In an interview with Computerworld, Intel CTO Justin Rattner said that as early as 2012, we will see the lines between human and machine intelligence begin to blur. Nanoscale chips or machines will move through our bodies, fixing deteriorating organs or unclogging arteries, he predicted. Virtual worlds will become increasingly realistic, while robots will develop enough intelligence and humanlike characteristics that they will become companions, not merely vacuum cleaners and toys, he said.

And one artificial intelligence researcher said in an interview that robotics will make such dramatic advances in the coming years that humans will be marrying robots by the year 2050. Robots will become so humanlike — having intelligent conversations, displaying emotions and responding to human emotions — that they will be very much like a new race of people, said David Levy, a British artificial intelligence researcher who wrote the book Love and Sex With Robots.