From the Smithsonian comes news – and a must-see fascinating video – about a painting created using data from more than 168,000 fragments of Rembrandt’s work, trained to paint in Rembrandt’s signature style.

The use of Cortana, an AI personal assistant created by Microsoft initially for Windows phones, has been a big hit in Japan and China. The Mandarin language version, named Xiaoice, is being used daily by a TV station to report the morning weather.

The MIT Technology Review’s annual list of 35 Innovators Under 35 aims to illustrate the most important emerging technologies of the moment. Released this August, the 2015 list features a number of robotics and AI visionaries. Check them out.

In episode eighteen we talk with Sham Kakade, of Microsoft Research New England, about his expansive work that touches on everything from neuroscience to theoretical machine learning.

In episode seventeen we talk with Jennifer Listgarten of  Microsoft Research New England about her work using machine learning to answer questions in biology.

They want to communicate more accurately, resolve issues faster and with higher levels of satisfaction than at present. They also want to enable more complex communication. And they want to do it amiably.