Re: where it's going...
It is interesting that we have robot technology advancing to the point where we will soon see them policing the streets and waging war for us. It won't be viable for a while to install AIs in each of them individually, but an AI has the ability to control countless numbers in real time for real world applications.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuGJqajHAHo
We are laying the backbone for lightspeed data transmission world-wide with fiber and wireless technologies. There will be nowhere on the planet that will be out of reach. Additionally that network is already being tasked with surveillance-based applications that will be perfectly suited to AIs.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGJIWsE4oAA
LaWS is a real example of lasers just beginning to change the game for air superiority. Lasers have the potential to completely lockdown airspace for any craft that can be detected. If detected being shot down will shortly follow. AIs offer the ability to quickly follow a set posture over a very large area, controlling thousands of units to allow/deny airspace.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKwRI9CmCBM
Right now we are racing for space superiority. Whoever achieves that will dictate business on Earth. In that competitive environment for nations there is no room to turn your nose up at AI technology; it will be required to be that nation. This technology must be embraced and maximized to be that nation. The riches in space are profound and countries are just now waking up to that reality. Whichever company/companies corner that new market will have a lot to say about how Earth is run. If that company is owned by a government that will be even more true. In fact the oft-explored topic of megacorporations running everything seems likely.
Once Earth is under one form of leadership we will come to realize that AIs can stabilize the swings we see in the economy, social applications, etc. It will offer control of people at every level. From what we do, what we consume, even what we think. Chips are already being created that will interface with the mind and open up that cyborg sci-fi door and all that lies behind it.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_XB6Hf6gM
Kind of sucks that we're gonna miss the life extension technologies that are only a matter of time. But maybe we're lucky.