It seems we as a species are hurtling forward toward obsolescence as better, faster, stronger, smarter computers are moving from the realm of science fiction to the much scarier realm of science fact.
Perhaps you were unfazed by the recent trouncing of a professional human player by an artificial intelligence in the game of Go. Lee Sedol who holds a 9-dan rank (trust us when we say that is impressive) was beaten in four out of five games by Google's computer program, AlphaGo.
Maybe you think your life will be made easier by the driverless cars that we will all have access to in a few years? Undoubtedly.
But also, think about how they will put taxi drivers, ride-share drivers and professional truck drivers out of jobs.
According to the American Trucking Association, there were 3 million truck drivers employed in 2010. Humans are going to look a lot less attractive as employees, when you can have your freight driven by something that not only doesn't need to sleep, eat or take bathroom breaks, it will also almost never be involved in an accident. Additionally, multiple news outlets have reported that Uber CEO Travis Kalanick told Tesla it wants 500,000 autonomous vehicles from the company by 2020 for the service, in a move that clearly doesn't bode well for those who drive for them currently.
But not everyone is content to sit idly by and just let larger companies help Skynet go self-aware. Take the Finnish farmers who created a chainsaw-wielding drone. Whose side are these people on?
Sure, there appear to be practical tree-trimming and icicle-removing applications for this device but the slow motion video of the flying death saw soaring above a frozen wasteland and decapitating unsuspecting snowpeople belies its more sinister purpose, I think.
It may be time to start working on that underground bunker.
