He was fired from Uber in May amid allegations that he had stolen trade secrets from Google to develop Otto's self-driving technology. Religions, Harari argues, must keep up with the technological advancements of the day or they become irrelevant, unable to answer or understand the quandaries facing their disciples. Benek argues that advanced AI is compatible with Christianity – it's just another technology that humans have created under guidance from God that can be used for good or evil. We don't know whether Levandowski's Godhead ties into any existing theologies or is a manmade alternative, but it's clear that advancements in technologies including AI and bioengineering kick up the kinds of ethical and moral dilemmas that make humans seek the advice and comfort from a higher power: what will humans do once artificial intelligence outperforms us in most tasks?

Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx recently released a 116-page policy document that aims to guide automakers and technologists on best-practices when it comes to the manufacturing and deployment of autonomous vehicle features. Apple, which has been rumored to be building a car, recently laid off employees of its automotive project and pivoted from making a car to creating autonomous software, according to reports. Another aftermarket self-driving tech company recently completed a successful 120-mile beer delivery without anyone at the wheel. A big rig cab equipped with sensors made by Otto, a startup bought by Uber recently for $670 million, made the delivery of Budweiser beer while its driver rested in the sleeper berth during most of the trip down Colorado's Interstate 25.

Earlier Tuesday, Uber announced the first successful run of one of its self-driving freight trucks, developed by San Francisco-based company Otto. The truck, designed by Otto, successfully completed a 120-mile journey between Fort Collins, Colorado and Colorado Springs, Colorado, delivering 2,000 cases of Budweiser beers with nary an issue along its journey on Interstate 25. So what's the deal with Otto, the company acquired by Uber in August, driving (pun intended) this push of self-driving technology? When it launched, Otto estimated that the price of its autonomous drive system would be a "small fraction" of the 100,000 to 200,000 price tag of a brand-new semi truck.

"I'm really focused on'How do we explore how technology is changing the future of work?'" That may indeed bring efficiency, but it risks making employees seem even more interchangeable and less valuable than they already do. I want people to understand why we need to talk about Uber and Walmart in the same frame." The hopeful scenario is that these new systems remove the drudgery, taking over the repetitive parts of work and liberating people to focus on more creative tasks.

Uber products head Jeff Holden has said that they are currently looking into short-haul flying vehicles for transporting passengers. VTOL is an aircraft that functions similarly to helicopters -- it can hover, take off and land vertically. He imagines that such an aircraft could transport multiple passengers on short-haul flights, according to CNET. Majority of VTOL research has been conducted by the military like DARPA, the United States defense agency responsible for developing new technologies.

Uber riders in Pittsburgh can get a glimpse of the future by summoning a car capable of handling most of the tasks of driving on its own. Starting Wednesday morning, a fleet of self-driving Ford Fusions will pick up Uber riders who opted to participate in a test program. While the vehicles are loaded with features that allow them to navigate on their own, an Uber engineer will sit in the driver's seat and seize control if things go awry. A group of self driving Uber vehicles position themselves to take journalists on rides during a media preview at Uber's Advanced Technologies Center in Pittsburgh, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016 (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Uber's test program is the latest move in an increasingly heated race between tech companies in Silicon Valley and traditional automakers to perfect fully driverless cars for regular people. Competitors such as Volvo and Google have invested hundreds of millions of dollars and logged millions of miles test driving autonomous vehicles, but Uber is the first company in the U.S. to make self-driving cars available to the general public.

An illustration picture shows the logo of car-sharing service app Uber on a smartphone next to the picture of a taxi sign. Ride-sharing service Uber announced plans to start deploying self-driving cars in Pittsburgh later this month, marking the first time the evolving and pricey technology has reached the general public. As part of a 300 million deal with Volvo, Uber said it will produce a fleet of 100 self-driving XC90 vehicles for the test program by the end of the year, Bloomberg reported. Each of the vehicles in Uber's fleet will be equipped with a driverless control system, including cameras, GPS tracking, sensors and lasers to help navigate the road. The service will also be free to anyone willing to give it a try.

With Google, the self-driving car leader, slowly making progress with its autonomous cars, you'd be forgiven for thinking Uber's efforts are far behind and barely visible in its frenemy's rearview mirror. Precious little was known of Uber's plans for self-driving cars, but the company told Bloomberg that it will outfit cars with autonomous driving kits rather than develop its own vehicles as Google is doing. Levandowski led Google's self-driving car efforts, Ron was an executive on Google Maps and Motorola, while other staff have spent time with Apple, Tesla and other notable automotive firms. "We were really excited about building something that could be launched early," Levandowski told Bloomberg of why he left Google.

According to the report, Uber won't be sending its cars out alone. A human supervisor will sit in the driving seat, as required by law, "with their fingertips on the wheel." Pittsburgh serves as the ideal environment for Uber's autonomous trials. With Ford announcing yesterday that it intends to have fully autonomous cars on the road within five years, Uber is moving swiftly.