If you're reading the tech news these days it may seems that the industry is rapidly moving toward a robot-centric dystopia lifted from a Stephen King novel. There is a reason it's called "science fiction." Not that AI, machines, and robots don't have a place in our future. Practically speaking, we are a far cry from an autonomous office or completely driverless trucking. Popular questions such as "will artificial intelligence be a massive, job-destroying shock to our economy?"

I recently had an insightful conversation with a researcher who noted that, when asked a question about knowledge around a hot industry topic, survey respondents were more likely to emphasize familiarity with it rather than share that they were not as knowledgeable as they would like to be. Many marketers can relate to this. We want to -- and have to -- be ahead of the curve, but sometimes, as humans, we struggle to take powerful concepts and new tech and apply them to our everyday jobs. That seems to be the case with AI, the trending buzzword these days. It's good that everybody is talking about it because AI has the potential to improve our lives and create value, from business to personal applications.