For years, the development of full artificial intelligence has been the brass ring of computer science. So many of our machines already “think” for themselves in terms of repetitive duties based on human programming, of course. But when the day comes when computers can actually interpret
It is now a journalistic cliché to remark that George Orwell’s 1984 was prophetic. The novel was so prophetic that its prophecies have become modern-day prosaisms. Reading it now is a tedious experience. Against the omniscient marvels of today’s surveillance state, Big Brother’s fixtures – the watchful
The famous theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, has revived the debate on whether our search for improved artificial intelligence will one day lead to thinking machines that will take over from us. The British scientist made the claim during a wide-ranging interview with the BBC. Hawking has the motor neurone
UK’s telephone companies have yet again announced inflation-busting increases in telephone line rental charges. Why, in a world that is increasingly mobile-first – or even mobile-only – are we still paying so much for landlines? The latest figures from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom show that around 16% of
Alan Turing is one of the world’s best known mathematicians, and probably the best known in the past century. This is partly for his work on cracking German codes in World War 2, and partly for his arrest, conviction and punishment for homosexuality in the 1950s. The mathematics that made him
Samsung’s third-quarter results were just as bad as the company warned as tougher competition caused profits to tumble by 74% in its mobile business. Overall, the Korean electronics giant on Wednesday reported a 60% drop in company-wide operating profit — its fourth consecutive decline and
Xiaomi might still sound a bit foreign to you, but the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is now the third largest in…
There are more than 1 200 active satellites orbiting Earth right now, taking pictures, relaying communications, broadcasting locations, spying on you, and even housing humans. Thanks to a database compiled by the
More people across Africa have access to a cellphone network than they do to electricity, piped water or a health clinic, according to the latest Afrobarometer released on Wednesday. The survey, titled “Developing Africa’s Infrastructure: the Rough Road to Better Services”, also highlights enormous
While there is only one world power on the Internet, that situation will not last forever. The Internet’s underpinning technologies were mostly created in the US, the initial networks were based there and today the US hosts the majority of the most powerful Internet companies. Although minor battles
