A robot inspector is looking over the shoulders of robot welders. Farm equipment maker John Deere described a computer vision system that spots defective joints, helping to ensure that its heavy machinery leaves the production line ready to roll.

The pandemic has pushed hospitals to their limits. A new machine learning system could help doctors make sure the most severe cases get timely, appropriate care.

Corporations are tailoring their financial reports to be read by machines. Automated systems download far more company financial reports than humans, according to a study by the U.S. nonprofit National Bureau of Economic Research.

Labor unions aim to give workers more protection against the automated systems that increasingly rule the workplace. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) launched a task force to lobby for collective bargaining, increased transparency, and legal protections related to AI in the workplace.

A new study used AI to track the explosive growth of AI innovation. Researchers from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office deployed natural language processing to track AI’s increasing presence in four decades of patent data.

What if AI requires so much computation that it becomes unaffordable?The fear: Training ever more capable models will become too pricey for all but the richest corporations and government agencies. Rising costs will

Will AI that discriminates based on race, gender, or economic status undermine the public’s confidence in the technology? Seduced by the promise of cost savings and data-driven decision making, organizations will deploy biased systems that end up doing real-world damage.

Facing a tsunami of user-generated disinformation, YouTube is scrambling to stop its recommendation algorithm from promoting videos that spread potentially dangerous falsehoods.

AI has humbled human chess masters. Now it’s helping them take the game to the next level. DeepMind and retired chess champion Vladimir Kramnik trained AlphaZero, a reinforcement learning model that bested human experts in chess, Go, and Shogi, to play-test changes in the rules.

An aviation startups is using neural networks to put air freight on autopilot.What’s new: Xwing, a California startup, is test-flying an autonomous pilot system aboard cargo aircraft with an eye toward crewless commercial flights in 2022.

AI is helping avert traffic accidents by assessing the risk of car crashes at specific intersections. MicroTraffic, a Canadian video analytics company, predicts the odds that accidents will occur at intersections that traditional methods overlook.

Computer vision is helping sushi lovers enjoy top-quality maguro. Japanese restaurant chain Kura Sushi is using a smartphone app called Tuna Scope to grade its suppliers’ offerings, according to the news outlet The Asahi Shimbun.

A mechanical lab assistant could accelerate chemistry research.What’s new: Researchers at the University of Liverpool trained a mobile robot arm to navigate a lab, operate equipment, handle samples, and obtain results far faster than a human scientist.

Companies in Africa and the Middle East are building AI capacity in very different ways, a new study found. AI is growing fast in both regions despite shortages of talent and data.

Which headline was written by a computer? A: FIFA to Decide on 2022 World Cup in March B: Decision in March on 48-team 2022 World Cup, Says Infantino