Hardly a day goes by where a robot doesn't beat a human at things originally thought to be impossible to automate.

This year especially, artificial intelligence (AI) has had a renaissance — Tesla pushed their self-driving autopilot out to all eligible cars, and Google and Facebook have both announced large investments in AI research.

The latest human jobs to be taken by robots include video game playing and trading stocks. In the near future, robots might even become your best friend.

Where will these technologies take us next? Well to know that we should determine what's the best of the best now. Tech Insider talked to 18 AI researchers, roboticists, and computer scientists to see what real-life AI impresses them the most.

Scroll down to see their lightly edited responses.