The AI Times is a weekly newsletter covering the biggest AI, machine learning, big data, and automation news from around the globe. If you want to read A|I before anyone else, make sure to subscribe using the form at the bottom of this page.
Manulife providing $400,000 to University of Waterloo for AI research (BETAKIT)
The investment will support AI research in disability claim prediction, as well as fraud detection and natural language comprehension in customer service.
MIT commits $1 billion to make AI part of every graduate’s education (VENTUREBEAT)
The shakeup is being made to “prepare students of today for the world of the future” and represents the biggest change to curriculum at the school since the 1950s, according to MIT president L. Rafael Reif.
Canadian government invests $25 million in Creative Destruction Lab (BETAKIT)
The government said the funding will create and maintain 125 jobs, and will involve 1,300 science-based ventures in a wider network across Canada over four years.
Five Artificial Intelligence Insiders in Their Own Words (NYTIMES)
“As a tool, AI could help us build a future characterized by better health, limitless scientific discovery, shared prosperity and the fulfillment of human potential. At the same time there’s a growing awareness that innovation can have unintended consequences and valid concern that not enough is being done to anticipate and address them,” says Lila Ibrahim, COO of DeepMind.
Memory raises $5M to bring AI to time tracking (TECHCRUNCH)
Memory is applying what it describes as AI and digital technology to create various tools to help solve “the abuses of time” that workers typically face in the modern workplace.
June.ai raises $1.5 million for AI-powered email management (VENTUREBEAT)
June.ai’s platform consists of several discrete tools, or “hubs,” that perform autonomous tasks, like organizing messages, surfacing attachments, and highlighting important conversations.
Recruitment platform Applied raises £1.5M in seed funding (FINSMES)
Applied, which uses algorithms to determine how applications are reviewed, raised the funding from Blackbird Ventures, with participation from Skip Capital, Angel Academe, Giant Leap, Impact Generation Partners, and others.
Samsung acquires Spanish AI-powered network analytics company Zhilabs to bolster 5G ambitions (VENTUREBEAT)
Founded in 2008, Barcelona-based Zhilabs offers a flagship product called CustomAir, formerly known as FlowSight, that helps carriers drill down into the network performance experience at the individual subscriber level.
6D.ai opens up its beta (TECHCRUNCH)
CEO Matt Miesnieks has three goals for 6D: The company would build APIs to capture the three-dimensional geometry of the world; it would apply that three-dimensional data to build semantic APIs so applications can understand the world; and it would partner and extend those APIs to create an operating system for reality.
MIT Creates AI that Predicts Depression from Speech (PHSYCHOLOGYTODAY)
For a mental health professional, asking the right questions and interpreting the answers is a key factor in the diagnosis. But what if a diagnosis could be achieved through natural conversation, versus requiring context from question and answer?