h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nah, mate. There's nothin' around the corner but the druggist and the Chinese take-away.

And what more do we really need?

We need more data.

Machines have gotten complicated enough that we can't be *sure* whether they're thinking for themselves. Sure, there's the Turing test, but so far every computerized machine has required an "oracle," i.e. programmer. Maybe some programmer has been able to make his programs *seem* sentient. Nevertheless, they are still being run by the programmer's program.

I suggest that programmers can and do make mistakes. They may take a while to figure out exactly what those mistakes were. So, time will tell.

Whatever you do, don't panic. Also try not to spit or wrestle the leopard.