The 4 tech trends that will shape 2017, predicted by ZDNet editors

Automation, AI, and robotics are the real forces behind the disruption to the global job market, and they will accelerate in 2017. As we do each week, the editors of ZDNet will continue to put our heads together in 2017 and give you our weekly Monday Morning Opener--an editorial that zooms in on the most important topic in tech for the week. Now that we're sailing into the new year, we've also put a few brain cycles into zooming out on the big issues that will shape the year ahead. So after giving you the 5 biggest tech trends of 2016, we've now got the four big ones that will dominate 2017. For all the talk about artificial intelligence, robotics, and machine learning in 2016, the shadow that they cast--the real thing people are afraid of--is automation.