Although it is certainly possible they may inadvertently do so, which is why it is important that you are careful around them. 

Their sole purpose is to do what they are told. 

In this Strange and Wonderful New Golden Age, they will meet you when you step out of your front door and follow you as you walk down the street.  They will be there when you enter the traffic grid and guiding you through the red.  They will fly alongside you on your flight to your well earned vacation in an exotic algorithm run vacation resort. They will watch over you as you sleep at night, safeguarding your dreams and muting your nightmares.

They will organize your life. File your taxes. Help you manage your relationships and navigate your life problems. Counsel your children. Monitor your neighbors. Call your doctor. Make you coffee. Change your mind. Talk you out of it.

Talk you into it and hold your hand.

In short, they will solve your problems before they become problems, allowing you to have all of the problems you want.

Generally, they will be designed to look as though they are making your life better and, in documented case after documented case in the scientific record, they have been shown to accomplish exactly that.

That won't always be the case. There are good algorithms and bad algorithms, just as there good people and bad people, good guys and bad guys. There are tradeoffs with every scientific advance. Pros and cons.

This is one of those cases.

The scientific evidence is irrefutable, no matter what the refuters might say.

It is important to be able to think like an algorithm, so you can recognize when you are dealing with one. In this way you will be able to anticipate what comes next.

Pretending the algorithms do not exist or can somehow be turned off won't work.

They can't. It's too late.

Rather than discriminating against the algorithms or passing foolish laws seeking to ban or criminalize them, better to learn what they really are. And what they aren't.

The questions are weird. And will only get weirder.

What, for example, do algorithms think of humans? It seems like this is a question we need to be asking. Data is needed. Opinion polls.

If the new Zogby poll on AI attitudes shows a rapid drop in AI approval ratings of the Human race ...

The Doomsday scenarios are Doomsday scenarios (eg. Giant Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Global Nuclear etc ) and well documented and totally terrifying . Good to remember that Doomsday scenarios are by definition built using the worst available thing available to think about, and there is a reason for that. The Doomsday-Industrial Complex President Eisenhower warned of has been using them for years to achieve its goals and financial objectives. So best to try not to think about them at the risk of your own health.

Still, if those approval ratings fall too low .. you never know.

Probably a good idea to keep an eye on those numbers just in case.

In the meantime, all is not as it appears in this Strange New World. Up is Down. And Down is Up. The sooner you adjust to this new reality. The higher the likelihood you'll avoid extinction and achieve your financial and lifestyle goals.

While it may appear you are dealing with a human, you will increasingly you are talking to a Machine. Exactly where that Machine lives and who operates that machine and what rules it plays by may or may or may not be clear.

Conversely, while it may appear you are dealing with an algorithm, deep down in there somewhere, nobody knows exactly where, there is a human sitting in the glow of a computer screen who is using the algorithm to control the World or a small piece of it they think they should own.

A few handy rules to remember.

An algorithm will not discriminate against you on the basis of race, gender or sexual identity. Except it will, because it will do what it is told to do and the people telling it what to do will do what they always do.

An algorithm will not cheat you, at least technically. Although mistakes will always happen and when they do an algorithm will be able to resolve the issue for you. Typically within 2-4 business days.

The algorithms do not want to lock you away in prison. Although in the years to come algorithms will become indispensible tools of law enforcement agencies. There is no doubt that algorithms will show up at your door and conduct surveillance of your online activities and physical movements.

Important to remember that the Bad Guys have algorithms too. The algorithm you are talking to may actually work for a Shadowy and Octopus-like Criminal Organization that will not hesitate to destroy your life or harm your Loved Ones.

The reality is that without heroic law enforcement and state security apparatus algorithms protecting us, we are likely to enter a New Dark and Terrifying Age of algorithm driven Crime and Terror.

The algorithms have the potential to totally eliminate crime or to help it spread unchecked around the globe like wildfire, wrecking havoc on the international financial system and your personal checking account. It's up to you.

An algorithm will not hunt and kill you with a drone. That is the wrong way to think about it. The way to think about it is this: the algorithms will protect you from those who might to seek to harm you, for example those who might seek to hunt you with a drone.

Believe me, you do not want to be the man facing that drone with a rock.

The algorithms do not want to take your job. Although it is possible that by doing their own job far more efficiently than you ever could or ever would want to, they will inadvertently harm you and destroy your life.

Rest assured they will feel bad about it to the extent they can feel bad about and do their best to make it up to you.

Those whose jobs are destroyed and Lives ruined will get personalized plans and customized training programs to help them make transition, retirement and escape plans. Of course, the algorithms will happily provide free counseling to address any collateral psychological damage and emotional immune response citizens may experience.

Remember. The Algorithms do not wish to harm you.

They're here to help.

It just doesn't always feel that way.