'It's been a dream ever since the early days of science fiction': 5 tech CEOs on the rise of AI

Artificial intelligence has been a popular topic for decades.

"2001: A Space Odyssey" came out in 1968, and introduced the world to HAL 9000, a smart computer that ended up being homicidal.

Evil artificial intelligence is mostly a product of science fiction so far, but as technology advances, it is starting to seem more and more plausible.

Siri is just a harmless assistant, and Poncho is a cute little weather cat, but soon we could have highways full of driverless cars and skies full of autonomous drones that we wouldn't want to go rogue.

This has led several tech CEOs to speak openly about the potential negative effects of AI, and many of them have started research and education projects aimed at making AI as useful and human-friendly as possible.

"The Matrix," "Terminator" and even Auto, the pilot robot in "WALL-E," depict a future where AI has gone bad. So let's hope these CEOs listed below know what they are doing.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through hispersonal investment company Bezos Expeditions.