DARPA funds programs to get black box AI’s to explain their decisions
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As AI continues to be weaponised by military powers, getting it to explain its decision making, and actions, will be crucial, and it’s not going to be an easy task to achieve. Intelligence agents and military operatives may come to rely heavily on Machine...
AI drones will soon be controlling autonomous vehicles on building sites
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Automation is a fact of life within every industry now, but as technology advances more tasks will be able to be automated, and in the construction industry this is one of the first, major steps to full automation. Some mining operations are already 100...
DARPA hands the world’s first fully autonomous drone warship to the US Navy
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Sea Hunter is the world’s first fully autonomous warship, and it’s just passed trials – next stop official duty. After just under a year at sea DARPA has finally completed the sea trials of the world’s first fully autonomous warship, Sea Hunter, a...
The US Military just put out a contract for the world’s first flying aircraft carriers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Fast and dramatic advancements in the field of drones and autonomous warfare are calling the role of traditional aircraft carriers into question, and one day they could be replaced entirely. Earlier this week the US Department of Defense (DOD) announced it wants the ability...
DeepMind unveils the world’s first test to assess dangerous AI’s and algorithms
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF AI is being strapped into everything from self-driving cars and autonomous weapons systems and until now we had no way to assess how dangerous, or how much of a threat, those AI’s could become. Earlier this year a group of world experts convened to...
Dubai rolls out autonomous police cars to go alongside its robot police officers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Technology is changing the world of law enforcement and it’s important to experiment with new ideas that provide low visibility but highly effective policing. A couple of weeks ago, and following on from the deployment of the regions first robot police officer at the Dubai...
Lockheed will build America’s next generation of autonomous submarines
WHY THIS MATTERS It is inevitable that more of the world’s military platforms will become autonomous, and America’s submarines are about to get a huge upgrade. As part of its plan to turn undersea drones from remote controlled tools and toys into fully enrolled members of the fleet, last...
World first as drones and robots plant, tend and harvest their own crops
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF It was only a matter of time before robots autonomously grew and harvested their own crops, and now it’s happened. The Agricultural industry is going through a revolution, whether it’s thanks to organisations like DARPA who are formulating new genetic solutions that can re-vitalise...
Volocopter puts its sky taxi through its paces above the skies of Dubai
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more companies experiment with new flying taxi vehicles and commercial concepts Volocopter is increasingly finding itself edging into the lead. Dubai is moving full steam ahead toward a futuristic skyline dotted with modern skyscrapers and flying taxis by kicking off trials of the...
World’s first GPS Spoofing attack puts 20 ships 32km inland at an airport
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF New technology keeps lowering the bar for criminals and nation states that want to cause mischief and harm, and now the makers of autonomous vehicles have something new to worry about. Recently there have been reports of satellite navigation problems in the Black Sea...
Self-evolving killer robots are almost here, and experts want a debate
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Few realise just how fast we’re approaching the tipping point for autonomous warfare, but in a time when we can’t control, or even predict the evolution of AI and “Smart” systems the time for debate, arguably, was ten years ago. As it increasingly looks...
UN cancels crucial 2017 debate on autonomous warfare because Brazil owes it money
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Noone wants war, and arguably noone should want autonomous war where AI’s and robots make the decisions, but for the fifth year in a row the UN has cancelled it’s scheduled debate, over the funding of the meetings. Share your opinion, is this an...
Nvidia’s latest autonomous drone flies off grid
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Increasingly more devices and products are able to navigate their surroundings without having to rely on external systems or platforms, and as AI moves into the devices themselves it’s all just one more step on the path to fully autonomous behaviours. GPS can be...
Boeing teams up with America’s biggest ship builder to build autonomous subs
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future of warfare is autonomous, but undersea, autonomous drones and submarines have a lot of civilian capabilities too. A year after DARPA launched its own fully autonomous mine hunter and a few months after they announced they plan on building American undersea drone...
An ocean going drone is protecting the world’s largest marine reserve
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Conservations have always had to work on a budget, I know, I’ve been one, but now technology is helping them in ways that were previously unimaginable. Whether it’s robots stunning invasive species like Lionfish and the Crown of Thorns, or scientists using 3D printing...
Switzerland might build a $3.4Bn autonomous underground transport system
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Roads around the world are filling up with cars and lorries and now Switzerland is thinking about moving lorries, vans and delivery carts underground. Everyone wants to get away from rush hour traffic, especially if you’re stuck behind a truck, even if it’s an...
Amazon is on track be the world’s first fully automated fulfilment company
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The combination of “old school” robotics and new AI and Machine Vision technologies is helping robotics companies automate increasingly complex tasks that were once thought to be the exclusive domain of humans. By the time you’ve picked your Amazon parcel up off of your...
US General: ‘Swarms of autonomous Hunter-Killer drones will lead Marines into battle’
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The automation of war, and warfare, is accelerating as countries race to embrace new AI powered autonomous platforms. The US Marines, who recently announced they want their own fully autonomous F-35’s are getting their “Low Cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Swarming Technology” platform, also known...
The USAF turned an F-16 fighter jet into the world’s most advanced drone
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Militaries around the world are weaponising AI and drones to create semi, or fully, autonomous weapons platforms and the pace of development is accelerating. Earlier this week the US Air Force (USAF) announced that it has managed to turn an F-16 fighter jet into...
Fast, deadly laser wielding underwater robots revolutionise fish farming
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Inventors have found a novel way to combine new technologies together to help fish farmers reduce pollution, reduce costs and improve the yield, and health, of their farm reared Salmon. When you think about laser-wielding robots that are equipped with the latest machine vision...
