Whenever artificial intelligence is mentioned in mainstream news, automation is not far behind. And this isn’t entirely without merit: many industries are starting to see layoffs driven by automation, and there are certainly some roles that are beginning to vanish in the wake of AI-driven technology.

But to say that artificial intelligence is automatically a tool for the replacement of human workers is utterly wrong. AI has huge potential to aid human workers and bring meaningful benefits to their lives, and it's this that we are focusing on in the latest issue of Verdict AI.

One topic which is seeing growing attention is the rather glamorously named augmented intelligence. It’s not some sci-fi idea, but instead a practical way to use AI to improve the information available to workers when they need it.

And with significant operational benefits already being seen across several industries, it looks set to see considerable adoption over the next few years.

In recognition of this, we hear from IBM’s Dr Chitra Dorai on the subject, as well as find out how one company, Transversal, is already making the technology available to companies.

Away from the thrills of augmented workers, we look at some of the practical and safety-driven concepts surrounding AI, in particular how visual search can be used to identify terrorism suspects before they commit crimes. 

Back in the office, conversational AI is picking up considerable interest, so we look at how the technology is developing and what its potential really is.

Looking to the future, however, the topic of attention truly is driverless cars. This technology is set to play a major role in our lives within – at the most – a decade, and there are potential impacts for every part of the way we work and live. With this in mind, we hear from Google-owned Waymo’s CEO about the company’s plans, and unveil our own survey results on how business professionals currently perceive the technology.

Read on for all this, and more, in issue three of Verdict AI.

Lucy Ingham 

Editor