From Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" in 1927 to the titanic "Terminator" franchise of present day, popular culture has reflected an unwavering fear of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation for decades. While the entertainment industry may have drawn inspiration from public anxiety over the past century, the broader reasons for aversion to digital evolution have changed. At the present, the more common fear of AI stems from concerns about displacement and annihilation of job roles across industries, as intelligent, AI-related technologies like process automation and digital content services continue to evolve and eliminate manual tasks that were once managed by human hands and minds. While this digital evolution may mean the end of certain roles in the future of work, for most it will more likely mean a simultaneous evolution of skills and responsibilities in human-based occupations. Forecasts indicate that all jobs will be impacted by AI and automation technologies in the future, but that doesn't mean those jobs will be replaced.

TurboTax's ad was perhaps the most on the nose, reassuring viewers that a robot couldn't replace a human certified public accountant. When TurboTax's RoboChild says it wants to be a TurboTax Live CPA when it grows up, it gets shot down by a woman who says, "All TurboTax Live CPA's are human beings with live emotions. You're never going to be emotionally complex enough for that job." "I'm sad," responds RoboChild, which then laughs strangely as it tries to work out the emotion of sadness. In Sprint's ad, spokesman Paul Marcarelli asks his robot companions, "How do we tell people they get the best of both worlds with Sprint?" "How about we get two-sport legend Bo Jackson holding a mermaid playing a guitar?" one of the robots suggests. Michelob Ultra's commercial shows a humanoid robot outperforming humans at running, golf, spin class and other athletic endeavors, only to stare longingly through the window when people gather for a beer.

Our tech-enabled lives are ruthlessly efficient, endlessly entertaining--and completely panic-inducing. Whether you've become uncomfortably dependent on your digital assistant (heyyy, Alexa), addicted to the deluge of political tweetstorms, paralyzed by phishing attacks, or terrified of a robot uprising, well, frankly, your concerns are valid. So soothe yourself by putting it in perspective. Will Skynet become self-aware and kill us all? This article appears in the September issue.