> Errant thought: Maybe AI has come along at just the right time to take
> over, a la Day the Earth Stood Still.

I'll see you that, and raise you Colossus: The Forbin Project. And that's when the machine notices the human; somewhere in the last day or so I've read of a woman being the victim of a hit-and-run, after which a driver-free taxi parked itself on top of her. But that methinks is a rant for another thread.