Hollywood is forever coming up with new ways to terrify us with the power of smart machines, but this maybe one they haven’t yet hit on: It seems machine learning could make telemarketing more efficient, according to this profile of a young South African startup by Jacques Coetzee.

Self driving cars are getting their own ghost town to toodle around in, with U. Michigan opening up a 32 acre test facility. And that’s just where they should be, says Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, an influential voice on the hill on cars and tech. (h/t Keith Naughton).

This month’s Science Mag is all about A.I., with a bunch of interesting stuff, including an article about what movies get A.I. right. Also included is a paper about why economists should love A.I.: Unlike actual humans, it may actually be rational an therefore actually behave according to their models.

Also, the hitch bot is on the loose. Follow him and cross your fingers.