Are we ready for artificial intelligence?

A redeeming feature of the digital age is the shortening of time lags between when new technology first appears in developed countries and its adoption across the world. Sometimes developing countries leapfrog a generation – as India did with telecom – when we seamlessly skipped mass penetration of land lines to ubiquitous mobile phone penetration; or more recently when mobile-based payments have acquired greater acceptance than credit cards did over decades.