Hollywood is beginning to recast artificial intelligence from being the lead character in movies to becoming the leading technology driving the industry. Producers and directors alike are discovering the power of a new kind of AI assistant: IBM Watson, the cognitive computing system that is enhancing the work of the human imagination and giving artists, filmmakers, and other creative minds the tools to uncover new ways of thinking and problem-solving. Imagine the ultimate "super-assistant" on the set to help make hundreds of decisions and take care of mundane tasks that free you up to concentrate on making the picture a box office success. IBM Watson can do this by pushing the boundaries of what producers and directors can create on the silver screen. It can analyze volumes of data -- think photos, online content, scripts, video -- and then recognize, inform and project from the patterns it identifies.

A job search is just a numbers game with plenty of conversion rates. Today, we'll look at how you can improve your rate of Applications Interviews by writing a winning data scientist resume. We've compiled our favorite tips for writing the perfect data scientist CV, and they're broken into 3 sections: Resumes are often misused as a "credential dump," a hodge-podge of skills and experiences. Instead, your resume should tell a persuasive story with YOU as the protagonist. Each section should work in harmony and each bullet point should add colorful details.

Finally! Adobe has devised a method of adding a touch of color to black and white images without all the dimension-jumping time travel (looking at you Pleasantville). At the company's Adobe MAX 2017 event on Thursday, research scientist Jingwan Lu demonstrated Project Scribbler, an AI-driven program that can not only add color but also shading and image texture to grey-scale pictures in just seconds. Scribbler leverages Adobe's Sensei deep learning platform to automatically touch up images. Researchers trained the program on the various bits and pieces of the human face using tens of thousands of images, some monochromatic, others accurately colored. By comparing the two types of images, the program was able to work out the appropriate areas to color in (ie, not the teeth).

The Google Pixel 2 is this week's biggest Android release by far, but if you're not up for new hardware, then turn your attention to the Play Store instead: There are plenty of fresh apps and games worth scoping out over the weekend. Game of Thrones: Conquest is an all-new game based on the hit HBO fantasy series, and it leads our latest Five to Try roundup. Also worth a look right now are the Google Pixel-esque Lawnchair Launcher, charming puzzle adventure Love You to Bits, heart-tracking app Cardiogram for Android Wear, and the silly touchscreen fun of Mmm Fingers 2. It might be a while before we get the eighth season of Game of Thrones, but you can kill time till then with the new Game of Thrones: Conquest game for Android. Based on the popular fantasy phenomenon, Conquest lets you become a lord in Westeros and build your own house, waging war as you interact with familiar characters from the series and capture more than 120 seats of power. In practice, it looks like a lot of busywork--tapping buttons to build things or execute actions, and then waiting for the timers to run down.

In-car entertainment will have to step up to accommodate our automated driving future. With an AI at the wheel, we'll be free to watch movies, play games, and conduct video calls. It's easy to imagine an all-round media player, like Plex, fitting into that scenario. Google's in-car operating system is currently available in newer vehicles, head units, and as a mobile app. And, the next time you reach for its interface, you'll have the option to stream your Plex music library.

The Confederation of British Industry is calling on the Government to establish a joint commission tasked with examining the impact of Artificial Intelligence on people and jobs across all sectors of the UK economy. Based on research it conducted into the way that technology is changing the way we live and work, the CBI said on Friday that it had identified three technologies -- AI, Blockchain and the Internet of Things – that are set to move from the fringes to the mainstream within the next five years. It also found, however, that only a third of businesses currently have the skills and capabilities needed to adopt AI technologies, and that more therefore needs to be done to help prepare those companies for the future. The aim of the commission, the CBI said, would be to examine the impact of AI on people and jobs, and to subsequently set out plans for action that will "raise productivity, spread prosperity and open up new paths to economic growth". "The UK must lead the way in adopting these technologies but we must also prepare for their impacts," said Josh Hardie, deputy director-general of the CBI.

There's a scene in Blade Runner 2049 that takes place in a morgue. K, an android "replicant" played by Ryan Gosling, waits patiently while a member of the Los Angeles Police Department inspects a skeleton. The technician sits at a machine with a dial, twisting it back and forth to move an overhead camera. There are two screens, positioned vertically, that show the bony remains with a light turquoise tinge. Only parts of the image are in focus, however. The rest is fuzzy and indistinct, as if someone smudged the lens and never bothered to wipe it clean. Before leaving the room, K asks if he can take a closer look. The blade runner -- someone whose task it is to hunt older replicants -- dances over the controls, hunting for a clue. As he zooms in, the screen changes in a circular motion, as if a series of lenses or projector slides are falling into place. Before long, K finds what he's looking for: A serial code, suggesting the skeleton was a replicant built by the now defunct Tyrell Corporation. Throughout the movie, K visits a laboratory where artificial memories are made; an LAPD facility where replicant code, or DNA, is stored on vast pieces of ticker tape; and a vault, deep inside the headquarters of a private company, that stores the results of replicant detection'Voight-Kampff' tests.

Smart speakers are everywhere this year. So far, we've seen new entries from Apple, Amazon, Google and Sonos. Now, Microsoft is finally ready to join the party. The Harman Kardon Invoke is the first speaker to feature Microsoft's Cortana virtual assistant. Since it's coming from a brand known for audio gear, it promises better sound than the competition.

Harman Kardon's Invoke speaker, debuting Thursday for $199.95, may end up following in the footsteps of notable Microsoft-powered devices like Nokia's Windows phones: lovely hardware that's slightly tripped up by Microsoft's software and services. The soul of Harman's elegant, cylindrical smart speaker is Cortana, the digital assistant that lives within Windows 10. Cortana deftly steps in during the business day to manage reminders, answer questions about your schedule, reply to general queries about the weather, nearby restaurants, and place calls via Skype. She also serves as the majordomo for your digital home. The inherent tension between a productivity-minded assistant and a consumer-oriented device gives the Invoke a bit of a split personality, and we've split our stories as well.

I would recommend that you start with Introduction to Statistical Learning with R (usually shortened as ISLR). A lot of people have adapted the examples to Python if you google a bit and it's an excellent book that hides just enough complexity to not be overwhelming. Plus, once you have a good understanding of all of it, you can either graduate to the more extensive version (Elements of Statistical Learning, usually shortened as ESL) for a more rigorous treatment of the same thing, or choose to go for something different like Bishop's Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning. ISLR is free as a pdf and has a corresponding MOOC. ESL doesn't, but is also free on the author's website.