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The last year was a busy one for Russias military and civilian artificial intelligence efforts. Moscow poured money into research and development, and Russias civil society debated the countrys place in the larger AI ecosystem. But Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine in February and the resulting sanctions have brought several of those efforts to a haltand thrown into question just how many of its AI advancements Russia will be able to salvage and continue.

Ever since Putin extolled the development of robotic combat systems in the new State Armaments Program in 2020, the Russian Ministry of Defense has been hyper-focused on AI. We have learned more about the Russian militarys focus on AI in the past year thanks to several public revelations.

But talk of AI has been muted since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Apart from the widespread use of UAVs for reconnaissance and target acquisition and a single display of a mine-clearing robotall of which are remote-controlledthere is no overt evidence of Russian AI in C4ISR or decision-making among the Russian military forces, other than a single public deepfake attempt to discredit the Ukrainian government. That does not mean AI isnt used, considering how Ukrainians are now utilizing artificial intelligence in data analysisbut there is a notable absence of larger discussion about this technology in open-source Russian media.

The gap between Russian military aspirations for high-tech warfare of the future and the actual conduct of war today is becoming clear. In January 2021, Colonel-General Vladimir Zarudnitsky, the head of the Military Academy of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, wrote that the development and use of unmanned and autonomous military systems, the robotization of all spheres of armed conflict, and the development of AI for robotics will have the greatest medium-term effect on the Russian armed forces ability to meet their future challenges. Other MOD military experts also debated the impact of these emerging technologies on the Russian military and future balance of forces. Russia continued to upgrade and replace Soviet-made systems, part of the MODs drive from digitization (weapons with modern information technologies for C4ISR) to intellectualization (widespread implementation of AI capable of performing human-like creative thinking functions). These and other developments were covered in detail during Russias Army-2021 conference, with AI as a key element in C4ISR at the tactical and strategic levels.

Meanwhile, Russian military developers and researchers worked on multiple AI-enabled robotics projects, including the Marker concept unmanned ground vehicle and its autonomous operation in groups and with UAVs.

Toward the end of 2021, the state agency responsible for exporting Russian military technology even announced plans to offer unmanned aviation, robotics, and high-tech products with artificial intelligence elements to potential customers this year. The agency emphasized the equipment is geared toward defensive, border protection, and counter-terrorism capabilities.

Since the invasion, things have changed. Russias defense-industrial complexespecially military high-tech and AI research and developmentmay be affected by the international sanctions and cascading effects of Russia being cut off from semi-conductor and microprocessor imports.

Throughout 2021, the Russian government was pushing for the adoption of its AI civilian initiatives across the country, such as nationwide hackathons aimed at different age groups with the aim of making artificial intelligence familiar at home, work, and school. The government also pushed for the digital transformation of science and higher education, emphasizing the development of AI, big data, and the internet of things.

Russian academic AI R&D efforts drove predictive analytics; development of chat bots that process text and voice messages and resolve user issues without human intervention; and technologies for working with biometric data. Russias development of facial recognition technology continued apace, with key efforts implemented across Moscow and other large cities. AI as a key image recognition and data analytical tool was used in many medical projects and efforts dealing with large data sets.

Russian government officials noted their countrys efforts in promoting the ethics of artificial intelligence, and expressed confidence in Russias continued participation in this UN-sponsored work. The Russian Council for the Development of the Digital Economy has officially called for a ban on artificial intelligence algorithms that discriminate against people.

Russias Ministry of Economic Development was asked to "create a mechanism for assessing the humanitarian impact of the consequences of the introduction of such [AI] technologies, including in the provision of state and municipal services to citizens," and to prepare a "road map" for effective regulation, use, and implementation. According to the council, citizens should be able to appeal AI decisions digitally, and such a complaint should only be considered by a human. The council also proposed developing legal mechanisms to compensate for damage caused as a result of AI use.

In October, Russias leading information and communications companies adopted the National Code of Ethics in the Field of AI; the code was recommended for all participants in the AI market, including government, business, Russian and foreign developers. Among the basic principles in the code are a human-centered approach to the development of this technology and the safety of working with data.

AI workforce development was spelled out as a key requirement when the government officially unveiled the national AI roadmap in 2019. A 2021 government poll that tried to gauge the level of confidence in the governments AI efforts showed that only about 64 percent of domestic AI specialists were satisfied with the working conditions in Russia.

The survey reflected the microcosm of AI research, development, testing, and evaluation in Russialots of government activity and different efforts that did not automatically translate into a productive ecosystem conducive for developing AI, some major efforts notwithstanding.

Among some of the reasons in 2021 that Russia was lagging behind in the development of artificial intelligence technologies were the personnel shortage and the weakness of the venture capital market. The civilian developer community also noted the low penetration of Russian products into foreign markets, dependence on imports, slow introduction of products into business and government bodies, and a weak connection between AI theory and practice.

Russias likely plans to concentrate on these areas in 2022 were revised or put on hold once Russia invaded Ukraine. The sudden pull-out of major IT and high-tech companies from Russia, coupled with a rapid brain drain of Russias IT workers, and the ever-expanding high-tech sanctions against the Russian state may hobble domestic AI research and development for years to come. While the Russian government is trying to prop up its AI and high-tech industry with subsidies, funding, and legislative support, the impact of the above-mentioned consequences may be too much for the still-growing and evolving Russian AI ecosystem. That does not mean AI research and development will stopon the contrary, many 2021 trends, efforts, and inventions are being implemented into the Russian economy and society in 2022, and there are domestic high-tech companies and public-private partnerships which are trying to fill the void left by the departed global IT majors. But the effects of the invasion will be felt in the AI ecosystem for a long time, especially with so many IT workers leaving the country, either because of the massive impact on the high-tech economy, or because they disagree with the war, or both.

One of the most-felt sanctions aftereffects has been the severing of international cooperation on AI among Russian universities and research instructions, which earlier was enshrined as one of the most important drivers for domestic AI R&D, and reinforced by support from the Kremlin. For most high-tech institutions around the world, the impact of civilian destruction across Ukraine by the Russian military greatly outweighs the need to engage Russia on AI. At the same time, much of the Russian military AI R&D took place in a siloed environmentin many cases behind a classified firewall and without significant public-private cooperationso its hard to estimate just how sanctions will affect Russian military AI efforts.

While many in Russia now look to China as a substitute for departed global commercial relationships and products, its not clear if Beijing could fully replace the software and hardware products and services that left Russian markets at this point.

Recent events may not stop Russian civilians and military experts from discussing how AI influences the conduct of war and peacebut the practical implementation of these deliberations may become increasingly more difficult for a country under global high-tech isolation.

Samuel Bendett is an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and an Adviser at the CNA Corporation.

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Russia's Artificial Intelligence Boom May Not Survive the War - Defense One

In a new survey of retail executives, Symphony RetailAIfound that 82% of them are focusing on data-driven demand forecasting and nearly two thirds (61%) are prioritizing data management in their supply chain.

While there is strong agreement that data is key, the embrace of technologies to achieve those goals is somewhat behind sentiment. Only 13% of retail execs polled think they outperform their peers, while 87% say that their supply chain performance lags or is equal to competing businesses.

Symphony RetailAI's research, conducted with partner Incisiv, also sought to uncover retailers use of AI and machine learning. A high number of 87% of respondents said they have not yet taken meaningful steps to embrace AI and many of them are stalling for a variety of reasons. Barriers include poor data quality, an inability to integrate data from several sources and a general lack of confidence in AI.

The gap between intent and progress underscores the opportunity for retailers to use AI to enhance demand forecasting and supply chain management, according to Symphony RetailAI's experts. As new threats loom and other economic factors create supply chain unpredictability, these results highlight the need to future-proof grocery supply chains to handle unexpected disruptions, declared Troy Prothero, the companys SVP, product management, supply chain solutions. The importance of using data, including AI-driven demand forecasting, to gain a competitive supply chain advantage isnt going away, so organizations that prioritize new ways of using data for decision-making will be better positioned to succeed.

Added Gaurav Pant, chief insights officer for Incisiv: Our research with Symphony RetailAI sheds light on the critical need for retailers to use AI to break down silos and utilize as much organizational data as possible.

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Industry Executives Share Real Insights on Artificial Intelligence - Progressive Grocer

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Collaboration will create digital interactions via artificial intelligence and natural language processing

MISSISSAUGA, Ont., April 20, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Systems today announced a new collaboration with Koos Intelligence to optimize and simplify insurance sales and service processes with artificial intelligence and natural language processing. The integration between Koos Intelligence and Applied Epic and Applied Rating Services will enable brokers to deliver a voice-enabled virtual assistant for customer quoting, creating a faster and more digital customer experience.

A decade ago, most people viewed the idea of machines understanding the human language as science-fiction, said Mohamed Hanini, founder, CEO & chief technology officer, Koos Intelligence. The breakthrough of Natural Language Processing, which is one of the biggest success stories of Artificial Intelligence (AI), changed the way we interact with systems. However, operationalizing AI in insurance and interfacing it with legacy systems are still very challenging. We are glad to announce our collaboration with Applied Systems, which creates a powerful synergy between Applieds ecosystem & Applied Epic and our fully contextualized voice-enabled virtual assistant.

Rogers Insurance is constantly looking to provide a great user experience for our customers and prospects, said Lloyd Freiday, vice president of Information Technology, Rogers Insurance Ltd. Were currently working with Koos Intelligence on its Olivo AI technology to expand our reach and improve user engagements through a digital, multi-platform solution. Koos technology greatly enhances interactions with users through the chat function due to the programs advanced language processing and speech recognition that is better able to answer a multitude of insurance-related questions.

Koios Intelligence is now integrated with Applied Rating Services, Canadas comparative rating service for insurance brokerages, and Applied Epic, the worlds most widely used brokerage management system, to bring artificial intelligence and natural language processing to simplify the insurance quoting, sales and renewal process. Brokers can integrate the voice-enabled virtual assistant with their web or phone to allow for smooth, human-like digital interactions with consumers to meet them where they are. Once data is collected via the virtual assistant, Applied Epic and Applied Rating Services work together to bring the prospect through the customer journey from quoting back to remarketing, creating digital experiences for both the prospect and broker that accelerate the sales cycle and improve customer service.

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Insurance customers and brokers alike want digital solutions to automate the manual, time-consuming challenges they face in the sales and renewal process, said Steve Whitelaw, vice president and general manager, Applied Systems Canada. Access to AI through Koos Intelligence platform voice and phone-enabled technology will enable brokers to enhance their role as trusted advisors and provide consumers with faster service when quoting.

About Applied Systems

Applied Systems is the leading global provider of cloud-based software that powers the business of insurance. Recognized as a pioneer in insurance automation and the innovation leader, Applied is the worlds largest provider of agency and brokerage management systems, serving customers throughout the United States, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom. By automating the insurance lifecycle, Applieds people and products enable millions of people around the world to safeguard and protect what matters most.

About Koios Intelligence Inc

Founded in 2017, Koos Intelligences mission is to empower the insurance and financial industry with the next generation of intelligent and customized systems that are supported by Artificial Intelligence, statistics and operational research. Combining the knowledge of our lead experts in Insurance, Finance and Artificial Intelligence, Koos is developing new technologies that redefine the interactions between insurers, brokers and customers.

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Koos Intelligence and Applied to Further Digitize Sales and Service Workflows - Yahoo Finance

Texas A&M University has joined a new nationwide program that aims to boost college-level curricula about responsible artificial intelligence. The university was selected as a participant in February through an application process headed by theCollege of Liberal Arts, theGlasscock Center for Humanities Researchand theDepartment of Philosophy.

Maria Escobar-Lemmon, associate dean for research and graduate education in the College of Liberal Arts, highlighted two objectives of the program. The first is to bring different points of view into the topic of artificial intelligence.

This program is being offered by the National Humanities Center, and its an alliance between the National Humanities Center and Google that is intended to broaden the range of voices to include humanistic scholars so that we have people with different backgrounds, training and disciplinary perspectives engaging on the issue, Escobar-Lemmon said. That way, its not just those who are writing the code that tells these machines how to talk to each other. Its people who are thinking about what it means to be human and how humanity can benefit from this technology.

The second objective is to create a learning curriculum directly addressing these issues. Texas A&Ms philosophy department was tasked with developing the course curriculum. Emily Brady, professor of philosophy and Susanne M. and Melbern G. Glasscock Directors Chair, feels that Texas A&Ms past curricula makes the department more than qualified for this unique opportunity.

The philosophy department is really well positioned and certainly, it was an important part of the application that we had to submit to the National Humanities Center to be awarded this funding, Brady said. Theyre well positioned already to offer a humanities oriented course because they already have a lot of expertise in this area. There are scholars in the philosophy department who study applied ethics, ethics of technology, and ethics in relation to issues in engineering and computer science. Already, the department of philosophy has a very popular course in ethics in engineering that is taught jointly with the College of Engineering.

Brady is optimistic about the impact this program will have not only on students, but society as a whole.

I think that its a fantastic curriculum design project because its thinking about the concept of responsibility and how that relates to questions about the role of artificial intelligence in society, Brady said. It will certainly benefit students by enabling them to understand the role of technology in society better, so they will grasp ethical questions posed by advancements in science and ethical questions that arise as particular technological and scientific advancements take place. Its a really interesting way of trying to think about how the humanities and sciences can work together to understand the role of artificial intelligence in society. It will benefit both sides through learning about each others research and methods.

Theodore George, department head and professor of philosophy, said the course is currently in the process of being developed with consultation from experts across the country, but is expected to be completed by the end of the calendar year. Once it has been approved by the university, the course titled Responsible Artificial Intelligence will be available for all undergraduate students to take.

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Texas A&M To Offer Courses On Responsible A.I. - Texas A&M University Today

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that skill upgradation of youths of the state is necessary in the field of future technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Electrical Vehicles. Also, in view of the ongoing development and construction works at the village level, there is a need for Mason, Plumber, Electrician, Solar Pump Technician etc. in the rural area. It is necessary to train rural youths in these areas.

The Centre for Research and Industrial Staff Performance (CRISP) should make serious efforts in this direction. These activities are helpful in creating employment opportunities in the state and building a self-reliant Madhya Pradesh. Chief Minister Chouhan was addressing the general meeting of Centre for Research and Industrial Staff Performance (CRISP).

Sports and Youth Welfare, Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment Minister Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Omprakash Sakhlecha, Minister of State for School Education (Independent Charge) Inder Singh Parmar, Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains, Vice Chancellor of RGPV Sunil Gupta and Managing Director of Crisp Shrikant Patil were present in the meeting held at the residence office under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Chouhan.

It was informed in the meeting that a tie-up is being done with Microsoft for training of youth in the field of futuristic technology like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Along with this, a Centre of Excellence will be established in association with Volvo Company for training in the field of Electrical Vehicles. Students seeking employment in these areas will be provided training for 3 to 6 months from skill development centres. The target is to provide training to 4000 trainees every year.

CRISP organisation will start rural entrepreneur programme to provide self-employment to the rural youth of the state. In this, training will be given to four youths each in 22 thousand 800 panchayats. This training will focus on capacity building of Mason, Electrician, Welder, Auto Service, Solar Pump Technician. 91 thousand 200 rural entrepreneurs will be prepared in the state.

The Chief Minister gave his consent to upgrade the existing laboratories, equipment and facilities to create skilled human resource. Along with this, consent was given to develop ITI of Labour Department at par with the level of Skill Trainers Academy of 'L&T' located in Mumbai. In the meeting of the General Assembly, the proposal for starting satellite centres at Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur and Betul was also approved. Chief Minister Chouhan said that satellite centres are useful for training rural entrepreneurs. Initially satellite centres should be developed as model centres in two districts. After that the activity should be expanded.

It was informed in the meeting that CRISP organisation is working in the fields of quality education, economic development to achieve sustainable development goals and local for vocal in the building of self-reliant Madhya Pradesh and in the fields of capacity building, livelihood, skill development, entrepreneurship development and employment generation to achieve goals of Skill India Mission. Information about the activities related to providing vocational training to school students in the National Education Policy 2020 was also given.

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Youth to get training in the field of Artificial Intelligence: Shivraj - Daily Pioneer