Nay-saying is easy. Making progress is hard work. Kudos to Google for pushing on this front. The author speculates about the state after a decade. By that time,

Nay-saying is easy. Making progress is hard work. Kudos to Google for pushing on this front. The author speculates about the state after a decade. By that time, this article will be forgotten, but google's work might still be remembered. a) It's acceptably safe to sit on something like hundreds of mini explosions every minute. (hint: car) b) We actually have some atom-splitting power plants running c) Planes have auto-pilot modes and fly-by-wire. d) Trains can run without drivers. By the time this technology gets into regular use, we probably won't even be aware that it is being used and think about it as some sophisticated form of cuise control.