Don't expect to be able to upload your cat's brain into your Roomba any time soon.
Futures thinking is hard work. Fortunately, you do get better at it with practice. It's worth the effort.
I have to admit it: I'm not a huge fan of the cloud computing concept.
Foresight turns out to be a critical adaptive strategy for times of great stress.
My own suspicion is that a stand-alone artificial mind will be more a tool of narrow utility than something especially apocalyptic.
As our various electronic devices gain more and more sensory awareness, we open up the potential for entirely new forms of interaction. Not just new interfaces - tapping and shaking and whatnot - but a shift in presence.