Merriam-Webster's word of the year for 2016 was "surreal." According to the online dictionary, surreal is "used to express a reaction to something shocking or surprising." Surreal is also a good word to describe some of the key events in the technology world that took place in 2016. In particular, advances in artificial intelligence and big data, and continuing problems with cybersecurity. This is Volume 6 in the "Technology Today" series, a collection of Scott Tilley's newspaper columns that appear weekly in Florida Today.

Scott Tilley is a professor in the Department of Engineering Systems at the Florida Institute of Technology, president of the Big Data Florida user group, president of the Center for Technology & Society, and a Space Coast Writers' Guild Fellow.