Blockchain technology brings security structures and incentives in line with the way we share information in the 21st century. Lloyd's of London knows a thing or two about business losses--for three centuries, the world's oldest insurance market has been paying out damages triggered by wars, natural disasters, and countless acts of human error and fraud. So, it's worth paying attention when Lloyds estimates that cybercrime caused businesses to lose 400 billion between stolen funds and disruption to their operations in 2015. If that number seems weighty--and it ought to--try this one for size: 2.1 trillion. That's Juniper Research's total cybercrime loss forecast for the even more digitally interconnected world projected for 2019. To put that figure in perspective, at current economic growth rates, it would represent more than 2% of total world GDP.

According to certain experts, by the year 2050, sex robot tourism, marriage, and prostitution will be commonplace. Robotics expert John Snell of Iowa's Kirkwood College suggests that sex robots, which are robots with which one can presumably have intercourse, will be better in the sack than humans. "'Because they would be programmable," Snell explained to Metro UK, "sexbots would meet each individual user's needs." Concerned about the human condition, Snell notes a possible downside, saying, "Robotic sex may become addictive. Sexbots would always be available and could never say no, so addictions would be easy to feed." The University of Victoria Management School's Ian Yeoman and Michelle Mars wrote a paper entitled, "Robots, Men, and Sex Tourism" which suggested that sex robots would be used as high-end prostitutes by the year 2050.

To create a desirable future where humans and conscious machines are at peace with one another, treating our AI with respect may be a crucial factor in preventing the apocalypse Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates fear. Like basic human rights, AI rights may include the right to liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the law. But how will AI rights be different from human rights? The AI rights revolution may be contingent on intelligent machines being conscious, with the capacity to feel that they exist and consequently feel pleasure and pain.

Cyberspace is an increasingly hostile environment. In 2015, a PwC study of U.S. organizations found that 79 percent of respondents had detected a security incident during the year. Today, malicious hackers continue to wage on business networks and systems. Their aim - to extract data to sell on the black market. Making use of the latest technology, these criminals exert huge pressure on businesses to defend its assets.

Over the past century, we have made massive strides in the rights revolution. These include rights for women, children, the LGBT community, animals, and so much more. Exploring the future, we must ask ourselves: what next? Will we ever fight for the rights of artificial intelligence? If so, when will this AI rights revolution occur, and what will it look like?

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link's team of expert contributors. Michael Allen is Managing Principal at Lateral Link, focusing exclusively on partner placements with Am Law 200 clients and placements for in-house attorneys. There's a new attorney named ROSS in BakerHostetler's bankruptcy practice and it doesn't eat, sleep, or complain about bonuses. Back in May, the Texas firm announced it would be the first to integrate artificial intelligence into its practice. Since then, Latham has entered into the fray, along with the Milwaukee-based Von Briesen & Roper.

Over the past century, we have made massive strides in the rights revolution. These include rights for women, children, the LGBT community, animals, and so much more. Exploring the future, we must ask ourselves: what next? Will we ever fight for the rights of artificial intelligence? If so, when will this AI rights revolution occur, and what will it look like?

Editor's note: We're proud to bring NextDraft--the most righteous, most essential newsletter on the web--to WIRED.com. Every Friday you'll get a roundup of the week's most popular must-read stories from around the internet, courtesy of mastermind Dave Pell. "Such results contradict long-established ideas suggesting that expert performance is built mainly through practice -- that anyone can get to the top with enough focused effort of the right kind. SMPY, by contrast, suggests that early cognitive ability has more effect on achievement than either deliberate practice or environmental factors such as socio-economic status." Before you steal the lunch money from a precociously gifted young person, consider the strong likelihood that they will one day be running the world.

Tesla says its self-driving Autopilot feature was not active when an unidentified Model S driver in the Netherlands was killed in a Wednesday accident. The car crashed into a tree. According to the NL Times, the car flipped, landing upside down, with some of its batteries becoming loose. In a statement provided to USA TODAY the company denied that its self-driving technology, which was under fire following several crashes this summer, was to blame. In May an Ohio man was killed while using the feature in Florida.

I think the recent article in the New York Times about the boom in'artificial intelligence' in Silicon Valley made many people think hard about the future of cybersecurity – both the near and distant future. Sometimes when I hang around with A.I. enthusiasts here in the valley, I feel like an atheist at a convention of evangelicals. What's going on now in the field of'AI' resembles a soap bubble. And we all know what happens to soap bubbles eventually if they keep getting blown up by the circus clowns (no pun intended!): Now, of course, without bold steps and risky investments a fantastical future will never become a reality.