Jobs are disappearing, incomes retreating, the precariat growing. Thousands of people risk their lives in stormy seas to flee wars, moribund economies and climate change on a daily basis. Traditional politicians continue to avoid publicly addressing the tsunami of unemployment, apparently baffled as to how to react to a historic transition: the automation of critical masses of labour once performed by humans. Five acronyms - AI, AR, VR, BC and UBI - promise to shape the developed world's future and solve the problems of the present. In the process, however, these innovations risk transforming the world around us, and upsetting humanity's very definition of itself.

The rise of new and emerging technologies are driving new forms of cyberattacks which will expose businesses to threats they're unprepared to face, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned. Its Global Risks Report 2017 details some of the key challenges facing the world this year, ranging from political uncertainty and climate change to how society isn't keeping up with the risks presented by technological change. IoT devices offered by firms ranging from Samsung to Phillips may be vulnerable to exploit and hijacking. While the report notes that new technology has the potential to bring great benefit to the world, practices such as connecting more and more business, industrial, and consumer devices to the internet in the name of productivity and efficiency also increases the risk of hacking and data breaches. "When you think about new technologies like AI and the Internet of Things, they're creating a broader attack surface for cyberattacks for those who want to steal data, disrupt business, attack industrial controls," said John Drzik, president of global risk & specialties at global insurance broker and risk management Marsh, at the launch of the report, which lists both data breaches and cyberattacks in the top ten most likely risks.