Artificial intelligence (AI) will end us, save us or--less jazzy-sounding but the more probable intersection of both--eventually obsolete us. From humbling chess grandmaster losses at the hands of mathematically brilliant supercomputers to semantic networks with the linguistic grasp of a four-year-old, one thing seems certain: AI is coming. Here's what today's brightest programmers, philosophers and entrepreneurs have said about our terrifying, astonishing future. Altman, who's working on developing an open-source version of AI that would be available to all rather than the few, believes future iterations could be designed to self-police, working only toward benevolent ends. The 30-year-old computer programmer and president of startup incubator Y Combinator says his "OpenAI" system will surpass human intelligence in a matter of decades, but that the fact that it's available to anyone (as opposed to locked behind private, proprietary doors) should offset any risks.

Think of the gear you can't live without: The smartphone you constantly check. The camera that goes with you on every vacation. The TV that serves as a portal to binge-watching and -gaming. Each owes its influence to one model that changed the course of technology for good. Some of these, like Sony's Walkman, were the first of their kind. Others, such as the iPod, propelled an existing idea into the mainstream. Some were unsuccessful commercially, but influential nonetheless. And a few represent exciting but unproven new concepts (looking at you Oculus Rift). Rather than rank technologies--writing, electricity, and so on--we chose to rank gadgets, the devices by with consumers let the future creep into their present. The list--which is ordered by influence--was assembled and deliberated on at (extreme) length by TIME's technology and business editors, writers and reporters.

It's not only drones and driverless cars that may become the norm someday -- ocean-faring ships might also run without captains or crews. The Pentagon on Monday showed off the world's largest unmanned surface vessel, a self-driving 132-foot ship able to travel up to 10,000 nautical miles on its own to hunt for stealthy submarines and underwater mines. The military's research arm, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, in conjunction with the Navy will be testing the ship off the San Diego coast over the next two years to observe how it interacts with other vessels and avoids collisions. Unlike smaller, remote-controlled craft launched from ships, the so-called "Sea Hunter" is built to operate on its own. "It's not a joy-stick ship," said DARPA spokesman Jared B. Adams, standing in front of the sleek, futuristic-looking steel-gray vessel docked at a maritime terminal in the heart of San Diego's shipbuilding district, where TV crews filmed the robotic craft.

Not long after his birth on April 30, 1916, it became clear that Claude Shannon was good with gadgets. As a youth, he fixed radios for nearby stores and converted barbed-wire fences into a telegraph line, through which he communicated with a friend. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1936, Shannon took a job as a research assistant at MIT, where he turned that talent toward research that would change the course of history. It was at MIT that he worked on a machine called the "differential analyzer" -- then the world's leading computer but by modern standards a clumsy monolith of gears and motors that took a whole week to solve a single equation. There had to be a better way, and Shannon found it.

Alicia Vikander's career just got even brighter. The Swedish actress, who broke out in 2015 with a critically lauded performance in Ex Machina and an Oscar for The Danish Girl, has been cast as Lara Croft in the upcoming reboot of Tomb Raider, reports Variety. The long anticipated casting announcement comes after renewed interest in who might take the helm from Angelina Jolie, whose turn in 2001's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and 2003's Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life were instrumental in launching her career. The news also puts to rest speculation that Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley might fill the role, as the actress had confirmed last month that she was in talks to star in the film. The reboot, which doesn't yet have a release date, could be a mega hit, especially if it can tap into the magic of its predecessors, which grossed a total of 432 globally.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin typically write a public letter every year to reflect on the company's accomplishments and goals. This year, however, Google's new CEO Sundar Pichai penned the annual note for the first time. Pichai was made CEO of Google after a recent reorganization made the company a subsidiary of umbrella organization Alphabet. Pichai's note delves into Google's accomplishments around search, YouTube, artificial intelligence, and more. He writes that Google will continue to push heavily into the development of artificial intelligence as a means of improving and advancing its most important products.

If all you've ever wanted to do in virtual reality is swing a pixellated virtual pick, that happy day has finally arrived. Minecraft for Samsung and Oculus' Gear VR headset is available right now from the Oculus Store for 6.99. It's technically called Minecraft: Gear VR Edition, but it's basically Minecraft Pocket Edition for Samsung and Oculus' tether-free 99 budget-priced headset. The catch is that you'll need a recent Galaxy S-series phone, limiting the appeal to a subset of Android users. If you've already checked that box, this version has all the Pocket Edition's Creative and Survival modes, skins and multiplayer options.

Nintendo's Wii U followup games console, still known only by its mysterious codename NX, will be available in March 2017, the company just confirmed in its quarterly earnings report. Nintendo said last year that it would say more about NX in 2016. In a separate Twitter dispatch, Nintendo designated June's L.A.-based E3 as a showcase for its upcoming The Legend of Zelda rethink, though confirming the game–originally exclusive to the Wii U–has now been delayed until 2017. Nintendo now says the new Zelda will launch for both Wii U and NX simultaneously. The new Legend of #Zelda will be the focus of #E3 2016.

Photography company Getty Images is accusing Google of scraping images from third party websites and encouraging piracy, adding a new wrinkle to the Mountain View, Calif.'s ongoing legal battles in Europe. In its complaint to the European Union's antitrust commission, Getty says Google Images, which displays full-screen slideshows of high-resolution copyrighted images, has hurt the stock agency's licensing business as well as content creators worldwide. Google first introduced the feature in Jan. 2013. Previously, the search engine only displayed tiny thumbnails of images. In a statement released to TIME ahead of the filing, Getty argues that since image consumption is immediate, "there is little impetus to view the image on the original source site" once it's seen in high resolution on Google.

Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced plans Monday to have 25 percent of all car trips in this city-state in the United Arab Emirates to be driverless by 2030. In a statement carried by the state-run WAM news agency, Sheikh Mohammed said it would cut down on costs and traffic crashes. He said the project would be a joint venture by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority and the Dubai Future Foundation. Already, Dubai is home to a driverless Metro rail system. It also has a number of taxi companies, driven by a large foreign labor force.