Technology is changing the way we get our news. Many people get a lot of their news on electronic devices instead of traditional media. They turn to social media for information. Recently, China's news agency Xinhua launched computer-created news readers, the world's first artificial intelligence, or Al news presenters.

I he news readers - created by machine learning technology - are based on two real-life Chinese newsmen. One is able to present newscasts in English; the other, in Mandarin Chinese. Machine teaming was used to examine video images and sounds of the two newsmen. The system then created the Al robotic presenters, which look and sound like real people.

The AI presenters will be a great improvement to the news team because they can work 24 hours a day on its website and on social media. One of the presenters even promised to work tirelessly to keep people informed The Al newsmen were able to read the news as naturally as a human presenter

Some machine learning experts said the system showed off China's latest progress in voice recognition, text-to-speech technology and data analysis. But several experts suggested that the term Al does not correctly describe abilities of the robotic news readers. On social media, many Chinese noted that the Al presenters did not seem real. People criticized them for not being more lifelike. On Weibo, several users wrote that the news readers have no soul.

Some people argued that only low-level jobs requiring heavy labor will he easily replaced by robots. Others praised the technology as a way for companies to make money from low-cost labor machines,

A writer for the MIT Technology Review declared Xinhua's news reader announcement as fake news. China's news presenter isn't intelligent at all. the report said. MIT Technology Review said the presenter itself is little more than a digital puppet that reads. It added. “The 'AI' in this case is the software that learns what makes a convincing-looking face and voice." While the demonstration was clearly evidence of improved technology it was a very narrow example of machine learning, the report said. Some businesses have experimented with similar technology for possible use in news operations.

If businesses are to get workers back into the office, finding ways to keep social distancing will be key. An Israeli company thinks it can help, using smart sensors installed on workplace ceilings.

PointGrab developed its technology before the Covid-19 to help workspace managers optimize how employees use office space. About the size of a smoke alarm, the sensors can record the exact number and location of people in buildings including offices, hotels and restaurants.

One of the company's first clients was Deloitte, which installed the system at its London office last year. PointGrab's sensors were connected to screens in the building to show the availability of desks and shared areas in real time. PointGrab CEO Doron Shachar says it was one of a series of innovations that helped Deloitte fit 30% more people into 3% less space.

Now PointGrab has adapted the technology so the sensors can also monitor social distancing by keeping track of how far apart people are, and whether they're traveling in one direction around a building. Workspace managers can set up alerts for when two people are closer than two meters for more than 30 seconds, for example.

The sensors have been included in the “six feet office” concept created by a company Cushman & amp; Wakefield to encourage employees to practice social distancing. They are currently being used in this way at a university in the Netherlands, and at an innovation centre in Belgium. While the social distancing innovation is new, PointGrab has installed more than 10, 000 sensors for workspace optimization, including in the offices of Coca-Cola, Facebook and Dell.

Workers might not like the idea of being monitored, but PointGrab says no images or identifying features are recorded. Instead, each employee is represented as an dot on a dashboard. “The sensor does not violate people’s privacy,” Shachar says. “This is extremely important in the workspace.”

How can humans become immortal(永生的)? You might have only seen the idea of uploading the human brain to a digital cloud in science fiction movies. Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, has already done so. The secret was revealed when a question posted on Twitter caught his attention.

“If you could upload your brain to the cloud, and talk to a virtual version of yourself, would you be buddies?” Musk replied on July 19, “Already did it.” The reply indicated that Musk’s brain-computer interface(接口)company, Neuralink, had already realized the technology, according to Xinhua.

Neuralink was founded by Musk in 2016. The company focuses on brain-computer interface technology which is used to connect the brain to a digital network. It is developing devices for the treatment of patients with neurological disorders(神经障碍). In other words, the company aims to create links between mind and machine, according to Psychology Today.

So how do brain-computer interfaces work? Computers designed to learn the patterns of neural activity are used to take out information from human brains. For example, if a person imagines picking up a book, the computer would then learn to identify how the brain gives that command. Next, the computer would send the signal to the machine, which would then move a robotic arm to reach for the book.

Uploading a brain is only part of Musk’s plan. He revealed to Insider that his goal is to download human mindset into robots. Just like how our memories are stored in mobile phones through pictures and videos, Musk imagines that our brains—not only how we think, but also our personalities and habits—can be diverted into robots. In this way, even after our bodies decay(腐朽), our brains are preserved. Some experts believe that this could be achievable one day, but the timeline is unclear, “The most wildly optimistic predictions place mind uploading within a few decades, but I would not be surprised if it took centuries,” wrote Michael S. A. Graziano, a professor at Princeton University, in a Wall Street Journal essay.