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https://www.ft.com/content/21a6e7d8-b479-11e3-a09a-00144feabdc0

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Can social media change an election result?

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Can social media change an election result?

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Facebook says 126 million Americans may have been exposed to Russia-linked US election posts

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Some 11 million saw adverts purchased by Russian-linked agents

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https://github.com/d3/d3/wiki/Gallery

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Many examples below are broken or use older versions of D3. We're in the process of cleaning up this gallery, and writing new examples and tutorials. Thanks for your patience! Welcome to the D3 gallery! More examples are available for forking on Observable; see D3's profile and the visualization collection.

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STEM subjects are prime fields to study if you like the idea of building a career based around an exciting new technology, and a degree in any STEM subject (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) can be the first step towards making a contribution to the next stage of technological innovation.

Perhaps you'd like to specialize in robotics engineering, nanoscience and nanotechnology, 3D printing, or maybe you want to earn a cyber security degree. Whichever area of new technology you're interested in, read on to discover what you can expect from each specialization and how studying STEM subjects can lead on to careers in each area.

How to prepare for a career in new technology

Just because you want to pursue a career in new technologies, that doesn't mean you necessarily need to study that exact technology right from the start. As with many areas of expertise, it is essential that you first learn the basics - the fundamentals of your area of interest. Depending on your desired specialization, this basic knowledge can be provided across STEM subjects and related technology degrees, including biological science, biomedical science, chemistry, computer science, engineering ( electrical, mechanical, chemical, civil, aeronautical, etc.) materials science, math, medicine, pharmacy, pharmacology, and physics.

These initial pathways will define the way in which you study the new technology in question, so you should take time to consider which route to take. If you're interested in innovating medical technology, then biology, chemistry and medicine would each give you foundational knowledge of the sector. Meanwhile, if you want to go into robotics engineering, a first degree in mechanical engineering could be a wise choice.

Although in the first year of most technology degrees you'll be focusing on the fundamentals, when choosing a program it's important to consider which universities offer advanced modules in your specific area of interest. Although not all technology degrees will offer modules with a specific focus on new technologies, most will offer some sort of specialization in your second and third years of study, giving you the chance to hone your studies towards a career in new technology.

This modular information will often be on the website of the university in question, alongside the overall program details.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology

While nanoscience and nanotechnology refer to the study of really tiny technologies, the field itself is (ironically) massive with vast growth projected over the coming years. This is due to the potential for innovation across a mind-boggling array of sectors, from sunscreen to military technology. By focusing on atomic-level processes, the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology has the ability to stop the effects of harmful chemicals and even to kill cancer cells in humans more efficiently. A food science or medical technology degree are two further avenues offering the chance to specialize in nanotechnology, where you can get involved in the development of medical equipment or the genetic modification of plants and food respectively.
How to study nanoscience and nanotechnology:
Although finding a dedicated nanotechnology degree is currently quite difficult, the field can be studied as a specialization across a wide range of degree subjects - including biology, chemical engineering, chemistry, electrical engineering, environmental science and physics. Other related cross-degree specializations include biochemistry, condensed-matter physics, electronic materials, micro- and nano-mechanics, molecular biology, nano-biosystems, nano-electronics, photonics and sensors and sensing technology.

Bionic technology

Bionics, also known as bionical creativity engineering, is the name given to the application of engineering to recreate biological processes. Bionic technology can not only be used to recreate fully functioning mechanical limbs, it can also be used to recreate other natural processes such as the water-repellent coating on a lotus flower or the extra-thick skin of a dolphin. Whether you want to specialize in humans, animals or plants, bionic technology will appeal to students interested in the relationship between biology and technology. You'll also be pleased to know that bionic research is seeing great increases in research funding; in the UK, for example, Newcastle University recently gained funding for a UK£14 million project to produce a new generation of intelligent prosthetics.

How to study bionic technology:

Useful subjects to study in order to get into bionic technology include biomedical engineering, chemistry, medicine, computer science and mechanical engineering. Specializations of interest could include artificial intelligence, biochemistry, biomimetics, bionics, cybernetics, macro and micro biology, medical technology, neural engineering, photonics, plant engineering and nanotechnology.

Robotics

Where bionic technology replicates biological processes through manmade engineering, robotics engineering takes this one step further. Robots are created to complete all kinds of tasks, from folding laundry to manning a space mission. Society's fascination with robotics, not to mention the fast progression of new technologies in the field in recent years, has seen interest in the study of robotics sky-rocket - alongside the growing availability of robotics degree programs. If you're looking to study robotics, you may be able to undertake a dedicated robotics degree - but more often, robotics is offered via a mechatronics degree, which combines study of mechanics and electronics alongside robotics so students get a rounded knowledge. Robotics and mechatronics students will be interested in researching and developing autonomous machines using techniques to design, build and control their own robotics projects.
How to study robotics:
If a robotics or mechatronics degree is not an option, there are many other useful degree subjects for a career in robotics, including biomedical engineering, computer science, electronic engineering, information technology, materials engineering, mathematics, mechanical engineering, physics and structural engineering. Relevant specializations within these degrees include artificial intelligence, automation, computer programming, cybernetics, mechatronics and robotics software.

Artificial intelligence

Bringing together elements of computer science, engineering and cognitive studies, artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer programming that programs computers to 'think' and act in certain ways in order to mimic human intelligence. Although involved in the creation of intelligent machines, artificial intelligence is largely concerned with the creation of intelligent computer programs that can be installed into machines. When talking of 'intelligence' in terms of computers, what's meant is really human perceptions of intelligence, such as the capacity to store information, solve problems, use reasoning, communicate and interact with the physical world. Applications of programmed intelligence include search engines, networking applications and to stop online fraud. This idea of artificial intelligence is still in its early days, meaning the career potential may be greater than we can currently imagine.
How to study artificial intelligence:
A growing number of institutions are offering specializations in artificial intelligence, most notably within computer science and information systems degrees. Other STEM subjects you could approach artificial intelligence from include computer programming, psychology, cognitive science, mathematics, neural engineering and statistics. Relevant specializations include big data, mechatronics, natural computation, natural language processing, robotics and software engineering.

3D printing

If the heavy investment from universities across the world is anything to go by, the future of 3D printing is huge. Harvard University, Cornell University and Nanyang Technological University are just a few of the many institutions which have recently launched research labs and centers dedicated to the development of 3D printing, with books, demonstrations and business agreements all linked to leading faculty members. Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing uses processes taken from a range of STEM subjects, including manufacturing engineering, and there's also the option to specialize in 3D printing from a design point of view. You might be interested in exploring the crossovers between 3D printing, bionics and nanotechnology, neatly demonstrated by the engineering department at Princeton University, which famously created the world's first 3D printed bionic ear.
How to study 3D printing:
With such a new technology, it may be difficult to find a dedicated degree program in additive manufacturing/3D printing. Despite this, many universities are now offering the chance to learn about 3D printing on the following degrees: architecture, biomedical engineering, design, design engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials science and structural engineering.

Networking and cyber security

A networking and cyber security degree will introduce you to the world of forensic computing, enabling you to understand the latest new technologies used in controlling and protecting information on the web, introducing you to software and hardware technologies, as well as theoretical models. Students will gain in-depth knowledge of computer crime and awareness of how forensic methods are used to collect evidence against cyber criminals. A cyber security degree is not only a study of computer information systems; it's also a study of how these systems fit in with societal laws and ethics. The constant development of this field, along with the tireless ingenuity of hackers worldwide, means that more and more institutions are offering dedicated cyber security degree programs, and new careers in this area continue to emerge at an incredible rate.
How to study cyber security:
If your chosen university doesn't yet offer a cyber security degree program, consider taking the following subjects: computer programming, computer science, information systems and software engineering. Relevant specializations include architecture security, computer crime or computer/network forensics, information assurance, interactive data, internet technologies, IT auditing, IT security and software assurance.
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What to Study for Careers in New Technologies

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STEM subjects are prime fields to study if you like the idea of building a career based around an exciting new technology, and a degree in any STEM subject (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) can be the first step towards making a contribution to the next stage of technological innovation.

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After the data institute presenter referred to "countries like Africa"

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After the data institute presenter referred to "countries like Africa"

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http://mgafrica.com/article/2016-02-01-africa-leads-the-way

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Technology replaces human workforce, reduces required labour.  Humans loose value under capitalism, how will society change.  Some people embrace a fully automated luxury communist utopia.  

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Technology replaces human workforce, reduces required labour.  Humans loose value under capitalism, how will society change.  Some people embrace a fully automated luxury communist utopia.  

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http://novaramedia.com/2014/11/10/imo-w-aaron-bastani-e003/

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Technology that reads DNA faster extends surveillance and identifies us all uniquely... Technology making anonymity impossible  

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Technology that reads DNA faster extends surveillance and identifies us all uniquely... Technology making anonymity impossible  

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https://www.fbi.gov/services/laboratory/biometric-analysis/codis/rapid-dna

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Climate's magic rabbit: Pulling CO2 out of thin air

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Climate's magic rabbit: Pulling CO2 out of thin air

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UN climate negotiators are meeting in Bonn amid a welter of reports indicating that concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have broken records, while international attempts to curb greenhouse gases are not doing enough to avoid dangerous levels of warming. Our environment correspondent Matt McGrath has travelled to Switzerland to see if technology to remove CO2 from the air could be the answer to this ongoing carbon conundrum.

While CO2 concentrations are now higher than they have been in at least 800,000 years, the gas still only accounts for a tiny 0.04% of our atmosphere.

However, extracting carbon dioxide from well mixed air is not just technically difficult, it's expensive as well.

A half-hour outside Zurich stands one of the frontline attempts to develop a commercial approach to sucking down CO2.

On the roof of a large recycling centre at Hinwil stand 18 metal fans, stacked on top of each, each about the size of a large domestic washing machine.

These fans suck in the surrounding air and chemically coated filters inside absorb the CO2. They become saturated in a few hours so, using the waste heat from the recycling facility, the filters are heated up to 100C and very pure carbon dioxide gas is then collected.

This installation, called a direct-air capture system, has been developed by a Swiss company called Climeworks.

It can capture about 900 tonnes of CO2 every year. It is then pumped to a large greenhouse a few hundred metres away, where it helps grow bigger vegetables.

This is not supposed to be a demonstration of a clever technology - for the developers, making money from CO2 is critical.

"This is the first time we are commercially selling CO2; this is the first of its kind," co-founder Jan Wurzbacher told BBC News.

"It has to be for business; CO2 capture can't work for free."

Right now Climeworks is selling the gas to the vegetable growers next door for less than $600 per tonne, which is very expensive.

But the company says that this is because it has built its extraction devices from scratch - everything is bespoke. The firm believes that like solar and wind energy, costs will rapidly fall once production is scaled up.

"The magic number we always say is $100 per tonne," said Jan Wurzbacher.

"We have drawn a road down to the region of $100 and that is something we think is feasible. We can do it by scaling up the mass production of our components. I'd say half of the way to go there - we know what to do. We just have to do it over the next two or three years."

One of the things about CO2 that makes it attractive for developers is that it has many uses in the world.

From fish food to concrete; from car seats to toothpaste - entrepreneurs are trying to use carbon dioxide as a raw material. There's also a roaring trade in CO2 in the US, where it's being used, without irony, to boost the extraction of oil from wells.

One of the most ambitious plans is to extract CO2 and turn it into fuel.

A couple of years ago, car manufacturer Audi announced it had developed what it called "e-diesel", a liquid fuel made from water and CO2. Climeworks supplied some of the CO2 for the trials. Driving down the price of capturing CO2 is key to making this idea work.

"If you have to pay $100 per tonne of CO2 that makes roughly 25 cents per litre of gasoline," said Jan Wurzbacher.

"It is a reasonable amount per litre or per kilogramme of natural gas."

Making fuel or other products out of CO2 might help but it won't achieve the type of large scale take-down from the atmosphere that many scientists now fear will be necessary over the next 20-30 years if the goals of the Paris climate agreement are to be met.

'Natural' solution

The terms of the pact state that there needs to be a "balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in the second half of this century. To reach that balance, many experts believe we will have to resort to technological means of taking carbon out of the air.

"There are some things we can do in the real near-term but to get to zero emissions we will probably need some technologies to remove carbon from the atmosphere," Dr Glen Peters from the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research told BBC News.

"So we need to focus on getting things deployed that we know already work and at the same time we also need to focus on developing new technologies that will help us go the last part of the journey."

Back in 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested that BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage) might be one way to do this. BECCS involves growing plants that suck down carbon, then burning them to make energy while capturing and burying the carbon that is released.

Critics point out that to make a real impact with BECCS would take up way too much land that could be used for planting food.

However, a recent study showed that a simpler approach, including planting more trees and better management of soils and grasslands, could actually make a significant difference.

The report said that this could account for 37% of all actions needed by 2030 - the equivalent to China's current emissions from fossil fuel use.

So would the world be better off planting trees than waiting for Climeworks and others to perfect their technology?

"We're not against trees," said Anka Timofte, an engineer with the company.

"It is all about the efficiency of the surface area that you are using. Our machine has a higher capacity of removing CO2 from the air and this CO2 can be re-used, and our machines are location-independent, so we could place them in the desert or anywhere there is an energy source."

Climeworks has big ambitions. Recently it opened a plant in Iceland. CO2 is captured and buried underground where it will eventually turn to stone.

The Swiss company wants to capture 1% of global emissions of CO2 by 2025. But to make a small dent in the global picture would require the use of 750,000 units similar to the one installed in Hinwil right now. It would also require huge amounts of energy to run these devices.

'Magical techno-fixes'

The Swiss company is not alone. There are similar efforts underway in Canada with a company called Carbon Engineering, and a Finnish-German consortium is also in the direct air-capture business.

So plentiful are they becoming that environmental groups have started to map the progress of these and other geo-engineering projects that aim to curb climate change through technology.

Many greens are deeply suspicious of these efforts. They argue that we need a fundamental rethink of the way that we produce and consume to put sustainability at the heart of everything we do.

"We need to step back and actually question what are all the possible pathways to a climate safe future," said Lili Fuhr from the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

"Have we seriously explored them and are they not more realistic than relying on these magical technologies that in my view hold immense risks and uncertainties and are certainly harmful for many people around the planet?"

Other critics are worried that if the technology works, then it will encourage politicians not to make the cuts in carbon and rapidly move to renewable energy.

Question of time

Climeworks' Jan Wurzbacher rejects this idea. He says it is all a matter of timing.

"If you had asked me 20 years ago I would have said that, yes, you should just focus on reducing emissions.

"But as of today we may have passed the point of being able to achieve it just by that. People say we will need to remove 10 gigatonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere every year by 2050. It's not enough to develop it then; you need to deploy it and scale it, and that will take 30 years!"

Lili Fuhr doesn't agree. She says that approaches to capturing carbon are all part of a self-preservation strategy by the fossil fuel industry.

"For many decades the fossil fuel industry has funded climate sceptics and in that way tried to prevent climate action. But they've seen that is not working, so instead of denying, they are beginning to come up with these magical techno-fixes that would help prolong the lifespan of their industry.

"What we are seeing is a shift in the broader denial-ism and prevention strategy of the fossil fuel industry."

Follow Matt on Twitter and on Facebook

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Climate's magic rabbit: Pulling CO2 out of thin air

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UN climate negotiators are meeting in Bonn amid a welter of reports indicating that concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have broken records, while international attempts to curb greenhouse gases are not doing enough to avoid dangerous levels of warming.

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New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 in UK

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New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 in UK

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New diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned in the UK from 2040 in a bid to tackle air pollution, the government has announced.

Ministers have also unveiled a £255m fund to help councils tackle emissions, including the potential for charging zones for the dirtiest vehicles.

But the £3bn clean air strategy does not include a scrappage scheme, calling previous ones "poor value" for money.

Local government leaders welcomed the funding but called for more detail.

Local authorities will be given direct financial support from the government, with £40m of the fund being made immediately.

They can use the funds for a range of measures, such as changing road layouts, implementing new technologies or encouraging residents on to public transport.

If those measures do not cut emissions enough, charging zones could be the next step - but the government says these should only be used for "limited periods".

The timetable for councils to come up with initial plans has been cut from 18 months to eight, with the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra) wanting to "inject additional urgency" into the process.

It follows the government being given its own deadline of 31 July after High Court judges said it was failing to meet EU pollution limits.

The funding pot will come from changes to tax on diesel vehicles and reprioritising departmental budgets - the exact details will be announced later in the year.

Councils could change road layouts, retrofit public transport, and encourage local people to leave their cars at home.

A Clean Air Fund would allow local authorities to bid for additional money to put in more air quality control measures.

A new Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill will allow the government to require the installation of charge points for electric vehicles at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers.

Local Government Association environment spokesman Martin Tett said the plans to allow councils to switch their focus from monitoring air quality to improving air quality was the right move and welcomed the additional funding.

However, he opposed the view of the government to hold off on a scrappage scheme, arguing "this immediate intervention could help increase the uptake of lower emission vehicles".

Industry interests

Ministers have been wary of being seen to "punish" drivers of diesel cars, who, they argue, bought the vehicles after being encouraged to by the last Labour government because they produced lower carbon emissions.

The industry trade body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said it was important to avoid outright bans on diesels, which would hurt the sector.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles was growing but still at a very low level.

"The industry instead wants a positive approach which gives consumers incentives to purchase these cars. We could undermine the UK's successful automotive sector if we don't allow enough time for the industry to adjust."

The AA said significant investment would be needed to install charging points across the country and warned the National Grid would come under pressure with a mass switch-on of recharging after the rush hour.

The UK announcement comes amid signs of an accelerating shift towards electric cars instead of petrol and diesel ones, at home and abroad:

Analysis

By Roger Harrabin, BBC environment analyst

So how will the air be cleaned up? Plans for a diesel scrappage scheme for old vehicles have been rejected by the Treasury as poor value for money. They may be reconsidered in the autumn.

The government has told councils to solve pollution on their own streets by improving public transport and considering restrictions on dirty diesel vehicles at peak times.

If that doesn't work, councils will be told to charge diesel drivers to come into towns.

The councils aren't happy to take the rap for the controversial policy when it was the government that encouraged the sale of diesel vehicles in the first place.

Today's government plan is not comprehensive - it doesn't address pollution from construction, farming and gas boilers.

And clean air campaigners say the government is using the 2040 electric cars announcement to distract from failings in its short-term pollution policy.

Air pollution is thought to be linked to about 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, and transport also contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.

A government spokesman said poor air quality was "the biggest environmental risk" to public health in the UK.

2020s switch-over

The measures are "good" in the long term but "not very effective" in the short, industry expert David Bailey said.

A switch-over to electric cars would likely come in the mid-2020s, he predicted, when electric cars would out-compete petrol and diesel ones on factors like cost.

"This sets a very clear direction of travel, but petrol and diesel cars won't exist by 2040," he said.

He said more incentives were needed now, otherwise urban air quality would not improve.

Emissions hotspots

Environmental law firm ClientEarth welcomed the measures, but said it wanted to see more detail.

Chief executive James Thornton said the law found ministers must bring down illegal levels of air pollution as soon as possible.

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas welcomed a ban but said it did not go "nearly far enough or fast enough".

Friends of the Earth said the plan was a "cynical" move which passed the buck of saving lives to local authorities.

Labour said the government was only acting after being taken to court.

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokeswoman Sue Hayman MP said the government had a "squeamish" attitude to clear air zones, and was shunting the problem on to local authorities.

"With nearly 40 million people living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution, action is needed now, not in 23 years' time," she said.

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New diesel and petrol vehicles to be banned from 2040 in UK

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New diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned in the UK from 2040 in a bid to tackle air pollution, the government has announced. Ministers have also unveiled a £255m fund to help councils tackle emissions, including the potential for charging zones for the dirtiest vehicles.

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Do Robots Deserve Rights? What if Machines Become Conscious?

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Do Robots Deserve Rights? What if Machines Become Conscious?

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Do Robots Deserve Rights? What if Machines Become Conscious?

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The Rise of the Machines – Why Automation is Different this Time

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The Rise of the Machines – Why Automation is Different this Time

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The Rise of the Machines – Why Automation is Different this Time

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Is Reality Real? The Simulation Argument

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Is Reality Real? The Simulation Argument

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Is Reality Real? The Simulation Argument

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The Internet is being ruined by privatisation 

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The Internet is being ruined by privatisation 

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http://freakonomics.com/podcast/internet/

https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/publications/daedalus/winter2016/16_Winter_Daedalus.pdf

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The AI composer that copies classical composers 

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The AI composer that copies classical composers 

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http://arstechnica.com/science/2009/09/virtual-composer-makes-beautiful-musicand-stirs-controversy/

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Evolution simulator in 2000 lines of code

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Evolution simulator in 2000 lines of code

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https://www.openprocessing.org/sketch/377698

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watch free on Kanopy (needs Imperial login): https://imperial.kanopystreaming.com/video/ex-machina

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Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains

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Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains

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Is our world a simulation? Why some scientists say it's more likely than not

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Is our world a simulation? Why some scientists say it's more likely than not

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Is our world a simulation? Why some scientists say it’s more likely than not

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A swath of technologists and physicists believe that ‘simulation theory’ will be proved, just as it was proved that the Earth was not the center of the universe

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The rise of robots: forget evil AI – the real risk is far more insidious

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The rise of robots: forget evil AI – the real risk is far more insidious

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When we look at the rise of artificial intelligence, it's easy to get carried away with dystopian visions of sentient machines that rebel against their human creators. Fictional baddies such as the Terminator's Skynet or Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey have a lot to answer for.

However, the real risk posed by AI - at least in the near term - is much more insidious. It's far more likely that robots would inadvertently harm or frustrate humans while carrying out our orders than they would become conscious and rise up against us. In recognition of this, the University of California, Berkeley has this week launched a center to focus on building people-pleasing AIs.

The Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence, launched this week with $5.5m in funding from the Open Philanthropy Project, is led by computer science professor and artificial intelligence pioneer Stuart Russell. He's quick to dispel any "unreasonable and melodramatic" comparisons to the threats posed in science fiction.

"The risk doesn't come from machines suddenly developing spontaneous malevolent consciousness," he said. "It's important that we're not trying to prevent that from happening because there's absolutely no understanding of consciousness whatsoever."

Russell is well known in the artificial intelligence community and in 2015 penned an open letter calling for researchers to look beyond the goal of simply making AI more capable and powerful to think about maximizing its social benefit. The letter has been signed by more than 8,000 scientists and entrepreneurs including physicist Stephen Hawking, entrepreneur Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

"The potential benefits [of AI research] are huge, since everything that civilization has to offer is a product of human intelligence; we cannot predict what we might achieve when this intelligence is magnified by the tools AI may provide, but the eradication of disease and poverty are not unfathomable," the letter reads.

"Because of the great potential of AI, it is important to research how to reap its benefits while avoiding potential pitfalls."

It's precisely this thinking that underpins the new center.

Up until now, AI has primarily been applied to very limited contexts such as playing Chess or Go or recognizing objects in images, where there isn't much scope for the system to do much damage. As they start to make decisions on our behalf within the real world, the stakes are much higher.

"As soon as you put things in the real world, with self-driving cars, digital assistants ... as soon as they buy things on your behalf, turn down appointments, then they have to align with human values," Russell said.

He uses autonomous vehicles to illustrate the type of problem the center will try to solve. Someone building a self-driving car might instruct it never to go through a red light, but the machine might then hack into the traffic light control system so that all of the lights are changed to green. In this case the car would be obeying orders but in a way that humans didn't expect or intend. Similarly, an artificially intelligent hedge fund designed to maximize the value of its portfolio could be incentivized to short consumer stocks, buy long on defence stocks and then start a war - as suggested by Elon Musk in Werner Herzog's latest documentary.

"Even when you think you've put fences around what an AI system can do it will tend to find loopholes just as we do with our tax laws. You want an AI system that isn't motivated to find loopholes," Russell said.

"The problem isn't consciousness, but competence. You make machines that are incredibly competent at achieving objectives and they will cause accidents in trying to achieve those objectives."

To address this, Russell and his colleagues at the center propose making AI systems that observe human behavior and try to work out what the human's objective is, then behave accordingly and learn from mistakes. So instead of trying to give the machine a long list of rules to follow, the machine is told that its main objective is to do what the human wants them to do.

It sounds simple, but it's not how engineers have been building systems for the past 50 years.

But if AI systems can be designed to learn from humans in this way, it should ensure that they remain under human control even when they develop capabilities that exceed our own.

In addition to watching humans directly using cameras and other sensors, robots can learn about us by reading history books, legal documents, novels, newspaper stories as well as by watching videos and movies. From this they can start to build up an understanding of human values.

It won't be easy for machines. "People are irrational, inconsistent, weak-willed, computationally limited, heterogenous and sometimes downright evil," Russell said.

"Some are vegetarians and some really like a nice juicy steak. And the fact that we don't behave anything close to perfectly is a serious difficulty."

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The rise of robots: forget evil AI - the real risk is far more insidious

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When we look at the rise of artificial intelligence, it's easy to get carried away with dystopian visions of sentient machines that rebel against their human creators. Fictional baddies such as the Terminator's Skynet or Hal from 2001: A Space Odyssey have a lot to answer for.

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Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World: Werner Herzog documentary, 2016

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Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World: Werner Herzog documentary, 2016