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Lahiri checkmates Barua in BCA elections – Times of India

KOLKATA: After months of turmoil and mudslinging, a new panel was elected on Sunday to run the controversy-ridden Bengal Chess Association (BCA) for the next three years.

In a fight between panels put up by erstwhile BCA secretary Atanu Lahiri and Grandmaster Dibyendu Barua, Lahiri's camp emerged winners.

Atanu's brother Shantanu Lahiri defeated Dibyendu 14-9 to be elected president of BCA. Anirban Hazra will be the treasurer in place of Dibyendu's brother Debasish after being elected uncontested.

The court had directed BCA to conduct polls in January but it could not be conducted then due to technical grounds.

Sunday's entire election process was carried out by veteran administrator Gopinath Ghosh, who was appointed special officer to conduct the polls by the Calcutta High Court.

"It was a lengthy process but went smoothly with both sides participating... the elections were conducted without any disturbance," Ghosh told ToI.

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National Junior High (K-9) Championship has been Canceled – uschess.org

For the first time in the events 47-year history, US Chess is cancelling the National Junior High (K-9) Championship (NJH) due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. The City of Jacksonville, Florida is heeding the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to avoid gatherings of more than 50 people for social or recreational purposes. As the NJH was expected to draw up to 1,300 players plus family, friends, and coaches, US Chess had no choice in this matter, plus we fully support governmental efforts intended to protect everyones health and well-being.

The event will not be rescheduled. The next NJH will be part of SuperNationals VII from May 7-9, 2021 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. The 2020 National Elementary (K-6) Championships, scheduled for Nashville, Tennessee (May 8-10), is still currently planned to be held.

We know that for many scholastic players our spring nationals are an important part of their lives. Executive Director Carol Meyer says, I share the sense of loss felt by our players, families, and coaches who have been preparing for this event for months. However, we fully support the citys decision in light of new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control regarding gatherings of 50 or more people. We look forward to seeing our players again at the National K-12 Grade Championships in December and at the 2021 SuperNationals VII next spring.

US Chess will be providing full entry fee refunds to the almost 100 players that have already registered for the event. They will be processed automatically over the next few weeks; there is no need to contact US Chess about this. If you paid for a team room deposit, US Chess will refund the deposit.

Our goal is to have all refunds processed no later than April 8. If you are still awaiting a refund as of April 9, please email Debra Robison at [emailprotected]. US Chess appreciates your patience.

Hotel refund information: To cancel hotel reservations, call the reservation line at 904-588-1234. It will take 24-48 hours for the reservation department to become aware of the events cancellation, so wait until 3/18 at the earliest to call. The one-night deposit rule will be waived so you will receive a full refund.

US Chess will continue to work hard to bring you the national scholastic championships our community loves. Though the NJH event will no longer take place, we continue to focus on advancing our mission statement: Empower people, enrich lives, and enhance communities through chess.

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US Chess Affiliate Tournaments and COVID-19 – uschess.org

Many of our tournament organizers are facing tough decisions due to the general guidance from authoritative sources to avoid large gatherings because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. If there is a tournament you were planning to play in, you should first make sure it is still being held before you make a potentially unnecessary trip, up to and including the day of the event.

We are trying to make this process as easy as possible for our members by listing cancellations/postponements in the Upcoming Tournaments area of our website located at:

http://www.uschess.org/tlas/upcoming.php

Click here for an example of what you might see if you search for all tournaments in Texas (Note: this is a sample image and not a live update of current Texas events).

We are updating this area immediately upon receiving updates from our organizers. Of course, you can always use the contact information given in an individual Tournament Life Announcement (TLA) as well, which often have an email, phone number, and sometimes an organizers website.

We have taken other steps as well, including:

We have suspended certain rules: https://new.uschess.org/news/us-chess-rules-suspensions-due-covid-19/ We have made it free for organizers for organizers to use our email blast system to notify potential participants if they cancel a previously advertised TLA by simply contacting our TLA department at [emailprotected]. We have cancelled the National High School (K-12) Championship

We appreciate your patience and continued support of US Chess as we all work together to meet this challenge. We want our members to not only stay well but be informed every step of the way as it relates to US Chess. Please continue to check http://www.uschess.org regularly for other updates.

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Knights of the Square Table throws support to 1st Women’s Online Bullet Chess Championships – PhilBoxing.com

Knights of the Square Table throws support to 1st Women's Online Bullet Chess Championships

By Marlon BernardinoPhilBoxing.comWed, 18 Mar 2020

Manila----The 1st Women's Online Bullet Chess Championships @ lichess.org, which unfolds on April 1, 2020, at 1pm gets a big boost as Knights of the Square Table announced its sponsorship of the prestigious competition featuring the worlds fastest players.

The time control is two minutes via lichess.org. Berserk is allowed and the duration is two hours using the Arena tournament format.

"I collaborated with United Queens Chess Club headed by Pres. Susan Grace Neri, kasi they have good quality online live coverage, by main anchor Woman Fide Master Cherry Ann Mejia," said Capt Ronaldo Banaag, Founder/CEO of the famous Knights of the Square Table.

"They will cover the online tournaments live," added Capt. Banaag.

Online Guest Chess Masters headed by Filipino Olympiad-bound Grand Master Darwin Laylo and Fide Master Randy Segarra of Philippines, International Master-elect Alexandru-Bogdan Banzea of Romania , International Master Ernesto Javier Fernandez of Cuba and International Master Daniel Barria-Zuniga of Serbia."Chess is more than competitions and winning. It's always about character building. There is no greater honor and glory for any Chess player than to fight and win with dignity and integrity." said United Queens Chess Club President Susan Grace Neri, daughter of International Arbiter and National Master Wilfredo Neri.

"So in behalf of United Queens Chess Club, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to our Online Guest Chess Masters for gracing this project!" said Susan Grace.

Filipino International Master Joel "Cholo" Banawa, Owner/Managing Director at Rising Phoenix Chess Academy had something to say regarding the COVID-19 deadly virus."This emerging new trend: Online chess tournaments has become the safest way to organize, join and participate in high caliber chess tournament without the risk of exposing one's self to the deadly COVID-19 or more popularly known as the Corona Virus 2019." said Filipino International Master Joel "Cholo" Banawa, Owner/Managing Director at Rising Phoenix Chess Academy.-Marlon Bernardino-

Click here to view a list of other articles written by Marlon Bernardino.

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Planning A Team Retreat? Seven Ways To Make Sure It Actually Sticks – Forbes

There's a lot of room for improvement in how organizations get people to work together. In fact, 39% percent of employees think that people in their organization don't collaborate enough.

Done well, team retreats can increase alignment, collaboration and performance.

However, getting your team out of the office is not enough to improve performance. You must design clear goals and purposefully design the session. If not, you're wasting your money.

I've designed and facilitated hundreds of retreats for leadership teams and executive groups. Here are seven things to consider when planning your next team offsite to ensure a lasting, positive impact.

1. Start with the end in mind.

Before you plan the session, make sure to have a clear and well-defined goal. What's the desired outcome once the offsite is finished? Identify the specific problem that you want to solve.

Does your organization need topromote psychological safety? Do you want team members to innovate more? Does your team need to improve decision-making?

Consider using a survey to identify critical issues. Ask your team for feedback and evaluate what their expectations are, too.

I always tell my clients to pick three goals and then narrow the list down to one key problem. Define the key goal and plan the session backward with the end result in mind.

2. Plan and design the offsite.

Establish clear responsibilities and who will lead the whole process.Make sure to get buy-in from senior executives to avoid disruptions during the session.

When designing the agenda flow, consider balancing energy and emotions in play. For example, after a deep reflection exercise, it's always convenient to use an icebreaker to re-energize the team.

Allow smalls breaks for people to recharge. Keep the lunch break as a free-work zone. The San Antonio Spurs eat together as often as they play together. Food and wine aren't just food and wine; they're bridges to intentional bonding: the secret sauce to their tremendous success.

Understand the right mindset required for each section of the offsite. Does the team have to flare or focus? Solving a problem requires divergent thinking. Getting alignment or making a decision requires a different type of thinking. Keep in mind that convergent and divergent thinking don't go well together. Keep them separate.

3. Involve people along the way.

Design participation from the get-go. Make sure the invite sets clear expectations and drives excitement.

One-on-one interviews don't just help you understand people's expectations but they also make people feel included.

I remember interviewing C-level executives from a global retailer to understand their expectations. Most were clueless about the team retreat and why their CEO was hosting it.

Have participants do some prep work.If your goal is to create a new strategy, share some inspirational reading ahead. If your team is dealing with limiting mindsets, make them do some exercises to start reflecting on what's holding them back.

The team offsite doesn't start the day the session happens. It happens the moment you kick off the planning.

4. Assign a skilled offsite facilitator.

Facilitating an effective team retreat is much more complicated than running a regular meeting. Changing team behavior is not easy; you have to unearth and address tensions.

Having a skilled facilitator in team development will allow you not only to go deep but also to deal with difficult personalities.

I remember running a team retreat for a health care company. Participants were skeptical about the offsite. Their previous experiences were anything but productive. We had to deal with this negative mindset head on. Having some tough conversations helped us put negativity aside and create a transformational session.

If you are dealing with tough issues, a skilled facilitator can also get people to open up. People have a natural tendency to be more open and vulnerable with strangers than with their colleagues.

However, be sure to avoid facilitator dependency. The facilitator should guide the session, but also equip the team with the right tools to continue conversations on their own.

5. Create a safe space during the session.

The quality of a team retreat depends on the quality of the conversations. If people are not candid, then you are wasting everyone's time.

Start by building a safe environment. Make people comfortable to experiment with new behaviors. Facilitation plays a pivotal role in building the space, but it's not enough.

Practice conversational turn-taking; give each person time to share their ideas. The most senior people should always talk last to avoid groupthink.

Go slow to go fast. When facilitating self-reflection exercises, like "Uncover the Stinky Fish," I first ask people to work on their own. Then in pairs. And afterward, in foursomes. Lastly, all findings are shared with everyone.

Progression helps build trust as people get used to opening up, one iteration at a time.

A team offsite is a unique opportunity to address what everybody is thinking yet no one is saying. Building a safe space encourages quality conversations.

6. Focus on the day after the team retreat.

What happens in an offsite shouldn't stay at the offsite.

Finish the session with clear action plans. I use team contracts, where everyone commits to change behavior and also asks something they want the team to provide. Once everyone signs the contract, they hang it in a public wall as a reminder.

Don't just commit to long-term actions. Encourage people to adopt new ways of working right away. I like to use the 1-1-1 formula: People have to commit to new behaviors they will start doing in one week, one month and one quarter. Follow-up is everything. We usually have a video call one week after the session to keep the momentum going. Set regular touch bases to address issues and obstacles.

A team retreat is a springboard; the session itself is the starting point to adopt new ways of working.

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The U.S. Is In A Bear Market. There Could Be A Recession. But This Is Not 2008. – Forbes

The COVID-19 outbreak has put U.S. stocks market in a bear market, but that doesn't mean we're ... [+] headed to a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

It happened on March 11th: after 11 years, the S&P 500 once again entered a bear market. Defined as a decline of 20% or more from recent highs, this is the first bear market for the popular stock index since the 2008 financial crisis.

Theres been a lot of talk recently comparing whats going on in the financial markets as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak to the 2008 financial crisis. While there have been some similarities, most notably daily bouts of extreme volatility and periods of unmitigated selloffs, the events that precipitated the current situation, economic climate prior to the outbreak, and reasons for the selloff are wholly different.

Although this is the first official bear market for the S&P 500 since the financial crisis, we came very close a little over a year ago. At the end of 2018, the S&P was down over 19% from recent highs, on the cusp of falling into a bear market. But instead of falling further, the S&P rebounded very quickly: following a loss of over -9% in December 2018, the S&P finished January 2019 up +8% and closed out the blockbuster year up over +30%.

Were now in what has become the fastest bear market in history. It took only 16 days for the S&P 500 to fall over 20% from the high on February 19th. While the drop was fast and deep, with the possibility of getting deeper before its over, the circumstances are much different than in 2008, and theres an argument that well be able to recover faster because of it.

Lets not lose sight of what sparked the 2008 financial crisis: a housing bubble fueled by incredibly risky (not to mention predatory) lending practices designed to be offset through highly leveraged financial instruments known as credit default swaps. As foreclosures mounted, the pressure on the financial system grew until the U.S. government was able to pull the economy back from the brink of collapse. Obviously, this is an abbreviated version of events, but the point is that in 2008, there was a bubble and a systemic failure.

Fast-forward to 2020 and we find ourselves in a much differentthough still challengingsituation. China, the worlds second-largest economy and biggest exporter of goods was effectively shut down due to the spread of the virus. This alone had a significant impact on the economy: global supply chains were disrupted and demand for goods and services slowed as people stayed home. But for reasons unknown, the financial markets didnt seem to be overly concerned about what was happening abroad.

As the virus began to spread to the U.S. concerns mounted about what social distancing, closures, and working from home would mean for our service-driven economy. When this outbreak finally passes, there will be some pent-up demand for goods, but for a service economy, there isnt always a way to recoup lost salesyoure not going to get two haircuts next month because you couldnt get one this month.

The spat over oil prices and production between Russia and Saudi Arabia was essentially the equivalent of pouring gasoline over a flame: the markets ignited with fresh worry over the economic outlook, triggering selloffs in both the stock and bond marketswhich doesnt happen oftenshowing even patient investors that sometimes theres nowhere to hide during periods of heightened uncertainty.

The concern over what the spread of the coronavirus means for the global economy in the short-term is justified. When there are issues on both the supply and demand side of the equation, earnings and growth will suffer. However, its important to recall the condition in which the U.S. entered this global crisis: unemployment was at historically low levels and though valuations were still high in the stock market, the economy was on rather solid ground.

The bear market was caused by the COVID-19 outbreak and not a systemic collapse of the financial system. This is a really important point to keep in mind as its highly probable that whenever this passes, the economy will be able to recover rather quickly. There are signs that the government will make efforts to help ensure that hourly workers and those not able to work remotely will receive some sort of aid, which will help limit the extent of the downturn and help boost the speed of the recovery.

This is not to say that the world will go back to the way it was right before the outbreak. Companies may look to diversify their supply chain and move production away from China which would impact profits, jobs, and growth.

The current interest rate environment will likely become a greater challenge as time goes on. On Sunday evening, the Federal Reserve cut the Federal Funds rate to zero in the second emergency rate cut in less than two weeks. It seems like only a matter of time until some of the yield curve goes negative. This would be uncharted territory in the United States. Negative-yielding debt is now prevalent across Asia and Europe, but its never happened here.

Given the impact the coronavirus will have on economy during the outbreak, its more likely than not that the U.S. could enter a recession, which is defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth. That said, its also possible that by the time we officially enter a recession, were already coming out of it, as demand picks up and we go back to our normal habits.

Long-term investors need to keep in mind that theyre not investing for the next six months or even six yearsmany investors have decades left in the stock market and your success will ride on the compounded gains over this whole period. Even though the stock market reacts to news in an instantstocks are also valued on the expectations of future growth and earnings. For example, if a stock is trading at 15 times its expected earnings, then next years earnings only represent 1/15th of the stocks value. Harder times in the short-term will impact valuations, but you have to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

In the interim, its critical for investors to stay the course and focus on what they can control during periods of market volatility. As of the writing of this article, the returns of the S&P 500 for the past two days are as follows: March 12th, 2020: -9.51%; March 13th, 2020: +9.29%. thats a swing of nearly 19% over just two days!

This highlights my last and perhaps most important message: not missing out on the markets recovery. The market can turn on a dimesomething weve all lost a few of the past several weeks.

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Decoding the Future Trajectory of Healthcare with AI – ReadWrite

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is getting increasingly sophisticated day by day in its application, with enhanced efficiency and speed at a lower cost. Every single sector has been reaping benefits from AI in recent times. The Healthcare industry is no exception. Here is decoding the future trajectory of healthcare with AI.

The impact of artificial intelligence in the healthcare industry through machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) is transforming care delivery. Additionally, patients are expected to gain relatively high access to their health-related information than before through various applications such as smart wearable devices and mobile electronic medical records (EMR).

The personalized healthcare will authorize patients to take the wheel of their well-being, facilitate high-end healthcare, and promote better patient-provider communication to underprivileged areas.

For instance, IBM Watson for Health is helping healthcare organizations to apply cognitive technology to provide a vast amount of power diagnosis and health-related information.

In addition, Googles DeepMind Health is collaborating with researchers, clinicians, and patients in order to solve real-world healthcare problems. Additionally, the company has combined systems neuroscience with machine learning to develop strong general-purpose learning algorithms within neural networks to mimic the human brain.

Companies are working towards developing AI technology to solve several existing challenges, especially within the healthcare space. Strong focus on funding and starting AI healthcare programs played a significant role in Microsoft Corporations decision to launch a 5-year, US$ 40 million program known as AI for Health in January 2019.

The Microsoft program will use artificial intelligence tools to resolve some of the greatest healthcare challenges including global health crises, treatment, and disease diagnosis. Microsoft has also ensured that academia, non-profit, and research organizations have access to this technology, technical experts, and resources to leverage AI for care delivery and research.

In January 2020, these factors influenced Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company and MITs School of Engineering to join hands for three years to drive innovation and application of AI in the healthcare industry and drug development.

AI applications are only centered on three main investment areas: Diagnostics, Engagement, and Digitization. With the rapid advancement in technologies. There are exciting breakthroughs in incorporating AI in medical services.

The most interesting aspect of AI is robots. Robots are not only replacing trained medical staff but also making them more efficient in several areas. Robots help in controlling the cost while potentially providing better care and performing accurate surgery in limited space.

China and the U.S. have started investing in the development of robots to support doctors. In November 2017, a robot in China passed a medical licensing exam using only an AI brain. Also, it was the first-ever semi-automated operating robot that was used to suture blood vessels as fine as 0.03 mm.

In order to prevent coronavirus from spreading, the American doctors are relying on a robot that can measure the patients act and vitals. In addition, robots are also being used for recovery and consulting assistance and transporting units. These robots are showcasing significant potential in revolutionizing medical procedures in the future.

Precision medicine is an emerging approach to disease prevention and treatment. The precision medication approach allows researchers and doctors to predict more accurate treatment and prevention strategies.

The advent of precision medicine technology has allowed healthcare to actively track patients physiology in real-time, take multi-dimensional data, and create predictive algorithms that use collective learnings to calculate individual outcomes.

In recent years, there has been an immense focus on enabling direct-to-consumer genomics. Now, companies are aiming to create patient-centric products within digitization processes and genomics related to ordering complex testing in clinics.

In January 2020, ixLayer, a start-up based in San-Francisco, launched one of its kind precision health testing platforms to enhance the delivery of diagnostic testing and to shorten the complex relationship among physicians, precision health tests, and patients.

Personal health monitoring is a promising example of AI in healthcare. With the emergence of advanced AI and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), demand for consumer-oriented products such as smart wearables for monitoring well-being is growing significantly.

Owing to the rapid proliferation of smart wearables and mobile apps, enterprises are introducing varied options to monitor personal health.

In October 2019, Gali Health, a health technology company, introduced its Gali AI-powered personal health assistant for people suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). It offers health tracking and analytical tools, medically-vetted educational resources, and emotional support to the IBD community.

Similarly, start-ups are also coming forward with innovative devices integrated with state-of-the-art AI technology to contribute to the growing demand for personal health monitoring.

In recent years, AI has been used in numerous ways to support the medical imaging of all kinds. At present, the biggest use for AI is to assist in the analysis of images and perform single narrow recognition tasks.

In the United States, AI is considered highly valuable in enhancing business operations and patients care. It has the greatest impact on patient care by improving the accuracy of clinical outcomes and medical diagnosis.

Strong presence of leading market players in the country is bolstering the demand for medical imaging in hospitals and research centers.

In January 2020, Hitachi Healthcare Americas announced to start a new dedicated R&D center in North America. Medical imaging will leverage the advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence to bring about next-gen of medical imaging technology.

With a plethora of issues driven by the growing rate of chronic disease and the aging population, the need for new innovative solutions in the healthcare industry is moving on an upswing.

Unleashing AIs complete potential in the healthcare industry is not an easy task. Both healthcare providers and AI developers together will have to tackle all the obstacles on the path towards the integration of new technologies.

Clearing all the hurdles will need a compounding of technological refinement and shifting mindsets. As AI trend become more deep-rooted, it is giving rise to highly ubiquitous discussions. Will AI replace the doctors and medical professionals, especially radiologists and physicians? The answer to this is, it will increase the efficiency of the medical professionals.

Initiatives by IBM Watson and Googles DeepMind will soon unlock the critical answers. However, AI aims to mimic the human brain in healthcare, human judgment, and intuitions that cannot be substituted.

Even though AI is augmenting in existing capabilities of the industry, it is unlikely to fully replace human intervention. AI skilled forces will swap only those who dont want to embrace technology.

Healthcare is a dynamic industry with significant opportunities. However, uncertainty, cost concerns, and complexity are making it an unnerving one.

The best opportunity for healthcare in the near future are hybrid models, where clinicians and physicians will be supported for treatment planning, diagnosis, and identifying risk factors. Also, with an increase in the number of geriatric population and the rise of health-related concerns across the globe, the overall burden of disease management has augmented.

Patients are also expecting better treatment and care. Due to growing innovations in the healthcare industry with respect to improved diagnosis and treatment, AI has gained consideration among the patients and doctors.

In order to develop better medical technology, entrepreneurs, healthcare service providers, investors, policy developers, and patients are coming together.

These factors are set to exhibit a brighter future of AI in the healthcare industry. It is extremely likely that there will be widespread use and massive advancements of AI integrated technology in the next few years. Moreover, healthcare providers are expected to invest in adequate IT infrastructure solutions and data centers to support new technological development.

Healthcare companies should continually integrate new technologies to build strong value and to keep the patients attention.

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The insights presented in the article are based on a recent research study on Global Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare Market by Future Market Insights.

Abhishek Budholiya is a tech blogger, digital marketing pro, and has contributed to numerous tech magazines. Currently, as a technology and digital branding consultant, he offers his analysis on the tech market research landscape. His forte is analysing the commercial viability of a new breakthrough, a trait you can see in his writing. When he is not ruminating about the tech world, he can be found playing table tennis or hanging out with his friends.

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Researchers combine low-cost tactile sensor with machine learning to develop robots that feel – SlashGear

Researchers from ETH Zrich have announced that they have leveraged machine learning to develop a low-cost tactile sensor. The sensor can measure force distribution in high resolution and with high accuracy. Those features enable the robot arm to grasp sensitive, fragile objects with more dexterity. Enabling robotic grippers to feel is very important to making them more efficient.

In humans, our sense of touch allows us to pick up fragile or slippery items with our hands without fear of crushing or dropping the item. If an object is about fall through our fingers, we are able to adjust the strength of our group accordingly. Scientists want robotic grippers that pick-up products to have a similar type of feedback as humans get from our sense of touch. The new sensor that the researchers have created is said to be a significant step towards a robotic skin.

The sensor consists of an elastic silicone skin with colored plastic microbeads and a regular camera fixed to its underside. The vision-based sensor can see when it comes in contact with an object, and an indentation appears in the silicone skin. The contact changes the pattern of the microbeads that can be registered by the fisheye lens on the underside of the sensor. Changes in the pattern of the microbeads is used to calculate the force distribution on the sensor.

The robotic skin the scientists came up with can distinguish between several forces acting on the sensor surface and calculate them with high degrees of resolution and accuracy. The team can determine the direction from which the force is acting. When calculating the forces that are pushing the microbeads and in which directions, the team uses a set of experiments and data.

This approach allows the team to precisely control and systematically vary the location of the contact, the force distribution, and the size of the object making contact. Machine learning allows the researchers to record several thousand instances of contact and precisely match them with changes in the bead pattern. The team is also working on larger sensors that are equipped with several cameras and can recognize objects of complex shape. They are also working to make the sensor thinner.

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AI and machine learning is not the future, it’s the present – Eyes on APAC – ComputerWeekly.com

This is a guest post by Raju Vegesna, chief evangelist at Zoho

For many, artificial intelligence (AI) is a distant and incomprehensible concept associated only with science fiction movies or high-tech laboratories.

In reality, however, AI and machine learning is already changing the world we know. From TVs and toothbrushes to real-time digital avatars that interact with humans, the recent CES show demonstrated how widespread AI is becoming in everyday life.

The same can be said of the business community, with the latest Gartner research revealing that 37% of organisations had implemented some form of AI or machine learning.

So far, these technologies have largely been adopted and implemented more by larger organisations with the resources and expertise to seamlessly integrate them into their business. But technology has evolved significantly in recent years, and SaaS (software as a service) providers now offer integrated technology and AI that meets the needs and budgets of small and medium businesses too.

Here are a few evolving trends in AI and machine learning that businesses of all sizes could capitalise on in 2020 and beyond.

The enterprise software marketplace is expanding rapidly. More vendors are entering the market, often with a growing range of solutions, which creates confusion for early adopters of the technology. Integrating new technologies from a range of different vendors can be challenging, even for large enterprise organisations.

So, in 2020 and beyond, the businesses that will make the most of AI and machine learning are the ones implementing single-vendor technology platforms. Its a challenge to work with data that is scattered across different applications using different data models, but organisations that consolidate all its data in one integrated platform will find it much easier to feed it into a machine learning algorithm.

After all, the more data thats available, the more powerful your AI and machine learning models will be. By capitalising on the wealth of data supplied by integrated software platforms, advanced business applications will be able to answer our questions or help us navigate interfaces. If youre a business owner, planning to utilise AI and machine learning for your business in 2020, then the single-vendor strategy is the way to go.

Technology has advanced at such a rate that businesses no longer need to compromise to fit the technology. This type of hyper-personalisation increases productivity for business software users and will continue to be a prime focus for businesses in 2020.

Take, for example, the rise of algorithmic social media timelines we have seen in the last few years. For marketers, AI and machine learning mean personalisation is becoming more and more sophisticated, allowing businesses to supercharge and sharpen their focus on their customers. Companies which capture insights to create personalised customer experiences and accelerate sales will likely win in 2020.

With AI and machine learning, vast amounts of data is processed every second of the day. In 2020, one of the significant challenges faced by companies implementing AI and machine learning is data cleansing the process of detecting, correcting or removing corrupt or inaccurate records from a data set.

Smaller organisations can begin to expect AI functionality in everyday software like spreadsheets, where theyll be able to parse information out of addresses or clean up inconsistencies. Larger organisations, meanwhile, will benefit from AI that ensures their data is more consumable for analytics or prepares it for migration from one application to another.

Businesses can thrive with the right content and strategic, innovative marketing. Consider auto-tagging, which could soon become the norm. Smartphones can recognise and tag objects in your photos, making your photo library much more searchable. Well start to see business applications auto-tag information to make it much more accessible.

Thanks to AI, customer relationship management (CRM) systems will continue to be a fantastic and always-advancing channel through which businesses can market to their customers. Today, businesses can find its top customers in a CRM system by running a report and sorting by revenue or sales. In the coming years, businesses will be able to search top customers, and its CRM system will know what theyre looking for.

With changing industry trends and demands, its important for all businesses to use the latest technology to create a positive impact on its operations. In 2020 and beyond, AI and machine learning will support businesses by helping them reduce manual labour and enhance productivity.

While some businesses, particularly small businesses, might be apprehensive about AI, it is a transformation that is bound to bring along a paradigm shift for those that are ready to take a big step towards a technology-driven future.

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Alibaba using machine learning to fight coronavirus with AI – Gigabit Magazine – Technology News, Magazine and Website

Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba has announced a breakthrough in natural language processing (NLP) through machine learning.

NLP is a key technology in the field of speech technologies such as machine translation and automatic speech recognition. The companys DAMO academy, a global research program, has made a breakthrough in machine reading techniques with applications in the fight against coronavirus.

Alibaba not only topped the GLUE Benchmark rankings, a table measuring the performance of competing NLP models, despite competition from the likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft, but beat human baselines, signifying that its model could even outperform a human at understanding language. Applications include sentiment analysis, textual entailment (i.e. understanding the correct chronology of sentences) and question-answering.

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With the solution already deployed in technologies ranging from AI chatbots to search engines, it is now finding use in the analysis of healthcare records by centers for disease control in cities across China.

We are excited to achieve a new breakthrough in driving research of the NLP development, said Si Luo, head of NLP Research at Alibaba DAMO Academy. Not only NLP as a core technology underpinning Alibabas various businesses, which serve hundreds of millions of customers, but it also becomes a critical technology now in fighting the coronavirus. We hope we can continue to leverage our leading technologies and contribute to the community during this difficult time.

Other AI initiatives put forth by the company for use in containing the coronavirus epidemic include technology to assist in the diagnosis of the virus. The company also made its Alibaba Cloud computing platform free for research organisations seeking to sequence the virus genome.

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