cybercrime is the greatest threat to every company in the world.”

According to csoonline.com the costs of cybercrime will hit $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion just a year ago.

It is predicted that humans have moved ahead of machines as the top target for cybercriminals. Microsoft estimates that by 2020 4 billion people will be online – twice the number that are now.

In this article, we review the following areas:

1. Cybercrime demystified: what is it?
2. The impact of these attacks on both businesses and individuals
3. The current state of Cybercrime
4. Predictions of future Cybercrime
5. How may we be able to use AI and Robotics to combat Cybercrime?

Cybercrime demystified: what is it?

Cybercrime is defined as a crime in which a computer is the object of the crime or is used as a tool to commit an offence. Crimes that target computer networks or devices include viruses and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. Crimes that use computer networks to advance other criminal activities include cyberstalking, phishing and fraud or identity theft.

Broadly, cybercrime can be divided into three areas of attack:

1. Property

Theft is rife in the cyberworld. Criminals can steal a person’s bank details and siphon off money; misuse credit cards to make numerous purchases online; run scams to convince people to part with money; use malicious software to gain access to an organisation’s website or disrupt systems. It can also damage software and hardware.

This crime is when a person’s computer is broken into and personal or sensitive information accessed. This differs from ethical hacking, which many organisations use to check their internet security protection. In hacking, the criminal uses a variety of software to enter a person’s computer and the person may not be aware that his computer is being accessed from a remote location.

This crime occurs when a person violates copyrights and downloads music, movies, games and software. There are peer sharing websites which encourage software piracy and illegal downloading .

This has become a major problem with people using the internet for cash transactions and banking services. In this cyber crime, a criminal accesses data about a person’s bank account, credit cards, debit cards and other sensitive information to siphon money or to buy things online in the victim’s name. It can result in significant financial losses for the victim, even ruining credit history.

These are Internet-based software or programs that are used to disrupt a network. The software is used to gain access to a system to steal sensitive information or data or causing damage to software in the system.

2. Individual

This type of cyber crime can be in the form of cyberstalking, distributing pornography, trafficking and “grooming”.

3. Government

Crimes against a government are referred to as Cyber terrorism. This is the least common area of attack, however if successful, it can cause chaos and panic amongst citizens. Disruptions to last year’s U.S. electoral process was attempted by state-sponsored groups. The perpetrators may be terrorist organisations or hostile governments of other countries.

Part 1: Can Artificial Intelligence & Robots fight the Cybercrime Epidemic?
Part 2: The impact of these attacks on both businesses and individuals
Part 3: The potential of AI and machine learning to fight Cybercrime

The post Can Artificial Intelligence & Robots fight the Cybercrime Epidemic? appeared first on ChipIn.

The consumer market is expected to grow from $54.4 billion in 2016 to $95.9 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate of 12.0% from 2016 through 2021.

There may have been clear limitations in voice technology in the past, that have hindered rather than enhanced the customer experience. However, over the past 5 years, there have been radical breakthroughs in voice recognition.

What Will The #Voice #Tech #Revolution Mean For #Banking And #Fintech? #AI
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Brian Roemmele, CEO and founder of Payfinders has predicted:

“2017 will make 2016 – which was really the convergence point of artificial intelligence, machine learning, voice interactivity – look like slow motion”.

As voice assistants become more mainstream in vehicles, smart fridges in the home, mirroring the commonplace presence of digital assistants, such as Siri, Alexa and Google Home in mobile devices, – it’s inevitable that the voice biometrics will soon revolutionize the finance sector.
According to the researcher Gartner, AI bots will power 85% of customer service interactions by 2020.
Change is around the corner.

What Will The Voice Tech Revolution Mean For Banking And Fintech?

The rapid growth in the use of voice technologies is prominent throughout core industries. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), 2017 was heralded to be “the year of voice recognition”. Voice recognition is being applied in many different forms in automotive, telecoms, insurance and banking industries and can range from biometric security to helpful chatbots.

1. Retail

Starbucks recently unveiled “My Starbucks Barista”, a conversational ordering system

2. Travel

Wynn Las Vegas and Amazon have announced its plan to equip all 4,748 hotel rooms at Wynn Las Vegas with Echo, Amazon’s hands-free voice-controlled speaker. The introduction of this technology into every guest room will be the first in its industry in the world, allowing guests of Wynn Las Vegas to control various hotel room features with a series of voice commands via Alexa, the brain behind Echo.
Steve Wynn, Chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts commented:

“The ability to talk to your room is effortlessly convenient. In partnership with Amazon, becoming the first resort in the world in which guests can verbally control every aspect of lighting, temperature and the audio-visual components of a hotel room is yet another example of our leadership in the world of technology for the benefit of all of our guests.”

It will be interesting to see how customers and competitors respond to these changes. Will these features eventually filter into the mainstream?

3. Consumer Goods

At last month’s Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, it was announced that Mastercard and Samsung, as well as Amazon and LG, have jointly developed new additions to their smart fridges, allowing users to order – and pay – for their groceries by voice.

4. Automotive

The automative biometric market is expected to grow steadily during the next four years

5. Insurance

Customers can now ask Amazon Alexa for over 300 insurance-related definitions

Voice Recognition technology is already gaining traction in the insurance industry. In early January, Fukoku Mutual Life decided to make 34 employees redundant in favor of artificial intelligence. The IBM Watson technology is capable of analyzing and interpreting an unstructured text, audio, and video data to calculate payouts. Around the same time, Aviva announced that it had created a new skill for Amazon Echo’s voice-activated intelligent assistant, Alexa. Customers can now ask Alexa for over 300 insurance-related definitions. Voice recognition will shape the future of insurance interactions.

Voice recognition technologies are allowing physicians, soldiers, and other users to achieve more by saving the time taken by written communications. The military sector, the industry’s largest investor, uses the technology to increase operational efficiency and for precision driving. North America remains the leading market in that sector, but Asia-Pacific countries are rapidly increasing their market shares.

1. Voice Application Platforms

Capital One is the first financial services company to sign up to the voice application platform Cortana. It has used existing voice technology to enable customers to manage their money efficiently through a hands-free, natural audible conversation with Cortana.

Cortana uses existing voice technology to enable customers to manage their money

CapOne and Amazon teamed up to put the Capital One “Skill” app on the Amazon Echo, allowing customers to access their bank accounts using their voice

Santander customers will be able to make payments with their voice by talking to their smartphone app

“This pioneering technology has huge potential to become an integral part of the future banking experience, playing a transformational role in the industry and redefining how customers choose to manage their money.”

Santander first started to roll out the voice technology last March. Customers could give simple commands to the app, such as asking it to show historic transactions on their accounts.
Mr. Metzger said that updating the app to enable payments gives users “another channel of choice in how they wish to bank”. Lenders are investing heavily in technology to keep up with changing consumer trends, as more people shop, work, and watch television online. The rapid growth in digital technology has driven the decline in traditional bank branches, which lenders are shutting at a rapid pace.

2. Voice Biometrics In Security

Voice biometrics represents a giant step in the industry towards abolishing passwords and relying on more sophisticated security methods

USAA facial recognition technology for banking app

USAA pioneered the adoption of facial recognition technology to mobile banking in February 2015 by introducing voice and face biometrics for customers to gain access to its app. Customers can activate the capability by going to the Quick Logon option within Settings and Profile in the mobile banking app. Face and voice recognition can then be selected before the customer electronically signs the terms and conditions.
To activate voice recognition, the customer must record the statement “My identity is secure because my voice is my passport. Verify me.” three times. This statement then needs to be said aloud when logging in.
Face registration is done by taking a picture before it is registered. During login, blinks are monitored for verification. This aspect helps to counter fraud, as a picture or video of a user would not be able to blink at the right moment.

The bank also offers fingerprint recognition to the biometric options available for logging in to its mobile banking app. Customers have the option to log in to the app using their preferred biometric method – face, voice, fingerprint or by entering a PIN. Apart from the biometric options for login security, the bank also uses device identification in the background, where an encrypted token is sent from the device to USAA which is then matched against the ID of the device registered at enrolment.

However, what are the risks of speech recognition technology – just how secure is it? Whilst banks claim that this new security feature is more secure than fingerprints, there are still serious concerns about the rapid increase in these modern technologies.

Banks seem to be developing voice biometrics-based on the assumption that everyone has a unique voice, but existing research has only been carried out on a small sample. Does everyone really have a unique voice signature? In addition, how might background noise interfere with the quality of voice recognition?

Think Silicon Valley meets Wall Street. Startups in financial technology – or fintech – are disrupting the industry by solving some of banking’s biggest issues, especially in local banking and consumer finance. As more customer interactions move online, the geographic advantage of local, high street banks is diminishing. After all, why would you visit a bank branch down the street to borrow money when you can shop for better interest rates from the comfort of your couch using peer-to-peer lending platforms like Lending Club, Prosper and SoFi?

Peer-to-peer lending platforms like Lending Club, Prosper and SoFi make it easy to borrow money

But convenience isn’t the only factor. According to Roji Oommen, managing director of financial services at CenturyLink, the biggest forces reshaping finance are:

1. Reduced Friction

Mint gives you an overall dashboard view of your financial health, pulling data from disparate sources

“This is also opening up opportunities to understand customers’ preferences, spending patterns via data mining and analytics,” Oommen said.

2. Robot Advisers

Automated investment services promise to take the pain and uncertainty out of investing by algorithmically constructing a portfolio, investing in ETFs, rebalancing, reinvesting dividends and even harvesting tax losses.

“You would just give your profile information and the algorithm will optimize investments for you,” according to Oommen.

3. New Business Models

As fintech entrepreneurs look to increase efficiencies, they are creating new business models. Crowdfunding companies such as Kickstarter have created a strong alternative to the venture-capital investment model. Several fintech companies like WorldRemit, TransferWise and Remitly are eyeing the global remittance market, which was estimated to exceed $600 billion in 2015, according to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook. They are entering the market dominated by Western Union and MoneyGram with instant online and mobile-to-mobile transfer of money across borders at lower commissions.

Six major banks – Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo – have made investments in fintech companies since 2009, according to CB Insights. Several other banks are sponsoring incubators, accelerators, and hackathons to encourage tech experimentation. British bank Barclays, for instance, has set up an accelerator to provide advice, connections, and mentorship to fintech startups. It can be mutually beneficial for banks and startups to join up. For fintech companies, it makes more sense to use the incumbents’ infrastructure and investment dollars, especially in such a heavily regulated environment.

One thing is certain – disruption is good for the consumer. “We expect some shift in market share from one player to another, but the biggest change will be the way banks interact with customers,” Oommen said.

Banks are sponsoring incubators, accelerators and hackathons to encourage tech experimentation

However, a new technology is bound to need refinements before it can be a useful asset. The challenge for chatbots is to understand and show some human emotion. Emotion is a core driver of customer loyalty and chatbots may lack the EI to understand complex customer scenarios. When it comes to business the chatbot needs to be polite, intelligent and helpful without pretending to be human.

The future is bright for voice technologies which promise to enrich our experiences with digital devices. Our voices are going to bridge the gap between human-machine conversations and will be an integral part of daily transactions.

Even more game-changing is the use of biometric security – we have already seen how fingerprint identity has touched everyday life with our iPhones. It’s highly likely there will be a day when the customer’s most secure password is their voice.

As machine intelligence grows in its mastery of voice recognition and conversation, it encroaches upon a quality which sets us apart as human – the faculty of speech. As we rush to redefine what it means to be human, perhaps the more penetrating question is – does it even matter?

Does the customer care if she is talking online to a faceless chatbot rather than a faceless human?

We have entered an age where service is sovereign. Be it human, machine, or an intelligent combination of the two – it’s up to the industry to get it right.

The potential of voice biometrics has been recognized with the visually impaired, deaf or mute long before it gained traction in the mainstream:

“Able-bodied individuals gain convenience from voice-control technology, while the disability community gains the greatest reward of all: independence.” ~ Talk to the Machine: Voice Control Comes Into Its Own

Banking industry is moving to technologies that could one day see robots providing bespoke wealth advice and artificial intelligence answering customers’ questions

HSBC, which has closed the most branches of any UK bank recently, said last month that it had experienced a near 40% drop in the number of people using its branches. TSB, which announced an extra 29 closures last week, admitted that “some locations are very quiet, serving fewer than 200 people a week”. Meanwhile, Standard Chartered is moving heavily into radical new technologies that could one day see robots providing bespoke wealth advice and artificial intelligence answering customers’ questions.

Biometric authentication is “difficult to mimic and easy for people to use,” said Tom Trebilcock, senior vice president of digital at Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank, where customers with Apple iPhones equipped with Touch ID have the option of ditching passwords for fingerprints. “Looking out years from now, I expect the days for passwords are numbered,” he said.

However, whilst there is excitement and optimism in the fintech world about the development of this new technology it is important to remain circumspect.

Unscrupulous scammers are now using clever techniques, such as voice recording using Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) (also know as “voice phishing”), to gain access to personal information. This technology is likely to see a rise in scammers overcoming voice biometric security using your actual voice and information in payback to dupe banks.

According to the FBI, voice recognition is not perfect and only be used as one step in a multi-step security process.

The post What Will The Voice Tech Revolution Mean For Banking And Fintech? appeared first on ChipIn.

While the idea of AI is exciting, we still have no idea exactly how much of an impact artificial intelligence will have on our daily lives. Ask one person, and they’ll be full of optimism about a life of leisure while the robots do all the hard work.
Ask another, and they’ll tell you darkly that robots are destined to enslave us.

For many people, the fear of the unknown (and all those Terminator movies), is a convincing argument towards slowing down our quest for free-thinking robots. But if you’ve ever used a self-checkout, spoken to Siri, or watched Netflix, you’ve already interacted with AI. And self-driving cars, automated drones, and elder-care robots will soon be just another normal part of life.

The Ethics of AI: Should Robots Vote?
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The moment when the intelligence of machines will exceed the puny intelligence of humans is known as singularity, but what happens if robots decide they don’t need humans around?

In Futurescape with James Woods, episode two begins with a robot walking towards a polling booth. Surrounded by protestors, her eyes scan a man wearing a badge which says “No soul means no vote!”

Woods begins the narration: “Ridiculous right? A robot voting. Well you know they said the same thing about blacks in 1870 and about women in the early 1900s. But you wouldn’t give a programmable robot the full rights of citizenship now, would you? I mean they can’t think like us, they don’t feel like us- they are fundamentally different from us. For now. But the lines are already blurring. And if you doubt that, ask your dad to turn in his pacemaker, or your grandma to live without her artificial hip. Every day we’re getting closer and closer to the day when man and machine truly meld and redefine what it means to be human.”

The difference between humans and machines? Machines are programmable, and repairs are mechanical. We also believe that humans have a mind, a soul, and free will. But some scientists argue that one day we’ll find the wiring that shows us how the mind truly works- eliminating the last barriers between humans and robots.

It could be that these patterns are very simple, and research has already begun in this direction at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Arthur Toga is mapping the connection between neurons in the human brain, which would give us a total picture of the brain. While this will help us identify miswiring in humans, it could also unlock that special something that makes us uniquely human.

In order to feel emotion, robots must be able to become conscious.

Futurist Ray Kurzweil believes that robots will gain consciousness by 2029, and he points to the current studies of the human brain which show inter-neural connections firing in real time. Since scientists can see our brains creating our thoughts, it’s not unreasonable to imagine that they’ll be able to replicate this in robots. For this reason, the idea of “robot morality” is attracting scholars from theology, law, psychology, ethics, human rights, and philosophy.

Elon Musk is the founder of Tesla Motors, and he recently pledged $10 million towards research that would help ensure “friendly AI.”

Stephen Hawking has also spoken about AI, warning that super-intelligent AI may equal the end of the human race, and the list of concerned experts continues to grow, with Steve Wozniak and Bill Gates warning that robots could threaten our existence.When robots achieve singularity and become smarter than us, they could, therefore, be out of our control. And if they’re programmed without morality, may just decide to do away with us. This leads to all sorts of questions. How do you program morality? Is morality in the eye of the programmer? If robots need an ethical code, who will decide what this ethical code is?

One answer is to directly program behavioral rules into the robot’s software. These could be concrete rules (think the Ten Commandments), or theoretical such as utilitarian ethics. The important thing is that the robots are given hard-coded guidelines which they could then use as a base for all of their decision-making.

This sounds great in theory, but it could make it too difficult for robots to make quick decisions in the real world.

Another idea is a bottom-up approach, with the machines learning from experience instead of being spoon-fed the necessary rules. This puts less strain on the robot’s computers, since it won’t need to consider the repercussions of each and every action, and can simply use habitual responses, leading to the organic development of ethical and moral behavior.

If we can develop conscious robots, would they then be people? And in that case, shouldn’t they have the same rights as any other person?

Scientists at Stanford University are currently working on the Nerogrid– a piece of hardware that can mimic the activity of the brain- in real time. This supercomputer is the size of an iPad and may one day become a machine that can think for itself.

Neurogrid even replicates the circuitry of the human brain. The only difference between humans and robots that could think like us, is more neuropathways, which means that it’s only a matter of time before robots are able to think for themselves.

But if robots become self-aware, what will separate them from us?

A 58cm humanoid robot called Nao can already tell stories, walk, and make decisions. But that’s not all it can do. Nao is also being programmed to have ethics and can weigh all of the options in any given situation, before choosing how to act. Nao uses a series of true/false statements to recognize harm, benefit, and the pros and cons of each option.

When programmed to remind someone to take medication, Nao has some choices to make. If the patient refuses her medication, the robot must decide whether to allow her to skip her dose (and potentially cause harm) or insist that she takes her medicine (impinging on her autonomy).

The creators taught Nao how to navigate these types of problems by giving it examples of conflicts that bioethicists had resolved which involved autonomy, benefit, and harm to patients. Nao’s learning algorithms allow it to sort through these cases to find patterns to help it make a decision in a new situation (the woman refused the aspirin, and Nao accepted this and reminded her again later).

Humans bond with each other by establishing a rapport and the survival of our species depends on this bonding, which is also dependent on emotion. We recognize these emotions in other humans and express our own from birth.

Nao is able to download new behaviors, make eye contact, recognize faces, and respond to users. This makes it invaluable for children who are autistic, overstimulated, or nonverbal, and the robot can help them learn to identify emotions. Research has even shown that computers are actually better at reading expressions than we are, meaning it’s going to be increasingly difficult for us to lie to robots.

Nao is able to download new behaviors, make eye contact, recognize faces, and respond to users.

Aldebaran, the creators of Nao, released Pepper last year. This robot is the first designed to live with humans and is able to mirror the emotional state of its user- something that humans begin to do when they’re babies. This works both ways, and as robots mirror our emotions, we instinctively mirror theirs, feeling a bond with them and assisting them with tasks.

While robots can’t yet feel emotions, they’re already able to appear as if they do. In 2014, a robot named Eugene passed the Turing test. Named after Alan Turing, a computing pioneer, the test was designed to test whether or not a computer can be “intelligent”, and is basically an imitation game. A human judge will sit on one side of a computer screen and will have conversations with other humans, and one chatbot which has been created to trick the judge into thinking it’s human.

Turing tests have been happening for more than 20 years, and Eugene (programmed as a 13-year-old boy) convinced 33% of the judges that he was human, showing that robots still have a long way to go, but are now intelligent enough to effectively trick 1/3 of the humans they talk to.

While robots are becoming excellent at pretending to feel, the ultimate goal for many companies is to ensure that they can one day actually think and feel- just like a human.

The European parliament has voted for the drafting of regulations which would govern the creation and use of artificial intelligence and robots, including “electronic personhood“, which would give robots rights and responsibilities.

Under current laws in the United States, corporations are persons. So are ships. And municipalities. So why couldn’t a robot or cyborg also be a person?

This will have huge implications for the companies creating robots. If they create a robot, and that robot then creates a product that can be patented, who would own the patent? The robot? Or the corporation?

More importantly, a large part of being a “person”, is the right to vote. If robots have to take responsibility for their actions, many argue that they should then have the right to vote or sit on a jury.

But in order to vote, robots would need to have a very complex understanding of right and wrong.

Another key right that humans have is the right to reproduce. Since robots would be able to make infinite copies of themselves, allowing them to vote would effectively be allowing them to be in charge. It’s for this reason that many ethicists argue that robots should either have the right to reproduce or the right to vote, but not both.

Ryan Calo is a law professor specializing in cyber law and robotics at the University of Washington. He serves on the advisory committee of CITRIS, a People and Robots initiative. He calls this dilemma the “copy-or-vote paradox.”

If an artificially intelligent machine one day claims that it has achieved personhood, it’s sentient, experiences both pain and joy, has dignity, and we’re unable to disprove it, we may not be able to justify denying it the same human rights that we enjoy.

If that machine then claims that it should be able to procreate and vote, and then copies itself indefinitely, democracy would be completely undone.

Once robots have become “people”, and enjoy the same rights that humans do, it makes sense that they must also be subject to the same responsibilities. This would mean that robots would be able to be sued for causing damage or making mistakes, and would also be able to be punished under the legal system.

Another problem? While the EU may be ready to grant robots personhood, and the United States is encouraging the use of ethics, who’s to say that other countries will do the same?

Autonomous robots making life or death decisions may soon be a common feature of warfare, as countries around the world begin harnessing artificial intelligence. The Chinese and Russian governments are already working to gain an edge over other countries, launching a new-age arms race.

Professor Toby Walsh, from the University of New South Wales in Australia, has already spoken to the United Nations on a number of occasions to encourage the formation of an international body which would prevent killer robots from becoming another weapon of war.

There’s little doubt that the ethical implications of AI will be one of the biggest challenges that humans face over the next fifty years. Ideally, we’ll eventually be able to utilize the strength of both robots and humans and integrate them ethically, although there are sure to be some bumps in the road along the way.

One thing’s for sure, we’ll never look at our Roombas the same way again.

The post The Ethics of AI: Should Robots be Allowed to Vote? appeared first on ChipIn.

What if I told you these policy debates were all for show, and these jobs were never coming back? Not because of cheap overseas labor or a favorable regulatory environment, but because global corporations had discovered a replacement. Such replacement did not require health insurance, paid time off, retirement contributions, or training? The reality is that the global economy is on the cusp of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution that will even leave white-collar, highly specialized professions vulnerable to extinction.

Here are some alarming projections for the next generation of workers. Within five years, an estimated 6% of all American jobs will be replaced by a robot.

With an American labor force of 152 million, a 6% decline amounts to 9 million jobs lost! Time is not a friend to the workforce. Over an eight year period, up to 25% of American jobs will be eliminated. And according to Oxford University, 35% of all jobs will be replaced by AI in the next 20 years.

The three genius android robots created by Hanson Robotics

Ten shocking professions that could be replaced with AI in the coming decade

1. Surgeons

In addition to requiring an advanced degree and years of on-the-job training, surgeons must carry the burden of performing high-risk, life-saving procedures. Even the most highly-skilled surgeons are prone to human error; requiring hospitals and out-patient surgery centers to carry costly insurance plans.

Enter surgical robots, which will be available 24/7 and calibrated to operate with laser-like precision. The transition may already be underway as Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust has employed surgical robots to operate side-by-side with human doctors during kidney surgeries. In theory, robots can perform faster than human doctors, without emotion, exhaustion, or pressure.

The 2016 movie Passengers gives us a glimpse into the future as a patient in critical condition undergoes multiple complex surgeries simultaneously in a robot-operated pod. Surgical robots may increase the likelihood of survival in emergency situations as they can be programmed to perform the roles of different surgeons at the same time.

Robot operated Pod as shown in the movie Passengers 2016

2. Teachers

Children of future may depend on robots for learning and will look up to them as inspiration.

“Engkey”-A droid with human face is already introduced, Source: dailymail

The analytical abilities of robots would allow for unrivaled insight into students’ knowledge base and, as a result, would make standardized testing obsolete. From an economic standpoint, insolvent state and local governments could employ robots to reduce the costs associated with generous health care and pension benefits enjoyed by teachers. Children of the future may, in fact, look back on a robot as the greatest inspiration of their life.

3. Police Officers

The popular sci-fi fantasy of RoboCop is coming true with the introduction of Robotic police officers |Source: Business Insider

Robotic police officers have been sci-fi fantasy since the 1987 blockbuster movie RoboCop. Thirty years later, remote-controlled robotic technology is commonly employed in the Middle East by the U.S. military. Advanced weaponry such as unmanned aerial drones and robots designed to clear Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) are staples of the war on terror.

Remote-controlled robotic technology is commonly employed in the Middle East

Unlike many other professions that are embracing AI, there is a notable resistance among the military/law enforcement industry. Just five years ago, the U.S. Department of Defense signed a development ban on “autonomous and semi-autonomous” weaponry. The primary concern is that it would be impossible to hold AI accountable for the lethal force it employs. While a valid point, the chance to drastically reduce human casualties could ultimately tip the scales.

4. Commercial Airline Pilots

Surprisingly, there is little buzz over the great leaps in AI technology in commercial piloting. Obviously, AI is making waves in the automobile industry, as Tesla has launched three driverless vehicles that are fully autonomous. Add in remote-controlled drones and autopilot features on commercial flights, and pilotless airliners are an inevitable leap over the next decade.

The leap to pilotless airliners is inevitable specially after the launch of driverless vehicles by Tesla

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a system that will replace copilots with AI. The program, called the Aircrew Labor In-cockpit Automation System (ALIAS), even allows the AI to manipulate the plane’s primary flight controls.

Lastly, Chinese drone manufacturer EHang plans to roll out a self-driving hover-taxi that can carry one passenger, travel up to 100 kilometers, and fly for up to 30 minutes. Clearly, the technology is almost there, and pilotless commercial flights will be here sooner rather than later.

5. Pharmacists

De-Nesting & Re-Nesting Machines for Nested Containers-An example of Robotic Pharmacists

The major benefits of pharmaceutical robots are the reduction of human error, increased patient safety, and freeing up human pharmacists to emphasize patient interaction. Automation is especially appealing to hospitals and pharmacy chains as it has the potential to greatly reduce operating expenses related to government regulations and continuing education for employees.

6. Astronauts

Google and NASA have already deployed robots to the International Space Station

It is highly likely that the next milestone in space exploration will not be achieved by man, but rather by an autonomous or semi-autonomous robot.

The AI advances in transportation are well documented in this article. Along those same lines, Google and NASA have already deployed robots to the International Space Station. Furthermore, NASA has been using automated exploration rovers on Mars for a decade.

Robots have many advantages over humans pertaining to space exploration. Obviously, robots can travel further than humans over substantially longer periods of time. In addition, robots can handle extreme conditions that the human body cannot. Perhaps most significant is that scientists can take greater risks with robots, as the legitimate moral and ethical concerns associated with risking a human life will not be an issue.

Obviously, this will not affect a large number of jobs. However, astronauts once occupied the dreams of millions of children worldwide. Unfortunately, AI will fill this role in the foreseeable future.

7. Bartenders

A robotic bar can be found aboard Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship “Anthem of the Seas”

This reality may be many years off for most of America, but AI is already finding its way into high-end bars. For instance, a robotic bar can be found aboard Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship Anthem of the Seas. Clients place orders on a tablet and the robotic arms can create any cocktail upon request. The debate centers on the preference for cheap, efficient labor over a more sociable experience. It is difficult to imagine robotic bartenders in rural, blue-collar America, it is certainly conceivable to see these systems springing up in trendy urban centers along the east and west coasts.

8. Poker Dealers

Min-Paradise Entertainment’s robot| The Japan Times

Hanson Robotics’ product, on the other hand, is more interactive and has the ability to make facial expressions. The transition to robotic dealers is inevitable in the United States, where casino profits are down due to online gaming and increased supply of gaming opportunities driven by a growing number of states legalizing gambling.

Casinos may be able to utilize robotic dealers as a means to circumvent state laws that disallow human dealers

Replacing dealers will not have a significant impact on the overall jobs market, but it could bring hardship to casino epicenters such as Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Specifically, Atlantic City’s economy is driven by the gaming industry and automation will be crippling to a city that is already reeling and facing Detroit-like bankruptcy issues.

9. Journalists

Majority of online content we read today is generated by software programs

In the era of fake news and social media, the journalism field is ripe for an injection of objectivity and speed. The vast majority of online readers do not realize that they are already taking in content generated by software program. For example, Forbes frequently publishes sports, business, and politics content that is produced by computer algorithm.

These programs analyze online data, model effective and popular writing styles, and then generate a fascinating piece. The advantage to AI-generated news is clearly the speed in which content can be published. In a 24/7 news cycle where journalists strive to break stories first on social media, AI would produce content even more expeditiously.

To be clear, AI technology is not currently capable of replacing your favorite opinion journalist at the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. However, it is plausible that a software program could be tailored to utilize data from strictly liberal or conservative publications, think-tanks, or organizations. As a result, the content generated would be biased towards the data sources.

10. Lawyers

With AI representation, legal specializations such as real estate or criminal defense could become obsolete.

For instance, to project the outcome of U.S. Supreme Court cases, a team of professors at Chicago-Kent College of Law developed an algorithm that proved to be 70% successful with a sample size of nearly 8,000 cases.

With AI representation, legal specializations such as real estate or criminal defense could become obsolete. As the capacity to store and analyze legal data grows, robotic lawyers will master various specializations. Perhaps most importantly, AI could solve issues of income inequality in the legal field. In the current legal environment, financial resources dictate the quality of representation.

In the future, local and state governments can procure AI technology to erase the negative stigma associated with public defenders. Lastly, robotic lawyers will instill confidence in their clients as the legal analysis provided will be entirely objective and not motivated by profit, publicity, or human emotion.

The impact that automation will have on the global jobs market is nothing short of alarming. How will mankind respond when AI squeezes humans out of an already competitive jobs market?

One popular idea is to tax a company’s usage of AI. Bill Gates recently advocated for a robot tax, arguing that it could slow the transition to automation and provide additional funding for government relief programs. Billionaire Mark Cuban encourages students to pursue college degree programs that emphasize creative thinking. Cuban believes that majors such as liberal arts, psychology, or foreign language will be in greater demand after AI takes root. Others argue that workers must commit to reskilling and continuing education in order to concurrently evolve with technology.

. Conclusion

The post Ten Stunning Jobs that will be Replaced by Artificial Intelligence in the Next 10 Years appeared first on ChipIn.

The first device on our list is Sony’s attempt at the already famous concept of transforming solid surfaces into touch-enabled ones. The Touch does this by projecting what is essentially a tablet screen onto the surface it is placed on, and then using infrared sensors to detect movement within the projected area, thus effectively transforming the user’s movement into what touch gestures would be on a tablet screen.

Sony Xperia Touch showcased during the MWC Barcelona

Before you pass to a verdict on whether or not this gadget is worth owning solely on this fairly futuristic, yet virtually useless gimmick, you need to know that this isn’t all the Touch can do. Because the gadget is basically a tablet in a different form, the Touch runs Android 7.0, and that means that it can use Google Assistant, the artificial intelligence, in order to act as a competitor to Google Home or Amazon Echo.

The Xperia Touch has 32GB of internal storage, 3GB of RAM, Bluetooth 4.2 and a wide range of sensors, from human detection to GPS to temperature, and more. Additionally, it is equipped with an NFC sensor which allows it to transfer data to your phone with simple gestures. The device was planned as an always-plugged-in gadget, but if for some reason you want to take it with you, it does have a battery that should last for about an hour.

Next up on the list is a reimagining of an already existing piece of technology made by Sony. The Xperia Ear, as the first model is called, is currently available right now, and it’s a hearable that puts a personal assistant in your ear. Always ready for your instructions, it uses one of the three available assistants on Android in order to understand your orders clearly and notify you about every notification you receive.

Even though the assistance of the original Ear is undoubtedly useful, it has received flak for only being usable on one ear, therefore getting music listening out of the picture, something that other hearables have gotten right a long time ago.

Sony showcased the latest Xperia Ear Concept – here how it would actually look like

This is why Sony created the Xperia Ear Concept – a combination of the useful assistance provided by the original Ear hearable and a brand new listening concept that allows people to listen to their music while hearing everything that’s going on around them.

The listening concept, developed in Sony’s Future Lab Program, features two spatial acoustic conductors and driver units that transmit the sounds received from the phone directly to the user’s ear canal, leaving room for sounds coming from around the user. Therefore, users are able to enjoy their music while talking to people or riding their bicycles without the fear of being unable to hear what happens around them.

The concept is certainly unique in the hearable market, and will hopefully catch on, because user experience so far was more than satisfactory, claiming that they could go through conversations while hearing those who were talking with perfectly. According to those who have used this new listening concept, you can tell that you are wearing hearables, but the sound feels as if it comes from somewhere behind you.

While the listening concept is here to stay, both the current design and name are subject to change. So far, there is no information about a possible launch date.

Another concept, this time Sony attempted to create the perfect combination between a friendly-faced robot and a useful assistant. The Xperia Agent Concept is a fantastic assistant for families and people who want their information delivered with personality.

Sony Xperia Agent not offering any Coffee

If the technology is there, it can also connect to your lights in order to control them on your command, or modify your room temperature and so on. To put it bluntly, the Internet of Things will do wonders for the future of Sony’s little robot assistant.

When not connected, the Xperia Agent uses a small screen located on its front side to display the information you requested. As any good virtual assistant, it features a soft, friendly feminine voice that repeats the commands it understood and may also reply to your enquiries.

If you enjoyed the concept of the Xperia Touch, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Agent can also project information on nearby surfaces. However, it currently does not feature the infrared technology found in the Touch, so it can only be controlled via voice.

It is currently unknown when Sony will release the adorable Xperia Agent, but given the features promised, it would be reasonable to estimate a 2018 launch.

Whether you’ve fallen in love with the cute Agent, were amazed by the concept of the Touch or would enjoy to try out the Ear’s new listening concept, you have to admit that Sony’s futuristic gadgets make for a killer lineup. It can’t be said if these gadgets will be as successful or innovative as they sound right now, especially given the fact that most of them are concepts, but they will surely make a difference in their respective fields.

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