Four Weekly Tech Newsletter – June 14

A round up of the latest tech stories, curated for you weekly, by Four.

Lead articles from June 14

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The emerging paths of quantum computing

The world of computing has witnessed seismic advancements since the invention of the electronic calculator in the 1960s. The past few years in information processing have been especially transformational. What were once thought of as science fiction fantasies are now technological realties. Classical computing has become more exponentially faster and more capable and our enabling devices smaller and more adaptable. We are beginning to evolve beyond classical computing into a new data era called quantum computing.

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Hackers are targeting employees returning to the post-COVID office

With COVID-19 restrictions lifting and employees starting to make their way back into offices, hackers are being forced to change tack. While remote workers have been scammers’ main target for the past 18 months due to the mass shift to home working necessitated by the pandemic, a new phishing campaign is attempting to exploit those who have started to return to the physical workplace. The email-based campaign is targeting employees …

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Flying high with AI

The company has saved 480,000 gallons of fuel in six months and reduced 4,600 tons of carbon emissions, all from using AI. Given the near 85% fail rate in corporate artificial intelligence projects, it was a pleasure to visit with Alaska Airlines, which launched a highly successful AI system that is helping flight dispatchers. I visited with Alaska to see what the “secret sauce” was that made its AI project a success.

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Cyber is the new cold war and AI is the arms race

Continual cyberattacks have pushed us into a new kind of Cold War, with artificial intelligence the basis of this new arms race. The Internet has enhanced communications, increased commerce, and brought people together socially. Unfortunately, it has also enabled malicious activity with data breaches, ransomware, destroyed systems, and the Dark Web. Cyberattacks have become so common that only the large ones make the news now.

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AI and data science trends to watch out for in 2021

Have you ever hopped upon a roller coaster and regretted it instantly? 2020 has been that mean roller coaster ride. It opened with the Australian wildfire and the headlining act – the Covid-pandemic has claimed 1.84 million human lives and counting. But 2020 has given technological evolution a strong push and moved it ahead with speed.

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Deep Mind says reinforced learning is enough to reach general AI

In their decades-long chase to create artificial intelligence, computer scientists have designed and developed all kinds of complicated mechanisms and technologies to replicate vision, language, reasoning, motor skills, and other abilities associated with intelligent life. While these efforts have resulted in AI systems that can efficiently solve specific problems in limited environments, they fall short of developing the kind of general intelligence seen in humans and animals.