• China is widening their lead in AI globally by concentrating on a core set of best practices that energize entire industries to pilot and adopt AI for unique use cases.

• Thanks to its thriving start-up landscape, the United States is in second place when ranked by share of active players.

• Launched in 2017, China’s New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan is delivering strong results and has become a topic of national pride.

• BCG finds AI’s influence on key industries is moving faster than many countries’ ability to structure governance and growth frameworks around.

• 85% of Chinese companies are active players in the field of AI, leading all seven nations in the study. BCG defines active players as those companies making tangible progress in unlocking the value of AI in two dimensions: They are already moving to adopt AI into some existing processes or currently running pilot initiatives, and their efforts thus far have generally been successful. China’s dominance can be attributed to their New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan introduced in 2017, which is delivering strong results.

• China’s AI dominance reaches across multiple industries compared to the majority of nations only concentrating on a few. BCG interviewed 500 Chinese companies and found that the impact of their 2017 New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan is having a successful cross-industry impact on AI piloting, adoption and success with AI initiatives. Unlike in the U.S. and other nations, China’s overall lead in the race to extract value from AI is not driven by the strong dominance of one or two particular industries; it’s succeeding as a nation and the industry-wide phenomenon that is rooted in how Chinese managers approach AI innovation.

• AI pilot and adoption success is more dependent on a company’s unique strengths and matters more than industry characteristics. BCG found industry landscapes heterogeneous in their relative levels of success with AI pilots, adoption and long-term success. Success with AI has a lot more to do with the technical infrastructure, available skills, execution speed and responsiveness, and support from senior management in individual companies. This finding explains why start-ups in the U.S. are the majority of active players in AI. They typically have small engineering and R & D teams comprised of highly skilled and talented technical professionals and can move much faster than their larger competitors. BCG also found industrial engineered product companies are strong, active players in Germany (with an 84% share) but weak in France. Conversely, data-rich consumer retail companies are much stronger active players in France than in Germany.

SOURCE: BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP MIND THE (AI) GAP: LEADERSHIP MAKES THE DIFFERENCE, DECEMBER, 2018 BY SYLVAIN DURANTON, JÖRG ERLEBACH, AND MARC PAULY

• Thanks to its thriving start-up landscape, The United States is in second place when ranked by share of active players. Underscoring just how crucial it is to provide startups with investment tax incentives in new technologies, the United States is in second place currently mainly due to the high levels of AI activity in digital start-ups. 76% of U.S. companies are active players and report a past implementation success rate of over 90%. Outside the start-up ecosystem, AI adoption and success rates are more mixed.

• The strategies and practices that enabled Germany and other powerhouse nations to lead previous technological innovations are preventing them from quickly capitalizing on AI. BCG found that changes that AI can unlock are disruptive, changing the way entire processes work and the roles humans play in them, and so the approach to corporate innovation must be disruptive, too. A meticulous focus on R&D and its organization into functional silos, and a risk-averse approach to change are holding nations back from accelerating AI strategies. Even with the right infrastructure, data, and skills are in place, these impediments slow AI progress across industries.

source : https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2018/12/16/how-china-is-dominating-artificial-intelligence/#1d9723642b2f

MUMBAI: Adoption of drone technology along with artificial intelligence (AI) will change the face of the irrigation and agriculture sectors in the long-run, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said Thursday.

Addressing the first workshop of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution India at the Sahyadri Guest House, he said new technologies will also improve predictability, which will help farmers plan the agricultural produce well in advance.

READ| Maharashtra government announces drought in 151 talukas

The World Economic Forum had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Maharashtra to set up the centre in the satellite city of Navi Mumbai.

The multi-million dollar centre will help the larger society benefit from industrial revolution 4.0 technologies including IoT, blockchain, AI among others.

"Industrial revolution with artificial intelligence is changing the face of every single business which we used to do. It is making it more predictable more reliable more efficient," Fadnavis said.

He said even though the irrigation sector has seen some technological advancement, there is no proper evaluation tool for accurate assessment.

"But now with the drone technology associated with AI capabilities, information will be very assessable and I think that would increase the efficiency and accuracy of the department and we would really know that what we claim is correct.

This would also increase the revenues of the department," Fadnavis said.

Similarly, he said, the agriculture sector also requires sustainability considering the weather uncertainties and climate change, which can cause huge distress.

"All this can be assessed through drones and AI and we can actually reach the farmers before distress happens," he added.

Davis further said that if data can be collated from automated weather stations in the state's 2,000 revenue circles, AI and drones, an effective tool or platform can be created to make the entire agriculture space more predictable.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2018/nov/29/use-of-drones-ai-will-change-the-face-of-agriculture--sector-devendra-fadnavis-1904955.html

The standard treatment for so-called lazy eye (amblyopia) in children is to cover the nonimpaired eye with a patch. This trains the impaired eye to work harder. Such therapy is successful only when the patient wears the eyepatch for the prescribed period of time. This is often not the case, however, as many children feel self-conscious about wearing the patch and reject this form of treatment. A future alternative is electronic shutter eyeglasses that automatically darken the lens in front of the nonimpaired eye when the context is appropriate. These eyeglasses also have integrated sensors that provide young wearers with feedback on whether they are being worn in the correct position. Fraunhofer researchers will be exhibiting a functional model of the electronic shutter eyeglasses at the MEDICA trade fair in Düsseldorf from November 12 to 15 (Hall 10, Booth G05/H04).

Lazy eye is a common complaint among children. The standard treatment for this visual impairment - amblyopia, as ophthalmologists call it - is to cover up the good eye with a patch. This trains the lazy eye to work harder - and the brain to receive its signals. The sooner treatment begins, the greater the chances of recovery. However, there are two main drawbacks to this form of occlusion therapy: vision is spatially restricted, and children often experience the eyepatch as unsightly and therefore refuse to wear it. Moreover, such treatment is successful only when the eyepatch is worn for the prescribed period of time. In a collaborative project (see box "InsisT - project overview"), research and industry are aiming to achieve a decisive improvement in this often difficult therapy for young children. They hope that new interactive, context-dependent shutter eyeglasses with sensor-based feedback will increase treatment compliance for this complaint. This new technology covers up the patient's good eye only when the situation is appropriate. During sport, for example, or other activities that demand good spatial vision, this function is deactivated so as to avoid any risk of accident.

Use and operation of the shutter eyeglasses are controlled by a multimodal sensor system integrated in the temples of the eyeglasses. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT have developed this new technology along with a smartphone app to enable parents to monitor the treatment. All the data generated by this technology is compiled in a digital patient file system, which was also developed by the IBMT team. This web-based application is compliant with data-protection laws and can be accessed by the ophthalmologist in order to monitor, adjust and enhance treatment. For example, it tells the doctor if and when the patient has worn the eyeglasses - information that was never available with conventional treatment. "The data is uploaded to the app via Bluetooth and then securely archived in a cloud database," explains Dr. Frank Ihmig, a scientist at Fraunhofer IBMT in St. Ingbert. "Our goal is to provide an individual, patient-based therapy."​

Data for real-time processing is generated by various sensors. These include temperature and skin-contact sensors to monitor the length of time and the position in which the eyeglasses have been worn. They also measure the occlusion phases, during which the LCD lenses are darkened. "This data is logged in an electronic memory device integrated in the eyeglass frames," Ihmig explains. The eyeglass lenses are darkened by means of an electronically controlled shuttering system based on integrated liquid crystals. The frequency and duration of the occlusion therapy can be individually adjusted to each specific case. It is therefore more versatile than conventional eyepatch treatment. In this way, project partners hope to encourage young patients to wear the eyeglasses for the prescribed duration. The skin-contact sensors monitor whether the eyeglasses are being worn in the correct position and even provide the young wearer with child-friendly feedback. This can help increase acceptance for this form of therapy, too.

An acceleration sensor recognizes specific patterns of movement and can distinguish between different activities such as standing up, lying down, sitting down, walking, running, jumping, cycling and climbing stairs. "Our shutter eyeglasses are context-sensitive," Ihmig explains. "This means that when the wearer is involved in energetic activities such as sport, for example, the mechanism for darkening the LCD lenses is deactivated, and they remain clear. This ensures full spatial vision and removes the risk of the wearer being involved in an accident."

Initial tests with amblyopic children are scheduled for the second quarter of 2019. In addition, it is hoped that a validation study to be conducted toward the end of the project will confirm the medical benefits of the therapy.

Researchers have already developed a first functional model of the electronics for the new eyeglasses. The next step will be to make these smaller so they can be integrated in children's eyeglass frames. In parallel, they are working to make the electronics more energy-efficient and thereby prolong battery life. The battery is recharged inductively, i.e., without a cable. The functional model will be on display at the joint Fraunhofer booth (Hall 10, Booth G05/H04) at the MEDICA trade fair in Düsseldorf from November 12 to 15.

A world where machines are able to curate human healthcare is not far away. Medical technology giant, GE Healthcare, made headlines recently for partnering with Franciscan Health to implement a control centre to synchronise all elements of a patient’s hospital experience. AI’s potential in healthcare however extends beyond managing workflows – it has the potential to transform fundamentally how healthcare is delivered and the way we think about medicine.

We were surprised that when analysing the global AI conversation online and across social media over the past three months – health, not jobs, is the most talked about issue. There is growing noise around AI’s role in healthcare – some people are positive, but others are yet to be convinced about putting their health in the hands of a machine.

Perception is important. Everyone is a stakeholder in healthcare as it impacts all of us. With such a major change just around the corner, it is important healthcare providers understand the concerns of their patients and those who work in the industry.

Our data show that the main concern for patients and medical professionals is culpability when mistakes or problems occur. Health is our most valuable asset, so entrusting it to a machine is a difficult decision for both patients and those responsible for looking after us.

Healthcare AI, therefore, faces a significant challenge: how can it win the same level of trust as doctors, traditionally one of the most reputable and respected professions, seen by many as highly educated, motivated and altruistic. When our experience in healthcare is focused on human care, being treated by machines will seem alien – how AI is implemented and how it interacts with patients is an issue that needs to be addressed.

When reciting the Hippocratic Oath, doctors acknowledge “warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug” and swear to protect patients’ privacy – pledges an unconscious machine cannot fulfil.

While AI cannot swear to act in our best interests and carry out best practice, it can be subject to regulation and scrutiny. In the same way doctors are regulated and responsible for their actions, so should AI be. This is not an easy issue but the distinction between whether culpability lies in the application or creation of the technology is not clear-cut. Regulation and legislation will be vitally important to reassure patients that the AI is part of a wider network which is human and ultimately responsible and accountable for what happens to them.

Interestingly, another concern flagged by our data is patients’ privacy. While doctors swear to keep patients’ medical detail private, they are not exposed to cyber attacks and are not controlled by a company. Data use is in the public eye as never before. While it is under greater regulatory scrutiny under GDPR and other data protection laws, there is still a tension when giving machines access to our most sensitive information – an issue firms will have to address.

While AI diagnosis is some way off, it is already evident that even in the near future AI will be able to cut costs and improve efficiencies across a complex healthcare ecosystem – streamlining workflow and ensuring greater accuracy. Healthcare is expensive and labour-intensive, and with growing, ageing populations across the developed world, automation is vital to drive down costs and improve efficiencies to reduce the burden on already stretched service providers.

The introduction of AI into stretched health services to allow medical staff to focus on caring for individuals is inevitable. As the technology becomes more sophisticated, medical professionals will increasingly rely on it. However, for the foreseeable future, humans will always have the ultimate say in complex medical matters. It is therefore important for firms to communicate the evolving role of the human healthcare professional as much as the growing capabilities of the machine. We need to anticipate growing concerns of patients and public interest to manage expectations in a more machine-led healthcare environment.

AI should be seen as an extension of human medical professionals. Improving our ability to treat patients, while taking away administrative burdens to allow us to focus on more valuable tasks. As with other emerging technologies, firms must bring the conversation back into the real world – communicating likely scenarios, offering transparency around safety and clarity over responsibility.

Trust will not be won overnight. Firms like GE Healthcare need to argue the case for greater adoption of AI to all stakeholders – from patients, to health services and governments. They must show a proven track record demonstrating that the technology is equal to, if not better than, human care – helping to deliver more accurate diagnoses and precise surgery. Communicating progress around the testing of AI in healthcare and its regulation is vital. Only when patients are comfortable with and understand the technology, will gradual introduction and normalisation possible.

AI could be a ‘big bang’ moment for healthcare, but in a world where social media can spread horror stories like wildfire and fake news can damage reputation, healthcare firms must work hard to build a case. Constant communication, engagement and transparency around current issues such as culpability and privacy are essential, alongside monitoring for emerging debates as the technology and its applications advance. Only by proving safety and effectiveness in the long-term, will firms encourage acceptance and adoption.

source: https://www.medicaldevice-network.com/features/ai-in-healthcare/

You've heard of virtual reality, where a head mounted display device immerses the user in a visual world. You've heard of augmented reality, where the user wears glasses or another device that projects images in front of them but enables them to still see real objects around them.

You may have heard of mixed reality, the merging of real and virtual worlds where physical and digital objects co-exist and can interact. And you may have heard of 360-degree video — recording a view in every direction simultaneously using an omnidirectional camera or a collection of cameras.

But there's a good chance you've not heard of extended reality, which combines VR, AR MR and 360-degree video in one medium. XR makes it possible to visualize what a different colored car might look like when viewing an actual car in a dealership.

But is XR the new customer experience? The answer, according to a panel of experts during the recent Money20/20 show in Las Vegas, is a resounding yes.

According to a recent Goldman Sachs presentation, public market players and venture capitalists will help establish XR, a technology which it describes as a platform that merges VR and AR. The presentation said XR will redefine the ways people will interact with technology — ways that have yet to be imagined — and could represent a $110 billion market by 2025.

Panel moderator Cleveland Brown, CEO and co-founder of Payscout, a global payment processing provider, compared the dawn of today's customer experience technologies to the founding of e-commerce in 1994 when Amazon began selling books online.

"It's not a question of 'if' but a question 'when,'" agreed panelist Stephanie Llamas, vice president of research and strategy/head of XR for SuperData, a provider of market intelligence. 

Llamas pointed out that XR has both customer and enterprise applications. In the customer value chain, XR will be used for marketing, e-commerce and support. In the enterprise value chain, it will be used for design, operations, learning, development, insights and the digital workplace.

"Anything that is designed can be virtually designed," said panelist Raffaela Camera, global head of XR market and innovation strategy at Accenture, a management consulting company. Camera said XR decreases the cost of design and offers new ways of solving challenges and selling products.

XR also enables digital workers, Camera said, pointing to glasses that allow workers to view digital information in their line of sight.

"We are going to be learning differently," she said, adding that people will be able to view data three dimensionally. "You can really look at clusters (of numbers) and move through them."

"It's going to be seamless and it's going to be integrated to something you are already doing," said Brown, who sees XR playing a role in self-service environments. 

"It's a reality, it is coming," Brown said, challenging the audience to consider if they should have an XR strategy.

While XR emerges, the more established immersive technologies — VR, AR and MR, continue to expand.

Brown presented a video of a VR commerce app his company created that allows shoppers to not only visit a virtual store and explore products in 3D, but also immerse themselves in stories behind the products. Such experiences, he said, build a bond with a customer and enables them to make purchases without friction.

Mobile AR, blending online and in-store shopping experiences, represents one of the fastest growing technologies in retail, according to a Business Intelligence report. 

The technology, which Llamas characterized as "transformational," will nearly catch up VR in 2020, with both markets surpassing $10 billion. SuperData recntly reported mobile AR will double year-over-year in 2019. In 2021, mobile AR at $17.4 billion will surpass VR at $14.5 billion.

VR headsets will no longer dominate the immersive technology market, Llamas said. She presented a slide showing that VR dominates the global market in 2018 with $3.3 billion compared to $1.9 billion for mobile AR and $0.1 billion for augmented/mixed reality headsets. Llamas said smartphones, with the ability to host AR, will drive mobile AR.

Another driver, according to Llamas, is location-based VR — stations that allow the user to experience VR without having to purchase headsets. Location-based VR entertainment will double in revenue within the next three years, SuperData reported. 

Brown agreed, adding his company has found success with location-based VR. A furniture retailer was able to convert 60 percent of location-based VR users into customers, an accomplishment he called "phenomenal."

VR gaming, meanwhile, will continue to expand at a rapid pace.

Oculus Quest, a new all-in-one VR gaming system that allows a user to play anywhere with a VR headset and controllers, will ship one million units in the next year, SuperData reported, potentially bringing VR to the mainstream market. Oculus Quest goes beyond Oculus Go and Samsung Gear VR, the report stated, which focus on passive media consumption.

In its launch year, Oculus Quest will triple the sales Oculus Rift did in its first 12 months, SuperData reported. Oculus Quest and Oculus Go will more than double VR revenue to $6.9 billion, representing nearly 2.5 million units in 2019 worldwide.