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Category: robotics/AI – Page 2,647

Robot Wars returning to the BBC after 12-year absence

Get ready; Robot fans and Geeks around world! Robot Wars is coming back for a new season on the BBC.

Robot Wars, the competitive TV show about battling bots, is returning to UK screens with a new series and new, improved remote-controlled metallic monsters of mayhem.

The BBC has confirmed that it has commissioned one of the original production companies to resurrect the show in the form of six 60 minute episodes, with a new structure in place and more science facts and behind-the-scenes footage than before.

One thing that definitely remains though is that amateur roboteers will still set their constructions against each other in the renewed Robot Wars arena. This time it will be based in a purpose-built zone in Glasgow.

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How Will Artificial Intelligence Change War?

Davos, US military branches, Time Magazine, etc. are all talking about the Robotic Battlefield.

Automated systems have already reshaped modern warfare, most notably with the widespread use of drones in conflict. Now, experts predict that advances in artificial intelligence could further change how we fight battles.

The new frontiers of warfare are not without ethical questions. Many have already challenged whether the United States should use unmanned drones to kill terrorists.

In this poll ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, TIME asks key questions about how readers think artificial intelligence will change warfare. TIME Executive Editor Michael Duffy will present the results in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21.

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The US wants self-driving cars, and fast

Just a day after a technology-heavy State of the Union comes news that the White House isn’t done pushing us into the future. Reuters believes that Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will head to Detroit tomorrow to talk about the administration’s efforts to accelerate the development of self-driving cars. It’s said that Google, which has been spearheading the project to build an autonomous vehicle, will also be in attendance at the event. The newswire mentions Mark Rosekind, head of the nation’s traffic safety bureau, who has asked for a “nimble, flexible” approach to writing new traffic regulations. Details are still thin on the ground, but it looks as if Obama’s “spirit of innovation” is alive and well.

[Image Credit: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty]

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Artificial intelligence: Who’s regulating the robots?

Run away AI & Robots in particular do not worry me at this point. When we have Quantum based AI and Robots meaning they can fully operate themselves; that’s when we have to truly consider our real risks and ensure we have proper safe gaurds. The bigger issue with current AI and Robots that are not developed on a Quantum platform or technology is hacking. Hacking by others is the immediate threat for AI & Robots.

In this photo taken Thursday, July 9, 2015, SoftBank Corp.'s new robot Pepper performs during an interview at the technology company's headquarters in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

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Watch Scientists Make These Microbots Move With A Magnetic Force Field

Interesting and could change as well as acellerate our efforts around bot technology and humans as well as other areas of robotic technology.

Like Jedi Knights, researchers at Purdue University are using the force — force fields, that is. (Photo : Windell Oskay | Flickr)

Like Jedi Knights, researchers at Purdue University are using the force — force fields, that is. The team of scientists has discovered a way to control tiny robots with the help of individual magnetic fields, which, in turn, might help us one day learn how to control entire groups of microbots and nanobots in areas like medicine or even manufacturing.

While the idea of controlling microbots might be simple, it’s a deceptively complicated goal, especially if the bots in question are conceivably too small to realistically accommodate a tiny enough battery to power them. This is where the magnetic force fields come into play: they can generate enough energy and charge to move the microbots about — “like using mini force fields.”

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These Totally Mesmerizing Robots That Sort Batteries Are Just Awesome

Seeing this video; I already identified quickly where the US Government could truly cut it’s budget.

I legitimately have fun watching these robot arms sort out batteries because they are just so damn good at their jobs. A conveyor belt pushes out an endless stream of batteries that desperately need sorting and the robot arms somehow never fall behind. One robot arm grabs the batteries that are scattered all over the place and creates a set of 4 while the other robotic arm snatches those sets of batteries and puts them aside. It’s great because the whole sorting system isn’t totally uniform, the robot arms look like they’re frantically fighting against the clock.

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Can artificial intelligence help fight addiction and improve medication adherence? AiCure nets $12M in Series A

I could see the value of AI in helping with a whole host of addictions, compulsive disorders, etc. AI at the core is often looking at patterns and predicting outcomes, or the next steps to make, or predicting what you or I will want to do or react to something, etc. So, leveraging AI as a tool to help in finding or innovating new solutions for things like OCD or addictions does truly make sense.

New York-based AiCure, which holds 12 patents for artificially intelligent software platforms that aim to improve patient outcomes by targeting medication adherence, announced the closing of a $12.25 million funding round Monday.

The company’s software was built with help from $7 million in competitive grants from four National Institutes of Health organizations, awarded in order to spur tech developments that would have a significant impact on drug research and therapy. The National Institute of Drug Abuse awarded AiCure $1 million in 2014 to help launch a major study into the efficacy of using the company’s platform to monitor and intervene with patients receiving medication as maintenance therapy for addiction.

Adherence to such therapies is associated with improved recovery, but often patients take improper doses or sell the drugs to others. To address this, AiCure’s platform connects patients with artificial intelligence software via their devices that determines whether a medication is being taken as prescribed. The platform has shown to be feasible for use across various patient populations, including elderly patients and study participants in schizophrenia and HIV prevention trials, according to a news release.

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Cyber Threats 2016: Killer Robots, US Presidential Race, Critical Infrastructure, Mobile Payments And More

As I have mentioned in some of my other reports and writings; infrastructure (power grids, transportation, social services, etc.) is a key area that we need to modernize and get funding soon in place given the changes that are coming. As Russia’s own power stations were hacked; it will not be anything to when the more sophisticated releases of the Quantum Internet and Platforms are finally releasing to the main stream. Someone last week asked me what kept me up at night worrying; I told them our infrastructure and we have not been planning or modernizing it to handle the changes that are coming in the next 5 years much less the next 7 years.

With cyberattacks gaining in sophistication and volume, we can expect to see a range of new targets in the year ahead.

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