2015 was the year our robot revolution fears got real

Evidence of humans fearing technology dates back to the Industrial Revolution, when what came to be known as "technophobia" was first observed. Eighteenth-century factory workers worried that the development of new machines would take away their livelihoods and ability to survive. As it turns out, some of those fears were justified. Violent man-versus-machine conflicts saw members of the British working class destroying the devices that had replaced their jobs well into the 1800s, setting the stage for centuries of anti-robot rhetoric played out in books, movies and ideological movements. Today, serious fears of a "robot revolution" are only just starting to crystallize for the average person – but it's happening quickly, and spreading far beyond the confines of science fiction.