CRISPR gene editing technology became nearly a household name with its potential to affect humanity. And a baby was born with three parents. While some decry the developed world is falling apart due to changing political environments, science and technology innovation is likely to continue thriving. In fact, innovation is occurring so fast, I believe 2017 will be the year governments begin to consider forming new science, technology, and futurist agencies and organizations to better contend with the rapid change. The old ones are mired in bureaucracy, conservative religious ideology, and the past--unable to contend with issues like nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.

At the start of a new year, what is there to look forward to? According to predictions from think tanks and tech experts, advances in automation and artificial intelligence will threaten the jobs of millions of workers. The CEO of one company, Capgemini, goes further, predicting that AI will be one of the key factors dividing society into the haves and have-nots, with highly skilled engineers at the one end of the spectrum and low-paid unqualified worker drones at the other, with nothing in between. There will be massive redundancies, for sure. Is it time to rethink the welfare system and pay everyone a minimum living wage whether they work or not?

On Facebook, headlines are often more important than the articles themselves. Most headlines are browsed, not clicked -- think about your own Facebook behavior; How often do you click on links? Because of this, the headlines frame our positions on topics without even having to read the content. It's quick, simple, and we feel informed. But with respect to politics, this news feed browsing behavior creates an electorate that can become dangerously uninformed.

I never think of the future. This quote, credited to Albert Einstein, aptly sums up the daunting speed at which the technology treadmill moves, disrupting existing business models in its wake. It's, however, very difficult to accurately predict which trends will mature and which will die along the way. Nevertheless, if the year gone by is any indication, 'digital' will continue to be the overarching theme of 2017 and its broad components--the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analytics, smart cities and villages, artificial intelligence (AI), mixed reality, digital payments, blockchain, Robotics, connected cars, 3D printing, drones and cybersecurity--will mature over the next 12 months and the coming few years. Will adoption of these trends by the government, citizens and companies, however, ensure India is on the path of becoming truly digital?

Investment in artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to triple in 2017 according to Forrester research, as brands tap into the potential of machine learning and look to take a leading position on the'Internet of Things' (IoT). Amazon and Google have already entered the fray with the launch of their connected home devices – Echo and Home – exhibiting the emerging power of voice to order services online and set personalised alerts based on users' previous behaviour. The rise of the'zero user interface', whereby people reduce their interactions with screens in favour of speaking directly to faceless machines, is set to redefine how brands communicate with consumers. Expect to see the growing importance of AI in CRM systems following the unveiling of Salesforce's Einstein software, which boasts predictive capabilities based on previous customer interactions. Rapid adoption of chatbot technology will continue apace, led by Facebook's roll-out of news feed ads that open directly into Messenger chats and hybrid products such as Google Allo, a smart messaging app with an integrated AI assistant.

While Amazon only just recently started delivering to real customers via drone, it has even bigger ideas. A patent filing reveals a system where they take off from floating blimps stocked with commonly requested products. The adult industry and CES have a longer relationship than you might know. From 1984 to 1998 porn was a part of CES, until AVN split off for its own concurrently running show. Now, the two expos take place weeks apart, and porn has almost no presence at the electronics show.

If artificial intelligence takes over our lives, it probably won't involve humans battling an army of robots that relentlessly apply Spock-like logic as they physically enslave us. Instead, the machine-learning algorithms that already let AI programs recommend a movie you'd like or recognize your friend's face in a photo will likely be the same ones that one day deny you a loan, lead the police to your neighborhood or tell your doctor you need to go on a diet. And since humans create these algorithms, they're just as prone to biases that could lead to bad decisions--and worse outcomes. These biases create some immediate concerns about our increasing reliance on artificially intelligent technology, as any AI system designed by humans to be absolutely "neutral" could still reinforce humans' prejudicial thinking instead of seeing through it. Law enforcement officials have already been criticized, for example, for using computer algorithms that allegedly tag black defendants as more likely to commit a future crime, even though the program was not designed to explicitly consider race.

The Sam Harris podcast with Garry Kasparov is 1½ hours long and was conducted on Skype. The bulk of it is devoted to the recent US election, the Russian influence on this process, the problem of waning American power, the rise of Putin, and the coming presidency of Donald Trump. Chess colleagues who have a much deeper understanding of international politics than Kasparov and Sam Harris can ignore this section. They must, however, concede that the level of discourse is very high and the eloquence and verbal skills Kasparov has achieved in his second language are quite remarkable. In any case if you are so inclined you can fast forward to part on computer chess and the future of intelligent machines, where the opinion of 13th World Champion is undoubtedly relevant.

Artificial intelligence may be the hot trend of 2016, but the term itself opens up a debate. Some praise AI, while others believe reliance on AI is fraught with danger. Others worry about the demise of humans at the hands of our AI masters. Yet whether it is the Internet of Things or health care, AI is only beginning to have an effect. The next big opportunity, in terms of both impact and technology, is cybersecurity.

It has been an eventful 12 months. Samsung smartphones exploded, GoPro drones dropped out of the air and Pebble smartwatches met an untimely end. Facebook became embroiled in a fake news controversy, Yahoo revealed several mega-breaches, we identified the supposed creator of Bitcoin - who then went AWOL - and millions indulged in a game of Pokemon Go. Yet none of those stories made our most-read-of-the-month list - based on the number of times an article was clicked - as you can see below. There is a good rule of thumb: if you do not want your employer to know what you are up to online, wait until you are not on the job.