"The pilots fought continuously until the end of the flight", said Capt. Nurcahyo Utomo, the head of the investigation of Lion Air Flight 610 that crashed on October 29, 2018, killing the 189 people aboard. The analysis of the black boxes had revealed that the Boeing 737's nose was repeatedly forced down, apparently by an automatic system receiving incorrect sensor readings. During 10 minutes preceding the tragedy, the pilots tried 24 times to manually pull up the nose of the plane. They struggled against a malfunctioning anti-stall system that they did not know how to disengage for that specific version of the plane.

Predictions of the Robocalypse are everywhere. "Robots Are Winning the Race for Jobs," headlines The New York Times, which linked workplace automation to the rise of despotic rulers around the world. Elon Musk warns "Robots will do everything better than us." On one hand, 72 percent of Americans are worried about an automated future (Pew). On the other hand, 94 percent of American workers don't think a robot will take their job (NPR).

Personalization, video content and artificial intelligence are just some of the trends that ruled the marketing industry in 2017. This year, marketers focused on developing quality content, employing bots and connecting with customers through multiple mediums--but what trends are expected to dominate in 2018? According to Hubspot's State of Inbound 2017 report, "61% of marketers believe their organization's marketing strategy is effective," prioritizing strategies such as visual content, messaging apps and artificial intelligence. The trends that are expected to take over in the upcoming year include utilizing customized messaging and voice search, building credibility in local markets, maintaining a creative, human element in the overall marketing process and more. Top of the funnel mentality creates constant friction between sales and marketing, as well as a lack of full-funnel ownership and accountability down the chain in marketing organizations.