Technology has advanced to an incredible level over the past 10 years and we continue to see it progress at an astounding rate. These progressions leave us looking for the next new advancement. Our phones, for example, went from sliding keypads to touch screens with apps, GPS, Internet access anywhere and a lady who answers all of your questions like a magical genie. The evolution of technology leaves us wondering, what's next? This is the question that has led many film creators and writers to create fantasies about artificial intelligence. Most portray robots that rebel against and murder mankind, ultimately dominating the world. This concept seems completely outrageous to most; however, the concept of artificial intelligence is becoming a reality.

Microsoft Word has already begun working on an AI program that researches automatic reasoning, adaptation, and the theories and applications of decision making. They've begun making things that will automatically learn when data is entered into them.

Bill Gates himself is working on a project called "Personal Assistant." This assistant is made to aid you in remembering everything, helping you find lost things and helping you pick what to pay attention to. Artificial intelligence is seen by him as a potentially helpful advancement. However, he sees super intelligence as a threat—but not quite the threat you see in the movies. Gates' predictions do not involve controlling humans or anything leading to rebellion and murder by robots, but rather, a threat to our sense of self-worth.

Humans need to feel a sense of self-worth. We constantly search for it as we grow up, trying to figure out who we are and what we can contribute to this world. If there is nothing we can do for anyone, then there is no need for us. Although there is always a need for someone, we don't always feel that way and Bill Gates' concern is there will be a substantially larger amount of people feeling like they are not needed when superficial intelligence comes into play. If an object can do things more efficiently than you, then do you really have a purpose? You don't need to do anything since this other thing can do it for you, and do it better and more efficiently. Here are the really scary questions: what happens if the majority of people lose their sense of self-worth? What will happen when we aren't the rulers of our own world, but simply things that take up space?

These questions can lead to some scary predictions of our future. However, artificial intelligence is something that can and will be helpful in many ways. We have to remember that technology will always have its negative aspects because nothing is perfect, no matter how hard we try to make it.