Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. When classic films undergo 4K restorations, the results can divide fans. Look around Hollywood and you'll find numerous examples of movie rereleases featuring controversial uses of digital noise reduction, motion smoothing, and other post-production tools. Meanwhile, the proliferation of AI- and machine learning-based upscaling programs has only complicated the debate. When approached properly, though, the technique has helped revive some of Hollywood's oldest--and for a long time, inaccessible--movies.

If you listened to Stephen Fry's recent podcast, it might have left you puzzled. The recording of MS Singh's The Missing Lines cut off after just two minutes and 48 seconds – leaving the next nine chapters in silence. But this was no mistake; it was a trick to raise awareness for the people who go missing every 90 seconds. This isn't the first time a podcast has been used as a stunt. Joe Lycett recently announced Turdcast – a podcast in which celebrities talk about their poo, such as Gary Lineker and his great pitch poo at the 1990 World Cup.

At the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence in Cambridge last year, Professor Stephen Hawking told the crowd: "Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation. We do not yet know which." It is perhaps not coincidental that the centre, which brings together researchers to investigate the implications of AI, has been established in this country. Five of the world's biggest technology companies have bought UK AI businesses in recent years, including DeepMind, which was acquired by Google for a reported $400m in 2015, SwiftKey (bought by Microsoft for an estimated $250m) and Magic Pony Technology (acquired by Twitter for $150m). Analysis by MMC Ventures shows the number of AI companies founded in the UK doubled in 2014-16, compared with 2011-13.

At the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence in Cambridge last year, Professor Stephen Hawking told the crowd: "Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation. We do not yet know which." It is perhaps not coincidental that the centre, which brings together researchers to investigate the implications of AI, has been established in this country. Five of the world's biggest technology companies have bought UK AI businesses in recent years, including DeepMind, which was acquired by Google for a reported $400m in 2015, SwiftKey (bought by Microsoft for an estimated $250m) and Magic Pony Technology (acquired by Twitter for $150m). Analysis by MMC Ventures shows the number of AI companies founded in the UK doubled in 2014-16, compared with 2011-13.

At the opening of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence in Cambridge last year, Professor Stephen Hawking told the crowd: "Success in creating AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilisation. We do not yet know which." It is perhaps not coincidental that the centre, which brings together researchers to investigate the implications of AI, has been established in this country. Five of the world's biggest technology companies have bought UK AI businesses in recent years, including DeepMind, which was acquired by Google for a reported $400m in 2015, SwiftKey (bought by Microsoft for an estimated $250m) and Magic Pony Technology (acquired by Twitter for $150m). Analysis by MMC Ventures shows the number of AI companies founded in the UK doubled in 2014-16, compared with 2011-13.

Go to a screening of a classic silent film and chances are it will be accompanied by a single piano player cranking out tunes influenced by ragtime, jazz and various vaudevillian sounds. But a two-day film fest in Los Angeles aims to update silent classics with a more contemporary soundtrack. UnSilent Cinema, a series of free outdoor screenings to be held at FIGat7th downtown this week, pairs contemporary musicians with classic films by Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, among others. Grammy-winning blues guitarist Alvin Youngblood Hart will provide accompaniment for Fatty Arbuckle's 1918 western satire "Out West," and electronica musician Jimmy Tamborello will score Keaton's 1922 comedy short "Cops." "It's about bringing new audiences to early cinema," says David Spelman, who helped organize the festival.

The cultural and political implications of modern AI research are not some far off concern, they are things that affect the world in the here and now. From advanced control systems with advanced visualizations and image processing techniques that drive the machines of the modern military to the slow creep of a mechanized workforce, ethical questions surround us. Part of dealing with these ethical questions is not just speculating on what could be but teaching our students how to engage with these ethical questions. We explore the use of science fiction as an appropriate tool to enable AI researchers to help engage students and the public on the current state and potential impacts of AI.