Our current phase of technological evolution is turning science fiction concepts into scientific facts: driverless cars have driven hundreds of thousands of miles on roads in the United States and parts of Europe; thought-controlled robotic prosthetics are helping people who have lost limbs regain the ability to walk and ‘grasp’ every day items in their hands; machine learning — the ability of a software program to actively learn from previous texts and submit suggestions — in our smartphones and computer systems nudges us towards which movie to watch or book to buy.