As Silicon Valley's A.I. fears show, not even our self-styled builders of the future can escape the enticements of catastrophic thinking.

The article focuses on the increasing role of chatbots in society and the potential threat they pose to humanity. Topics include the ability of chatbots to induce existential panic in people, their limitations in terms of biased information and lack of autonomy, and the concerns about the rapid progress being made in artificial intelligence.