A.I.

Remember the 2001 Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence starring Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law? I remember watching the movie shortly after it's release and thinking that the thought of computers becoming independent, intelligent beings was such a distant concept, so far "in the future" that the film took on a outlandish fantasy vibe.
In 2001, I had this Nokia phone

and it was not that far removed from the cutting edge. Technologically, 2001 was centuries ago.
In 2011 all new smart phones contain voice/image recognition software, social networking sites collect so much personalized information that their servers know more about users than some of their friends and family do, and robots now perform thousands of everyday situations. The possibility of some sort of artificial intelligence being introduced in my lifetime is not only very real, it now seems inevitable. Programmers are hard at work designing computers that will soon unlock mysteries that the human mind is not equipped to handle on its own. Artificial intelligence will one day find the cure for cancer, master nuclear fusion, and solve the puzzle of time travel. The potential is not yet known.
Yet, just like any other giant leap forward, this one poses tremendous risks. How will created beings of superior intelligence coexist with their extremely limited creators? Artificial intelligence will lead to artificial consciousness. Will our collective consciousness, morality, emotions, etc. be altered or deemed trivial nuisances?
The obsession with creating machines that replace us is not just bizarre, its also infinitly dangerous. There is not another species of life on this planet that is actively pursuing its predecessor. To understand the gravity of the danger inherent in enduing computers with limitless intellectual power, one has to look no further than our treatment of animals.