Netflix has just announced they are using real people to help their users find new movies to watch. They are trialling a new feature called Collections. In their words, it adds a'human touch' to film recommendations when used on their iOS mobile platform. It's a bold move considering that many other publishers prefer to only rely on automated or AI algorithm-based recommendations. But Netflix isn't about to do away with machines altogether.

Scrolling through Twitter on his phone before going to sleep on 22 May 2017, Dan Hett saw a few vague mentions of an accident of some sort in Manchester: "no details, no actual news, just busybodies speculating." He rubbed his eyes, removed his glasses and lay down without thinking about it any further. It wasn't until he picked up his phone the following morning and saw hundreds of notifications that he realised something real had happened, that there had been an explosion, and that his brother Martyn was missing. "The messages, the ones you read … they were right, and you went to sleep," said a voice in his head. "You went to fucking sleep."

In the back kitchen of Mountain View's newest pizzeria, Marta works tirelessly, spreading marinara sauce on uncooked pies. She doesn't complain, takes no breaks, and has never needed a sick day. Marta is one of two robots working at Zume Pizza, a secretive food delivery startup trying to make a more profitable pizza through machines. It's also created special delivery trucks that will finish cooking pizzas during the journey to hungry customers if approved by the Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health. Right now Zume is only feeding people in Mountain View, California, but it has ambitions to dominate the 9.7 billion pizza delivery industry.