In this series we examine some of the most popular doomsday scenarios prognosticated by modern AI experts. Previous articles include Misaligned Objectives, Artificial Stupidity, Wall-E Syndrome, Humanity Joins the Hivemind, and Killer Robots. We've covered a lot of ground in this series (see above), but nothing comes close to our next topic. The "democratization of expertise" might sound like a good thing -- democracy, expertise, what's not to like? But it's our intent to convince you that it's the single greatest AI-related threat our species faces by the time you finish reading this article.

This is the second article in TNW's "A beginner's guide to the AI apocalypse" series highlighting the potential existential threats AI poses to humankind. Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize every facet of technology from healthcare to space exploration. Simply put: all technology in the year 2020 and beyond is AI technology. But, what if making everything better actually makes everything worse? Wall-E syndrome (not a real thing) describes the fear of a future dystopia inhabited by oblivious people who are totally reliant on technology to perform even the simplest of tasks.