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WHAT DO YOU BUY the company that has everything? If Microsoft had an Amazon wishlist, it looks like it would be filled with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning companies. That (entirely imaginary) wishlist is getting shorter all the time. Having recently splurged on Bonsai.ai and Semantic Machines , Microsoft now has another new AI subsidiary - Lobe. It's a startup that aims to make machine learning a drag-and-drop experience with no coding required. Using Lobe, the user can drag in a folder of training examples, and watch the software built a deep-learning model to train the AI with. When it's done learning, the user can just export their model into the app. The concept of making machine learning so simple that even I could do it may well turn out to be humanity's undoing, but Microsoft still thinks it's worth a bash. "We look forward to continuing the great work by Lobe in putting AI development into the hands of non-engineers an

C3 IoT announced on Tuesday a new strategic partnership with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), aimed at accelerating digital transformation with AI and IoT. C3 IoT announced on Tuesday a new strategic partnership with Google Cloud Platform (GCP), aimed at accelerating digital transformation through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). As part of the announcement, C3 IoT confirmed its IoT platform has been integrated into GCP, leveraging the cloud platform’s infrastructure and AI capabilities. The businesses will work together on marketing, selling, and training initiatives. “The Google Cloud and C3 IoT partnership creates a solution that dramatically speeds up our customers’ digital transformations to allow them to attain new levels of operational efficiency, productivity, and competitive advantage,” said Ed Abbo, C3 IoT President and CTO. “Together, w

The company has announced a range of updates to Zoho One, its all-in-one cloud app suite including new analytics tools and access to its Zia AI assistant. India-based Zoho has rolled out several updates to Zoho One, the all-in-one cloud app suite it calls “the operating system for business”. The updates include new analytics tools and access to the Zia AI assistant. They are just the latest in a slew of new features added to the suite since it launched a year ago. The first was team chat tool Cliq, then Zoho Flow, an automated workflow automation platform. The latest updates also feature their PageSense website testing tool and Sprints project management app. ZoHo one will now feature integration with Zia AI assistant. It was originally part of the company’s CRM tool and offered suggestions based on customer data. Now it will be used across all Zoho One apps and offer suggestions and c

Artificial intelligence and big data have formed a truly symbiotic relationship, and they need each other to bring to fruition what both are promising. If there are any lingering doubts that the fates of artificial intelligence and big data are intertwined, consider these recent quotes from two highly regarded thought leaders in this space: “Throughout the business world, every company these days is basically in the data business, and they’re going to need AI to civilize and digest big data and make sense out of it.” ( Kevin Kelly , co-founder of Wired).“In the past, AI’s growth was stunted due to limited data sets, representative samples of data rather than real-time, real-life data and the inability to analyze massive amounts of data in seconds. Today, there’s real-time, always-available access to the data and tools that enable rapid analysis. This has propelled AI and machine learning

Artificial intelligence will be a disruptive technology across many industries, but it’s likely to be additive to human tasks, not a replacement. “Automate a mess, get an automated mess,” noted consultant Mike Hammer famously said a few decades back. That tried-and-true phrase has never been more applicable than in the current age of artificial intelligence and machine learning, in which decisions are delivered across systems and networks at blinding, real-time speeds. A moribund, floundering business may find speeding up decision-making only will hasten its demise. Analysts at McKinsey recently weighed in on this matter, seeing AI as a transformational force that will extend and expand human tasks. The McKinsey researchers, James Manyika and Kevin Sneader, take a positive view, noting AI technologies “will transform the nature of work and the workplace itself. Machines will be able to carry out more of the tasks done by humans, complement the work that humans do, a

Hearing aids benefit their users via AI technologies, but increasingly its hard to find the AI talent to work on these devices. Hearing aids are perhaps one of the most personal examples of real-time technology in action. Now, they are getting even more powerful, thanks to the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI). However, the talent required to build and support such systems is currently in short supply. AI isn’t necessarily a new concept for hearing aids, Dr. Chris Heddon of Resonance Medical pointed out in a recent  post . “Before the market for AI researchers became white hot, hearing aid companies had been working on various AI and machine learning approaches for quite some time,” he states. However, lately, AI technology has been getting more ubiquitous, and prices for tools and solutions have been dropping dramatically. “The removal of specific technological constraints, combined with the hearing aid industry’s need to address new and disruptive service del

INSTAGRAM has blamed an artificial intelligence gaffe for shocking hashtags promoting eating disorders.Almost a dozen hashtags being used to share "unhealthy and dangerous attitudes towards food and body image" were found circulating on the site – without any warnings. Instagram has been accused of failing to protect its most vulnerable users. When you search for terms like "anorexia", "proanorexia" or "bulimia" on Instagram , you'll be blocked by a warning message asking if you need help. This policy has been in place since 2016, to protect users looking for sensitive topics on the site. But an investigation by Sky News uncovered similar hashtags being used to share rogue content, which had slipped through Instagram's filter systems. "The hashtag search terms were slight variations or different spellings on others that have been flagged up," the report explains.Hashtags used to promote dangerous content around eating diso

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world. Every week we read reports about the how AI will fundamentally change the nature of work, replacing numerous jobs and leading to the creation of jobs that don't yet exist. However, for many of us, AI seems to belong to a distant future rather than today's reality. But independent hotels should be fully cognizant of the capabilities of AI and how it can help streamline processes, improve customer retention, deliver a better customer experience and provide valuable insights. In today's AP Voice we delve into just a few ways that AI is already impacting the hotel industry and how independent hotels can leverage the various technologies available to drive their business goals. Booking platforms: Technology providers specialising in booking solutions are looking at how to adapt AI to deliver smarter and tailored booking experiences for guests and hotels. Hotel technology provider Avvio recently launched Allor

The hottest startups are artificial intelligence companies and these organizations are waking waves across most leading sectors, from finance to healthcare. CBI insights has recently unrevealed its pick of the 100 leading companies. The CBI selection, called “ ai.100 ” contains the most promising private artificial intelligence companies in the world. The list relates to those companies that have made significant progress in the field during 2018. CBI insights produces research briefs that examine in depth areas like retail, healthcare, financial services in terms of AI activity.    The list, which was whittled down from over two thousand, focuses on the teams and technologies that have used artificial intelligence to address major sectoral challenges. From the one hundred companies, additional awards were given to those that have made the biggest impact.    In terms of how big the artificial intelligence market is becoming, 55 of the 100 co

Salesforce is introducing a set of new low-code tools to help just about anyone in a business build mobile apps quickly and easily. Specifically, the Lightning Object Creator is a new service that helps employees convert spreadsheets into apps. Another tool, the Lightning Flow Builder, helps users create automated business processes. The tools, Salesforce says, are designed for organizations that want to build sleek apps that meet high consumer expectations but don't necessarily have the developers on staff to do so. Indeed, finding workers with software and IT expertise  can be a challenge . "Building apps is a keystone for any business in the pursuit of digital transformation," Anne DelSanto, GM of the Salesforce Lightning Platform, said in a release. With Lightning Object Creator, employees can create apps that effectively replace paper forms by uploading a spreadsheet into the Object Creator on the Salesforce platform. A car salesman, for example, could use it

It's barely two months left before midterm elections begin on Nov. 6. While former Facebook security chief Alex Stamos warned it's " too late " to protect this year's elections,  Mark Zuckerberg  says  Facebook  is "better prepared" to protect this year's elections from interference. The CEO detailed the steps Facebook has taken to prevent election interference in a  lengthy Facebook post  on Wednesday. In it, he said the fake accounts will be identified and removed from the platform while the spread of "viral misinformation" will either be contained or taken down.  Facebook will also make information about ads and their advertisers more transparent to users to improve accountability, while anyone running "political or issue ads" in the US will now be required to verify their identity and location. Zuckerberg also mentioned the  independent election research commission Facebook established earlier this year and addre

Microsoft  has begun trying a new tactic to get people to use its Edge web browser: a warning dialog box that interrupts the installation of other web browsers like  Mozilla  Firefox or  Google Chrome . "You already have  Microsoft Edge  -- the safer, faster browser for  Windows 10 ," a dialog box reads after you launch an installer for another browser. The process, which appears only in Microsoft's "fast ring" test version of upcoming Windows 10 versions, presents two options: "Open Microsoft Edge" -- the default -- and "Install anyway." The dialog box has a link to the settings tool in Windows if you want to suppress the warning in the future, but it's not immediately clear how to change the behavior. Developer Sean Hoffman spotted the issue when trying to install Firefox,  he said on Twitter  on Tuesday. Another Twitter user  reported the same behavior  with Chrome,  Vivaldi , Opera and Firefox browsers. CNET confirmed the dialog

Innovations in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, coupled with its increased adoption, will have a big impact on the workforce across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the next decade, according to a new study by Cisco and Oxford Economics. Titled ‘Technology and the Future of ASEAN Jobs’, the study claims innovations in digital technology will present big opportunities for ASEAN economies to boost their productivity and prosperity. A more widespread adoption of existing technologies, coupled with advances in the use of AI through software, hardware and robotics, will cut costs of goods and services, driving demand and creating millions of new jobs. The study predicts that the sectors that will see the greatest rise in demand for new workers are wholesale and retail (1.8 million new jobs), manufacturing (0.9 million), construction (0.9 million) and transport (0.7 million). However, there will be a marked shift in the region’s labour market as lower

In the background, AI is being used in a huge range of settings, from helping to land a plane, to getting a parcel to you more quickly, and deciding whether you get a job interview. But there are growing concerns that these powerful technologies pose equally powerful dangers, even posing an existential threat to humanity itself. Some legislators and technologists are worried that so-called “general AI” – or machine-based intelligence that resembles basic human intelligence - could develop superintelligence capabilities at an exponential rate, escaping human control, with untold consequences for mankind. On 11 September, UNESCO, the UN’s  Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, hosted a roundtable discussion entitled “ Artificial Intelligence: Reflection on its Complexity and Impact on Society ”, featuring experts from academia and industry. The talk was hosted by Peter-Paul Verbeek, [PRON FAIR-BAKE] a Philosophy Professor at Twente University in the Netherlands, an

Jio's national average of 4G download speed was more than double compared to its rival Bharti Airtel, which recorded a download speed of 10 megabits per second (Mbps), according to the data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on MySpeed Portal. Reliance Jio emerged as the fastest 4G operator with an average peak download speed of 22.3 Mbps on its network in August while  Idea Cellular  registered the highest upload speed in the month, according to a Trai report. Jio's national average of 4G download speed was more than double compared to its rival  Bharti Airtel , which recorded a download speed of 10 megabits per second (Mbps), according to the data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on MySpeed Portal. While download speed on Idea 4G network remained flat 6.2 Mbps between July and August, speed on Vodafone improved slightly to 6.7 Mbps in August from 6.4 Mbps in July. The two companies announced the completion of

Google will help the Election Commission track online political advertising during the forthcoming polls. The search engine major, in a recent meeting, has assured the poll panel that it will develop a mechanism to ensure pre-certification of such advertisements as well as collect and share details of the expenditure incurred on them, said a report in  The Hindu . During the meeting, held on September 4, a Google representative met a committee that had been set up to explore possible modifications in section 126 (election silence) and other provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 in view of expansion and diversity of media platforms. After the meeting, Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat said the representative of the tech giant has assured that only pre-certified advertisements will go on its platform. It will ask the client to submit details of the permission granted by the EC for their advertisement. For pre-certification, the advertisers needs to take permis

 IBM and IIT Bombay have joined the AI Horizons Network, a research group at the technology giant as part of a multi-year collaboration to advance artificial intelligence research. As part of the collaboration, teams will investigate new techniques for knowledge representation across documents, graphs, charts and other forms of multi-media content. The AI Horizons Network is a group of IBM researchers, world-class faculty and top graduate students who work together on a series of advanced research projects and experiments designed to accelerate the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing and related technologies. The collaboration between IBM and IIT Bombay will be used to help develop new AI applications in key industries such as financial services, retail and healthcare, which rely heavily on rich, multi-modal content.  Domain-specific chatbots will be developed as part of the partnership, as well as the exploration of new,

About a thousand Google employees have signed a letter protesting the company’s efforts to build a  censored version of its search engine  in China, as reported by  The   New York Times . The letter calls for more transparency and consideration of the human rights issues involved, as internet monitoring and collaboration with the Chinese government is used to stifle dissident voices and even put activists’ personal information at risk. The letter reads “currently we do not have the information required to make ethically-informed decisions about our work, our projects, and our employment,” as two anonymous sources informed the  Times.  It continued, “Google employees need to know what we’re building.” On August 3rd,  The Intercept  and  The Information  reported that Google is working on a censored search app and a censored news app for China, with the ultimate aim being to revive a censored version of its search engine in the country. Work on the apps reportedly began last year a