Tag Archives: request

Artificial Intelligence A Job Killer? Software Developers Fear So

Software developers fear that the rise of artificial intelligence might take away their jobs. That came out as the top worry of the biggest percentage of respondents to a survey of 550 software developers, conducted by research firm Evans Data. In the survey, 29% of the engineers agreed with the statement that their top fear is “I and my development efforts are replaced by artificial intelligence.” This was more troublesome than their software platform becoming obsolete, which was the second-most-cited worry at 23%, or that the new platforms they’re focusing on fail to gain market acceptance, at 14%. According to the survey, the thought of obsolescence due to AI also was more threatening than becoming old without a pension, being stifled at work by bad managers or by seeing their skills becoming irrelevant. While the developers who worried about AI were found across industries and platforms, one strong correlation was that they were more likely to self-identify with being loners rather than team players. Decades of research and billions of dollars have been poured into the development of artificial intelligence, which is quickly expanding from the tech elite to the smallest startups. Facebook ( FB ), Alphabet ( GOOGL ) and IBM ( IBM ) among other tech leaders have big ambitions for pushing the envelope of artificial intelligence. Facebook is using AI to decipher the best ways to bring Internet service to remote areas of the world and to make its News Feed feature more relevant to users of the social network. Alphabet is using it to enhance Google search abilities, improve voice recognition and to derive more data from images and video. IBM, which has perhaps the deepest investments and most far-reaching ability of any company in the field, now offers AI services through its cloud-based platform, used by companies to improve business decisions and operations, based on its Watson cognitive computing platform. More than 500 companies have deals with IBM to use Watson cloud services to develop commercial products and apps. Since 2010, AI startups have received $967 million in funding, according to CB Insights. Among the most active investors is Intel ( INTC ), which has invested in 16 AI companies.

This Payment Processor Stock Is Testing Critical Support

Loading the player… Global Payments ( GPN ) is testing critical support in the stock market today . The move comes one month ahead of the payment processor’s next quarterly report, which is expected to show earnings growth of 19% and a sales decline of 24%. Shares are testing support at the 50-day and 200-day lines, falling 2.2% to breach those levels in intraday trade. Global Payments’ volume was tracking lighter than average. The two lines are converging, which is a bearish sign. Global Payments’ performance over the past few months has lagged, with the stock coming as much as 31% below its December high. Shares are now about 20% below a consolidation buy point. Elsewhere in the payments space, Square ( SQ ) will issue its quarterly results after the close on Wednesday. Analysts expect to see a per-share loss of 13 cents. Revenue is projected to jump 37%. Square is working on an IPO base with a 14.88 buy point. The stock is currently trading 21% below the pivot, down 5.7% Tuesday afternoon. PayPal ( PYPL ), which is on the IBD 50 list of leading stocks, is also working on an IPO base. PayPal shares are trading 9% below a potential buy point, down 1.5% in afternoon trade. Fellow IBD 50 member Vantiv ( VNTV ) is hovering under a 53.56 cup buy point, which it attempted to break out of late last month. Vantiv’s stock fell 3.1% Tuesday, and is 5% below its recent high. Visa ( V ) dropped below its converging 50-day and 200-day lines on Monday, while MasterCard ( MA ) dropped below its downward-sloping 50-day line on Monday. Visa and Mastercard fell 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively, Tuesday afternoon.

Prime Now Seen Helping Amazon Gain Vs. Retailers Wal-Mart, Target

With the Amazon.com ( AMZN ) one-hour delivery app Prime Now , it’s possible to order a big-screen television on New Year’s day from a mobile phone and still catch that day’s football bowl games. This capability is going to help Amazon destroy the advantage that Wal-Mart ( WMT ), Target ( TGT ) and others hope to gain by offering online orders, in-store pickup and stores as warehouses for online deliveries, according to a Wells Fargo analyst. Though ordering a TV from a smartphone and having it delivered immediately is not a typical use of Prime Now, Amazon’s app has caught on with consumers. The Seattle-based giant has brought the service to 26 markets in just over a year. It’s part of the company’s move to dominate “Need It Now” shopping, Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer wrote in a research note late Monday. Prime Now members must be members of the company’s Amazon Prime loyalty program, which costs $99 a year. Amazon Prime includes free two-day shipping, free video streaming and a host of other perks. Those perks include Prime Now, which offers free two-hour shipping of roughly 30,000 products in markets where it’s available, and one-hour shipping for $7.99 per delivery. Amazon’s push may eliminate a key advantage of physical retailers — the last-mile convenience of being able to get something immediately. As that advantage disappears, so do other advantages touted by brick-and-mortar stores, such as the ability to pick up an online order quickly at your local store. Prime Now is gaining even in food delivery, Nemer says. He says that Prime Now has a better app for Apple ( AAPL ) iOS users than Google Express, the Alphabet ( GOOGL ) food delivery service. Wal-Mart, Target and other retailers have struggled to compete with Amazon’s growth rate and innovation — especially around customer loyalty programs. Target recently launched its Red Card loyalty program. Amazon stock was up nearly 1%, near 567, in afternoon trading on the stock market today. In the research note, Nemer says that Prime Now, though not currently profitable, helps Amazon retain Prime member loyalty and will, with scale, become profitable. Prime also gives the company opportunities to experiment — for example, selling products in smaller pack sizes or offering high-turnaround fresh groceries that would be impossible to sell on Amazon.com. Nemer says that Amazon’s delivery of local food items “suggests” that it may compete with food-delivery platforms like GrubHub ( GRUB ) and privately held Uber’s UberEats. It’s also possible, Nemer says, that Amazon could begin to eat into convenience store market share. If Amazon can deliver small-pack sizes for lower prices with free delivery, convenience stores could have trouble competing, he says.