Having come to terms with my disappointment that by 2000 we were not walking around in silver jump suits, driving hover cars and living in spherical shaped houses, as predicted by Tomorrow World circa 1967, I understand that we now really are on the brink of 'living in the future'

Listening to Radio 4 this morning I hear that we are on the cusp of major advances in robotics and artificial intelligence the application of which will have far reaching consequences for everyone. It is thought that it will not be long until AI outpaces human IQ and cognitive ability. Such is the level of concern that legislation and regulations are being considered to ensure that humans remain in control of devices and systems that have the capacity for autonomous thought and action. The EU are drafting regulations at the moment to the effect that all intelligent devices and systems have a human operated 'kill switch' and function on a set of general principals based upon science fiction writer Isaac Asimovs 'laws of robotics'

Just the other day in connection with my own line of work I was reading about the time, effort and money the Japanese are putting into robots that can carry out basic personal care functions for people with long term health issues or who are too frail to care for themselves due to age. This is driven by economics - more people living longer, the ratio of younger people to fund their care being less.

Blade Runner, Terminator, Westworld etc - not that far off perhaps?