Special Report

AI & Robotics

Recyclers turn to AI-powered robots to counter China’s plastic import ban; historians harness machine learning to solve ancient puzzles; and farmers pick high-tech robotics to help bring in the harvest

Recyclers turn to AI robots after waste import bans
Technology enables unpicking of everything from product logos to valuable car components
How AI helps historians solve ancient puzzles
Digital humanities battles for funding against future-focused applications of artificial intelligence
Coronavirus accelerates the rise of the robot harvester
Labour shortfall gives new urgency to development of smart fruit and vegetable pickers
AI ‘only scratching the surface’ of potential in financial services
Tech can spot fraud and analyse sentiment as further advances are set to transform the sector
Anti-social robots help to increase coronavirus social distancing
Pandemic-driven push to cut workplace interaction buoys makers of automated carts
‘Death of the office’ exaggerated despite homeworking boom
AI-driven tech is accelerating the shift but cannot yet replicate creative meetings