QUICK — SUE HIM INTO OBLIVION! A Futurist on Why Lawyers Will Start Becoming Obsolete This Year.

Schroeder points to efforts like the Ethereum project, which uses block chains—the technology behind bitcoin—to create smart contracts. Such contracts live online, beyond the control of any single entity, and anyone can check their operating parameters at any time.

“It’s a kind of automaton,” says Schroeder. “It will follow the rules that have been laid down for it to the letter. It will never cheat.”

Uh huh.