The fear of robots and artificial intelligence is widespread. If it's not popular culture creating images of psychotic or scheming machines think Ultron in The Avengers or Ava in Ex Machina it's the actual news. According to a steady stream of reports, humans will lose jobs to machines on a vast scale. The latest, coming from the White House in February, said up to 80 per cent of people who are currently making 20 (U.S.) or less an hour are likely to be replaced by robots and AI over the next few decades. Those making over 40 are a little safer, but close to a third will still be made redundant.

Robot Wars will soon back on TV in the UK, and a very similar battle is heading for the country's seas. The British Royal Navy will be holding a demonstration of unmanned technology off the coast of Scotland this autumn. And during the event, one company will be trialling the world's first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of landing autonomously on a moving ship. The British Royal Navy will be holding a demonstration of unmanned technology off the coast of Scotland this autumn. One company, Roke, will be trialling the world's first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of landing autonomously on a moving ship (test phases pictured) The machines will compete in their very own version of'robot wars' to demonstrate they could be part of the Navy's future.

Emma was indeed quick: she filed in 12 minutes to my 35. Her copy was also better than I expected. Her facts were right and she even included relevant context such as the possibility of Brexit (although she was of the dubious opinion that it would be a "tailwind" for the UK economy). But to my relief, she lacked the most important journalistic skill of all: the ability to distinguish the newsworthy from the dull. While she correctly pointed out the jobless rate was unchanged, she overlooked that the number of jobseekers had risen for the first time in almost a year.

Google has some of the most powerful computers and smartest algorithms in the world, has hired some of the best brains in computing, and through its purchase of British firm Deepmind has acquired AI expertise that recently saw an AI beat a human grandmaster at the game of go. Why then would we not want to apply this to potentially solving medical problems – something Google's grandiose, even hyperbolic statements suggest the company wishes to? The New Scientist recently revealed a data sharing agreement between the Royal Free London NHS trust and Google Deepmind. The trust released incorrect statements (since corrected) claiming Deepmind would not receive any patient-identifiable data (it will), leading to irrelevant confusion about what data encryption and anonymisation can and cannot achieve. As people have very strong feelings about third-party access to medical records, all of this has caused a bit of a scandal.

For the first time on U.S. soil, 100 drones flew up all at the same time, synchronized to create a light orchestra in the sky. And the work required special approval. According to Intel, "FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) drone regulations limit individuals and businesses from flying multiple drones simultaneously without special exemption. Since unmanned aerial systems (UAS) can pose risks to the busy and complex U.S. airspace, the FAA has taken incremental steps to address any hazards from the proliferation of drones." After working with the FAA by conducting several tests and providing walkthroughs of the technology used for Drone 100, Intel became the only company to ever receive a Section 333 Exemption for multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) per pilot, allowing them to launch 100 drones in Palm Springs, California.

It took millions of years of evolution for nature to come up with something that changed the face of the planet forever – the human brain. Now, the new mind is to be born, and the best cyber scientists will be its midwife. Artificial Intelligence is said to be just decades away from creation, and it will probably change life on Earth entirely. Some predict the coming of Utopia, where machines will help humanity fight disease, poverty and even death. But that's as others see a way more darker future, with machines rising up to eradicate humankind once and for all.

In the past three decades, the number of jobs for knowledge workers has never been rising as quickly as it is right now. About 31 million people had nonroutine cognitive jobs, what is often called "knowledge work," consisting of varied intellectual tasks such as professional, managerial or technical occupations. Just under 30 million people had jobs that consisted primarily of routine manual work--on assembly lines or in warehouses, doing physical tasks day after day. About 30 million people had jobs consisting of routine office work--bookkeepers, filing clerks, bank tellers and so on--work that doesn't involve much physical activity but is highly routine and doesn't necessarily require high levels of knowledge. A fourth, smaller group, did nonroutine manual tasks, such as many service occupations.

There have been very few video game characters as well conceived as Nathan Drake. Exuding charm and determination, strength and vulnerability, he is the sort of male lead great Hollywood screenwriters aspire to create, but that video games have tended to bypass in favour of gritty, cynical sociopaths on mindless quests for retribution. Nathan is a character you care for and want to protect, even when he makes awful decisions that will hurt the people he loves. In Uncharted 4 he gets the conclusion he and his fans deserve – a rollicking, globe-trotting adventure that manages to be funny and exciting, yet also touched with sadness. We soon begin to realise that Nathan's quest to discover Libertalia, the fabled anarchist utopia set up by pirate Henry Avery, is symbolic of his whole career as a treasure hunter.

If your mind instantly went to Skynet, I can put your mind at ease; it's not Skynet. That's not, however, to say that this problem isn't just as scary, only without the cool special effects. While Sci-Fi has made the risks of robot takeover well-known, the more immediate concerns are the subtle decisions being made by (sometimes) poorly coded, or designed, algorithms that can drastically alter each of our lives. Some of the biggest names in tech are coming to TNW Conference in Amsterdam this May. The Obama administration published a report this week that examines problems associated with the shift to an increasingly automated world.

Expedia is the most recognisable brand in the world of online travel and owns several others, including Hotels.com and Trivago. Its companies operate more than 100 branded points of sale in over 60 countries. As a parent company, Expedia has made a steady flow of acquisitions over the past 15 years, and last year stepped up its M&A strategy with the takeovers of online travel agencies Travelocity and Orbitz, and holiday rental website HomeAway. A major goal in this M&A activity is to control and maintain Expedia's market-leading position in an increasingly competitive market for online travel booking, and is reflective of a general industry trend towards consolidation. Expedia was the first online travel giant and has been at the forefront of the transition in the way people book holidays, but that counts for little in the disruptive world of digital.