Heena Sharma Blog

Jack Ma believes artificial intelligence poses no threat to humanity, but Elon Musk called that "famous last words" as the billionaire tech tycoons faced off Thursday in an occasionally animated debate on futurism in Shanghai. The Chinese co-founder of Alibaba and the maverick industrialist behind Tesla and SpaceX frequently pulled pained expressions and raised eyebrows as they kicked off an AI conference with a dialogue that challenged attendees to keep up, veering from technology to Mars, death, and jobs. However, the hot topic in the hour-long talk was AI, which has provoked increasing concern among scientists such as late British cosmologist Stephen Hawking who warned that it will eventually turn on and "annihilate" humanity. "Computers may be clever, but human beings are much smarter," Ma said. "We invented the computer -- I've never seen a computer invent a human being." While insisting that he is "not a tech guy,...

Chinese internet giant Alibaba on Tuesday opened its first hi-tech hotel in Hangzhou where guests can check-in by simply scanning their faces, the state media reported. FlyZoo Hotel in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, where Alibaba has its headquarteres, is known as the company's first "future hotel". Customers can check into the hotel by simply scanning their faces. The facial recognition system installed in the hotel also enables customers to use their faces as key cards to open doors and access other hotel services, Xinhua news agency reported. Users can also control the lights, television and curtains in the room via Alibaba's voice-activated digital assistant, while robots are deployed to serve dishes, cocktails and coffee. Hotel bookings and check-out can also be done with a few clicks on mobile through an app. "The AI-based solution can help customers save time and relieve hotel employees from repetitive...