Indeed. I often see in HN a self-defeating attitude which is: - Step 1: we invent our machine overlords, because it's unavoidable, we are genetically and soc

Indeed. I often see in HN a self-defeating attitude which is: - Step 1: we invent our machine overlords, because it's unavoidable, we are genetically and socially forced to do it. - Step 2: we perish. Neither step 1 nor step 2 are guaranteed. People don't want to be replaced. People with power particularly don't want to be replaced. In a democracy, where by definition everybody is in power, the entire society has a strong incentive to--at the very least--keep the machines at bay. It could be as simple as making it illegal to give the machines a "you must survive and pass your genes, I mean, program" directive, or as comprehensive as a Butlerian Jihad :)