In the novel version of "Contact", the billionaire character made his money off of a device called the Adnix. The idea was that it could automatically mute ads

In the novel version of "Contact", the billionaire character made his money off of a device called the Adnix. The idea was that it could automatically mute ads on TV. I always loved that part of the character: That he was smart enough how to invent some sort of proto-AI, and idealistic enough to use it for something like that.