Global spending on AI ‘expected to double in four years’, says IDC

Worldwide spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is forecast to double over the coming for years to hit $110 billion by 2024, according to new data from IDC.

The figure, which comes from the analyst firm's latest Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Spending Guide, calculates a CAGR of 20.1% as adopting AI becomes a 'must' in the enterprise.

In particular, companies will utilise AI to deliver a better customer experience, as well as help employees to become better at...

27 August 2020 | Adoption

Beware the AI winter – but can Covid-19 alter this process?

We have had a blockchain winter as the hype around the technology moves towards a reality - and the same will happen with artificial intelligence (AI).

That's according to Dr Karol Przystalski, CTO at IT consulting and software development provider Codete. Przystalski founded Codete having had a significant research background in AI, with previous employers including Sabre and IBM and a PhD exploring skin cancer pattern recognition using neural networks.

Yet what effect...

26 May 2020 | Deep Learning

Dorian Selz, CEO, Squirro: Why the AI revolution will take time

Imagine you are riding in a fully driverless car - with no human controls - down a narrow countryside road, with no lights or road markings. Upon emerging from a twisting bend a flock of sheep confront you. What happens next?

These types of situations are what programs such as the MIT-developed Moral Machine have been looking to unlock. The site has for the past four years canvassed public opinion by presenting a series of ethical dilemmas: should an autonomous car...

26 May 2020 | Adoption

AI bot had to unlearn English grammar to decipher Trump speeches

A developer had to recalibrate his artificial intelligence bot to account for the unconventional grammar and syntax found in President Trump's speeches.

As originally reported by the Los Angeles Times, Bill Frischling noticed in 2017 that his AI bot, Margaret, was struggling to transcribe part of the President's speech from May 4 that year commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea. In particular, Margaret crashed after this 127-word section, featuring a...

13 May 2020 | Deep Learning

Intel and UPenn utilising federated learning to identify brain tumours

Intel and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) are training artificial intelligence models to identify brain tumours - with a focus on maintaining privacy.

The Perelman School of Medicine at UPenn is working with Intel Labs to co-develop technology based on federated learning, a machine learning technique which trains an algorithm across various devices without exchanging data samples.

The goal is therefore to preserve privacy. Penn Medicine and Intel Labs have claimed...

11 May 2020 | Healthcare

Q&A: Anton Fedotov, Airband Technologies: On how AI is tackling air pollution

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been described, in the words of one executive in the air pollution space, as 'the biggest single global intervention you will ever see.' Cars almost entirely remain in their garages; commercial aeroplanes lay dormant.

When the crisis ends, it will in some ways be a statistician's dream. The amount of data which will be able to be extrapolated will be huge, for both scientists and businesses working in this field.

One such business is...

23 April 2020 | Adoption

Apple acquires Voysis to boost Siri’s language skills

Apple has reportedly acquired Irish AI startup Voysis, with the move set to help enhance Siri’s skill at natural language understanding.

Voysis specialises in improving digital assistants inside online shopping applications wherein the software could respond more precisely to voice commands. According to the start-up, its technology could narrow product search results by processing shopping phrases like “I need a new LED TV” and “My budget is $1,000.” This AI was...

9 April 2020 | Apple

US Department of Energy to invest $40m in AI and machine learning research

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has decided to provide funds up to $40 million over a three-year period for new research in data, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning to address the challenges associated with issues related to data production and management at DOE scientific user facilities.

Dr. Chris Fall, Director of DOE’s Office of Science, said: “Major scientific facilities at our DOE national laboratories are generating vast and growing amounts of data for...

23 March 2020 | Energy

Gartner: Strongest demand for AI talent coming from outside of IT

A new report from Gartner has argued that in the last four years the strongest demand for talent with AI skills has not come from the IT department, but instead from other business units in the organisation.

Data from Gartner’s Talent Neuron program shows that although the IT department’s need for AI talent has tripled between 2015 and 2019, the number of AI jobs posted by IT is still less than half of that stemming from other business units.

Peter Krensky, research...

19 March 2020 | Adoption

Samsung launches AI research unit for semiconductor demand – reports

Samsung has launched its own AI research unit under its device solutions division aimed at conducting research and creating AI technologies designed to enhance the semiconductor manufacturing process.

The division, according to sources cited by The Korea Herald, is not yet fully operational but will be led by Shim Eun-soo, a former head of AI software research at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology. Samsung Electronics is now in the process of scouting for AI researchers...

6 March 2020 | Samsung