In "Artificial Intelligence – The Revolution Hasn't Happened Yet," University of California at Berkeley professor Michael I. Jordan injects such a note of caution. "The idea that our era is somehow seeing the emergence of an intelligence in silicon that rivals our own entertains all of us --enthralling us and frightening us in equal measure," he writes. "Whether or not we come to understand intelligence any time soon, we do have a major challenge on our hands in bringing together computers and humans in ways that enhance human life." Tools have played a critical role in the evolution of humans since our ancestors first developed stone tools a few million years ago. "We shape our tools and they in turn shape us," observed noted author and educator Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s.

The broad umbrella of artificial intelligence could spawn a new branch of engineering that will help develop of AI systems and applications, much as civil and mechanical engineering helped develop tall buildings and airplanes over a century ago.