@WarnerCrocker @BenRiceM

The thing scifi missed about an AI takeover of humanity is that it would be done by the ruling class to save the money they'd otherwise have to pay humans for the work. All those machines-run-amok stories are always about AI implemented to accomplish wondrous things, that ended up slipping out of human control.

If only. It was so rich people could impoverish and disenfranchise normal people even more, and the reason it wasn't halted before believable controls could be implemented is the wealthy weren't suffering the consequences.

As sceptical as they were, the writers of classic scifi just didn't possess the cynicism to guess that part.