The AI engine
Consider the electric motor. It is ubiquitous and invisible at the same time. It is embedded in maybe half the things that have a power supply (leaving out light bulbs). But while it performs the same action - turning electricity into movement - it's function in each appliance varies.
Although factories (back in the day when they were called manufactories used to have one honkin' great source of motive power: a water mill, steam engine, whatever. Now they rarely do: they have many dedicated sources of physical movement where that application is needed. So it is with computers - mainframe verses embedded. And so it will be with AI.
The AI of the future will be invisible. It won't be a giant "brain" watching over us. Deciding the fate of humanity or the planet. it will be lots of little devices making decisions, adapting them, optimising. Maybe working together as we network computers now. Each one doing a little bit where it is needed. More worker bees than Terminators.
The main issue we will have is in developing the tools to program these little AIs. The compilers and editors if you like. What degree of abstraction will the devices work with? How will we define their goals (rather than their operation - that is the AIs job). How will we keep them on the "straight and narrow" - not wandering off in some undetermined direction like Sirius Cybernetics lifts. And how will will get them to recognise when they are being hacked?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
