💡 Inside AI Weekly Roundup: The Top Seven Stories You Need To Know:

• Russian computer vision startup NtechLab is expanding its facial recognition system to an additional 10 Russian cities.
• Amsterdam and Helsinki have launched open records to show the public how they're using AI algorithms, the first major cities in the world to do so.
• A new AI partnership aims to make VMware's data center managing software work better with Nvidia's AI and deep learning chips.
• UCLA professor Zhu Songchun, known for his work in computer vision, robotics, and cognitive AI, has reportedly moved to China to lead Peking University's Institute for Artificial Intelligence.
• The Pentagon should prioritize AI and other emerging technologies, which are making traditional battlefields "increasingly irrelevant," according to a congressional panel report.
• Google announced a new smart speaker called Nest Audio and the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a (5G) smartphones, which will have some new AI-enabled features.
• New plans have come forward for an AI-powered smart city in China, which has its first phase under construction since April.

Facebook says its AI will suggest matches between people needing and offering help in its Community Help feature. An algorithm now recommends connections for neighbors who want and can provide help during the pandemic.

• An example would be matches for delivering groceries or requesting masks between neighbors.
• Facebook says the algorithm, which it developed with the natural language understanding model XLM-R, is now in all countries in 18 languages.
• Facebook's AI lab is also asking the public to chat with natural-language processing models to make the algorithms more intelligent. Facebook’s AI Research (FAIR) lab recently launched its Dynabench research project for AI data collection and benchmarking, which will help train their NLP AIs more directly and potentially lead to more powerful models and AI advancements.

Business Insider Intelligence released three best practices for banks that want to maximize their AI investments. In a report, the publication dived into ways that banks can make positive ROIs from AI innovations.

Best practices for AI banking:

• Find the right balance between collaborating with third-party providers and creating in-house proprietary solutions. Bigger banks may work on in-house solutions more than smaller FIs since they typically have access to more AI talent.
• Centralize data for easier utilization. A centralized data storage location makes the data accessible to any division, so they can leverage it more effectively.
• Take the long view of judging AI's success while bearing in mind the ROI of those solutions. A good AI strategy relies on leadership that understands AI, but banks should keep tabs on the ROI and the effects of AI solutions they implement, including ending those that don't boost their bottom lines.

Toyota revealed new details of its “gantry robot” for home tasks and other prototypes this week. The robot, which hangs from the ceiling, was inspired by the smaller design of Japanese homes and could particularly help older generations that require more assistance in their homes.

More:

• The robot descends from the ceiling to pick up clutter, wipe surfaces, and load the dishwasher before tucking itself back in.
• Using a ceiling robot to perform tasks avoids the need to navigate on cluttered floors, said Dan Helmick, robotics fleet learning co-lead at Toyota's Research Institute.
• TRI also showed off an air-filled bubble gripper for picking up household items and a floor-based mobile robot with the same capabilities as the ceiling bot.
• Toyota launched its Research Institute focused on AI, automated driving, and robotics innovations in 2015 via a $1b investment. It's also planning to build a robot-powered "city of the future" near Mount Fuji.

Forbes contributor Bernard Marr, a noted futurist and author, shared nine soft skills he believes employees should cultivate in the age of AI, automation, and big data. Marr says workers need not be intimidated by AI as the human brain is "far more complex and more powerful than any AI in existence."

Soft skills he recommends:

1. Creativity
2. Analytical (critical) thinking
3. Emotional intelligence
4. Interpersonal communication skills
5. Active learning with a growth mindset
6. Judgment and decision making
7. Leadership skills
8. Diversity and cultural intelligence
9. Embracing change

Robotics firm Refraction AI, developer of the REV-1 autonomous delivery bot, has named Luke Schneider as its new CEO. Schneider is taking over the CEO position from Matthew Johnson-Roberson, the company’s founder, who will remain as the company’s chief technology officer.

More:

• The company, which came out of stealth last year, has recently been using its autonomous robot machines to deliver food and groceries in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• The company is developing a smaller-sized autonomous vehicle that can be used by restaurants and grocers for delivery. These vehicles are large enough to hold groceries, but compact enough to travel in a bike lane.
• Schneider is coming to Refraction from connected vehicle data company wejo, where he served as chief operating officer. Before that, he was the CEO of Audi’s Silvercar rental service and CTO for Zipcar.
• Listen to Inside writer Johan Moreno's interview with Refraction AI CEO Matthew Johnson-Roberson on the Inside Transportation Podcast.

Quick Hits

• Researchers identified stereotypes about people that popular AI language models pick up early in their development.
• AI researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory created a machine-learning tool that spotted craters on Mars left by a past meteor.
• Parents of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver released a video showing an AI recreation of their son, who urges peers to vote for lawmakers who support policies against gun violence.
• Intel delivered 50 million artificial neurons, equivalent to a small mammal's brain, to Sandia National Laboratories to advance neuromorphic computing.
• Amazon’s Alexa app can now serve as a secondary in-vehicle display, meant to work with the company’s Echo Auto assistant.
• Merck R&D head Roger Perlmutter will join board of Insitro, an AI drug discovery firm.
• Sophia Genetics, which does medical imaging and genetic sequencing using machine learning, raised $110M.
• VMWare purchased IT automation software platform SaltStack, terms undisclosed.
• Perspecta Labs, the company's applied research arm, received an award from the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity to provide research on the TrojAI program.
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Tweet of the Day: Cinematographer/virtual reality designer Daniel Voshart used machine learning to create photo-realistic portraits of Roman emperors.