Artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing the face of commerce, computing and other technologies on a daily basis. In its most basic form, the information gathered by artificial intelligence is really just data that can be used to make interpretations and blockchains are built for the storage and transmission of data. Fetch.ai (FET) is a “Cambridge-based artificial intelligence lab” that has the goal of using distributed ledger technology to build a decentralized machine learning platform capable of securely transacting any form of data globally. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of FET has surged 720% …

Across numerous industries throughout the decades, there has always been a pervasive fear that robots are going to take our jobs. While there has been plenty of evidence that automation ultimately moves human workers off production lines, automation often needs human interaction in order to operate within acceptable margins. When we think of these robots taking our jobs and get angry, we’re holding on to an antiquated task view of the world that, with or without us, is going to change. When we think about robots taking our jobs, we layer on a vision of humanoid androids literally doing the …

Malta-based virtual assistant firm Vaiot has integrated IBM’s Watson Assistant with the Cosmos blockchain to sell car insurance. The new platform features an end-to-end sales process that does not require human assistance to complete the car insurance contracts. The mobile app interacts with customers via voice or text, initially asking a series of questions to identify and suggest insurance options. Once signed, the contract is stored on the Cosmos SDK in the form of a smart contract, underpinned by the Tendermint Protocol. The AI monitors the deal and automatically begins the insurance coverage once the payment goes through. Although multiple …

Artificial intelligence specialist Fetch.ai and blockchain solutions provider Datarella have announced the launch of a “Smart City” infrastructure trial in Munich on Nov. 12. The trial will be centered around the Connex Buildings business center in the city and will use a multiagent blockchain-based AI platform to optimize parking space management at the building. This is designed to encourage reduced car use and, hence, reduced CO2 emissions. Autonomous economic agents will negotiate the “price” of parking spaces between the operators and users. Users will be rewarded for choosing less-popular parking spaces or not using the parking lot at all. Rewards …

The IOTA Foundation, a non-profit organization behind the IOTA blockchain, is collaborating with Japan’s government on a project targeting industrial infrastructure. The foundation has partnered on a project initiated by major Japanese maintenance companies, Best Materia and IMC, IOTA representatives announced on Oct. 27. The project is funded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, a national research and development agency operating under Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. According to an announcement, the initiative intends to implement artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology to risk-based maintenance systems in power, industrial, petrochemicals and oil refining plants. Dominik …

The Port of Rotterdam's blockchain subsidiary, Blocklab, has been trialing a decentralized electricity trading system to help lower costs and optimize the use of renewables on its microgrid. The system, called Distro, has been jointly developed by Blocklab and S&P Global Platts and has been operational as a trial for two months. Distro uses blockchain technology, smart contracts and artificial intelligence to support the decentralized, high-frequency trading of renewable energy by commercial consumers looking to optimize and manage their energy use. It matches demand with the intermittent power generated from different sources, specifically solar and battery storage. Each market participant …

SingularityNET, the AI company behind the expressive robot Sophia, is “seriously discussing” a migration from Ethereum to Cardano, after announcing a collaboration with IOHK. IOHK is run by the founder of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, and drives the development of the blockchain platform. SingularityNET is a full-stack AI platform that lets anyone create, share, and monetize AI services at scale. The potential move to Ethereum is driven by concerns around speed and costs that have been badly affected lately by demand from DeFi platforms, with gas cost peaking as high as $17 per transaction. The team also has doubts about the …

The updated Consumer Safety Technology Act, which now includes the Digital Taxonomy Act and the Blockchain Innovation Act, has passed in the House of Representatives and is now headed for the Senate as of Tuesday afternoon. The Digital Taxonomy Act provides definitions for the terms "digital asset" and "digital unit" and would task the Federal Trade Commission with preventing unfair trade practices in both. The Blockchain Innovation Act would require the FTC to put together a report on blockchain's role in consumer protection. Regarding the news, the author of the two bills, Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL), said “As lawmakers, it’s …

More than 150 billion Internet of Things devices are going to be in use worldwide by 2025 — and now, a blockchain specifically designed for IoT has been built from scratch. Flowchain says it solves current pain points with IoT devices and ensures data transactions can take place in real time. Right now, large amounts of data are regularly transferred between IoT devices and the public cloud, but limited network bandwidth slows down computing capabilities substantially. The project claims it has created a “new blueprint for the future” that marries IoT and artificial intelligence, all through the adoption of blockchain …

Professional services firm KPMG has published a report predicting that blockchain will be one of five emerging technology sectors to see increased investment from enterprises over the next 12 months. Titled Enterprise Reboot, the report was compiled by KPMG International and HFS Research. It draws on a survey of 900 executives from organisations on the Forbes’ Global 2000 list of the largest public companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. While it found investment in blockchain fell by 63% due to the pandemic, the report predicts that the sector, along with artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, 5G, and process …

From performing simple commands on smartphones using Alexa or Siri to high-end technical operations in big tech firms, one thing is sure: Ease is a necessity in the modern human experience. The 21st century has marked a rapid advancement of technology in every aspect of human life and interactions. Despite being around for many decades, the replication of human intelligence in machines — artificial intelligence — has now become popularized. With many tech companies rushing to adopt the technology, the market size is expected to grow to $126 billion in 2025. Similarly, distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies have exceeded everyone’s …

Developer Manuel Araoz has played a practical joke online to demonstrate the potential of artificial intelligence bots — by having a bot write an article about itself. According to a July 18 post on Araoz’s blog, AI development company OpenAI released GPT-3, the third generation of its language prediction model capable of creating “random-ish sentences of approximately the same length and grammatical structure as those in a given body of text.” The blog entry provides practical information regarding how the technology could be used to impersonate well-known figures by simulating their writing styles — for example, Araoz used it to …