The best retro sci-fi on Netflix reveals a worrying scientific debate

Picture the corniest sci-fi '80s TV you can imagine: filled with cheesy one-liners, fast cars, a tough action hero, and retro technology that probably felt cool at the time but now seems incredibly dated. Now, what if I told you that same show may have predicted a 21st-century technology that could revolutionize the world? That show is none other than Knight Rider, a 1980s NBC TV show featuring former detective Michael Knight, who takes on bad guys with the help of a superpowered artificially intelligent car known as Knight 2000, or KITT. As a self-driving car, KITT beat out Elon Musk's Tesla and other autonomous vehicles by decades -- even if only on the small screen. But is the portrayal of KITT on Knight Rider something more than science fiction concocted by Hollywood screenwriters?