AI, Captain: IBM’s edge AI-powered ship Mayflower sets sail

IBM’s fully-autonomous edge AI-powered ship Mayflower has set off on its crewless voyage from Plymouth, UK to Plymouth, USA.

The ship is named after the Mayflower vessel which transported pilgrim settlers from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. On its 400th anniversary, it was decided that a Mayflower for the 21st century should be built.

Mayflower 2.0 is a truly modern vessel packed with the latest technological advancements. Onboard edge AI...

18 June 2021 | Edge

From the cloud to the pitch — How data analytics is evolving football

Data analytics are no longer solely the province of big enterprises, but are being leveraged by companies of all shapes and sizes and infused into workflows to help decision-making processes anywhere — even on the football pitch. In fact, analytics are now an essential part of the winning formula that’s revolutionising football teams and the way they play.

Players, pioneers, and leaders

For most of modern history, coaches had little more than pen, paper, and video to help...

18 June 2021 | Analytics

Reintroduction of facial recognition legislation receives mixed responses

The reintroduction of the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act in the 117th Congress has received mixed responses.

An initial version of the legislation was introduced in 2020 but was reintroduced June 15 2021 by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.)

“We do not have to forgo privacy and justice for safety,” said Senator Markey. “This legislation is about rooting out systemic racism and stopping invasive technologies from becoming irreversibly embedded...

17 June 2021 | Adoption

AI, the future of work and how to improve the safety and security of the workforce

In less than two years, the workplace has evolved quickly. Our personal space inside our homes has transformed into a makeshift office, while corporate buildings are vacant and underutilised. 

As vaccines continue to roll out, a hybrid work model has emerged, with staff now alternating and ‘taking turns’ being back in the office. In the US, research done by SHRM.org highlights that 55% of the workforce favours a hybrid workforce post-pandemic. 

In the UK, a...

16 June 2021 | Enterprise

Enterprise AI platform Dataiku announces fully-managed online service

Dataiku has announced a fully-managed online version of its enterprise AI platform to help smaller companies get started.

The data science platform enables raw data to be converted into actionable insights through data visualisation or the creation of dashboards and also supports training machine learning models.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTBms2LeGII

“Accessibility has always been of the utmost importance at Dataiku. We developed Dataiku Online to address...

14 June 2021 | Enterprise

McDonald’s drive-thru AI bot may have broken privacy law

McDonald’s announced earlier this month that it was deploying an AI chatbot to handle its drive-thru orders, but it turns out it might break privacy law.

The chatbot is the product of a voice recognition company McDonald’s snapped up in 2019 called Apprente which is now known as McD Tech Labs.

McDonald’s deployed the chatbots to ten of its restaurants in Chicago, Illinois. And there lies the issue.

The state of Illinois has some of the strictest data...

11 June 2021 | Bots

Fetch.ai announces partnership with IoT-focused distributed ledger IOTA

Cambridge-based AI startup Fetch.ai has announced a partnership with IOTA, an open-source distributed ledger focused on the Internet of Things.

Fetch.ai has caught the attention of investors for its potentially groundbreaking machine learning network of autonomous “agents” that can perform real-world tasks. It’s also caught our attention, making our list of innovative companies to watch in 2021.

IOTA was among the most hyped projects during the 2017...

9 June 2021 | Blockchain

Razer and ClearBot are using AI and robotics to clean the oceans

Razer has partnered with marine waste cleaning startup ClearBot to advance the use of AI and robotics to reduce ocean pollution.

The pair announced their partnership in celebration of World Oceans Day and is part of Razer’s 10-year #GoGreenWithRazer campaign that will see the company make green investments to support environment- and sustainability-focused startups.

Patricia Liu, Chief of Staff at Razer, said:

“We are extremely happy to have the opportunity...

8 June 2021 | Environment

Emotion AI creator Affectiva acquires Smart Eye for $73.5M

MIT spin-out Affectiva, one of our most innovative companies to watch in 2021, has acquired Smart Eye for $73.5 million.

Affectiva is the creator of Emotion AI, a category of artificial intelligence which can understand human emotions, cognitive states, activities, and the objects people use through analysing facial and vocal expressions. The AI was trained using more than 10 million face videos from 90 countries.

Smart Eye are pioneers in eye-tracking that understands,...

26 May 2021 | Applications

Amazon will continue to ban police from using its facial recognition AI

Amazon will extend a ban it enacted last year on the use of its facial recognition for law enforcement purposes.

The web giant’s Rekognition service is one of the most powerful facial recognition tools available. Last year, Amazon signed a one-year moratorium that banned its use by police departments following a string of cases where facial recognition services – from various providers – were found to be inaccurate and/or misused by law enforcement.

Amazon has now...

24 May 2021 | Amazon