Artificial intelligence

Great Silicon Valley Revolt

Tech activism on the rise over issues like military contracts and drone warfare
In November 2018 tens of thousands of Google workers spilled out of their offices, protesting against sexual harassment at the company, and what they saw as a lack of transparency.  The sheer number of Google staff who participated that day helped galvanise a broader movement of worker activism in Silicon Valley, ranging from the use of artificial intelligence in drone warfare for military contracts to Amazon's effect on climate change.

The BBC's Ivana Davidovic has investigated the tech industry’s moral questioning, asking some of the world's most valuable workers why they are putting their jobs on the line.

Artificial intelligence used to develop new powerful antibiotic

The drug is the first of its kind to be found by a machine-learning algorithm
Scientists in the United States say they have used artificial intelligence to discover a powerful antibiotic that kills some of the most dangerous bacteria. Researchers at MIT trained an algorithm to identify compounds unlike existing antibiotics. They then made it search through more than 6,000 compounds under investigation for treating various human diseases. Within hours, the algorithm identified a powerful new antibiotic named halicin. Professor James Collins, a bio-engineer on the team at MIT, spoke to BBC Newsday.

(Picture: Artificial intelligence, conceptual image. Credit: Science Photo Library)
Back to top