Machine learning, the artificial intelligence technology behind Tesla's self-driving cars and Amazon's Alexa, has great potential to put big data to work. But the growing field may have another bonus: providing new pathways for women to get into tech. "Not everyone has to have that PhD in computer science," senior machine learning recruiter at Microsoft Amanda Papp mentioned to me in conversation at the International Machine Learning Conference in New York. "We have folks that have more physics backgrounds or biomathematics or permutational biology. As machine learning teams grow, it could lead to more job opportunity at tech companies for women with majors in physical science, biology, and math.

McRobots are not coming to a McDonald's near you just yet, according to Steve Easterbrook, the company's chief executive officer. His comments came two days after one of the fast-food giant's former US chief executives suggested that a minimum wage of 15 an hour could lead to McDonald's replacing its workers with robots. Easterbrook was speaking at the company's annual shareholders' meeting when he said that technology is not likely to lead to "job elimination" at McDonald's. Related: Ex-McDonald's CEO suggests replacing employees with robots amid protests "It's a topic of discussion right now," he said, when asked by one of the shareholders if the higher minimum wage would lead to shift to more automated services. McDonald's is in a service business and "will always have an important human element", Easterbrook said.