[cvogt26]

I did a site search, and it doesn't seem like anyone's brought up Vernor Vinge's actual books!  Though, in folks' defense, I really don't know of too many people at all who've read his books, even in the geekiest of circles.  Certainly though, after reading his books, my view of artificial intelligence as well as the future of computing was totally altered.  I highly recommend reading either of the above two books.  With regards to AI:
A Fire Upon the Deep- was written first and takes AI to a highly theoretical level, one where AIs are no longer artificial per se, but have formed their own god-like civilizations (if you can call them that), and are not well understood anymore by the inhabitants of the universe in which the story takes place.
A Deepness in the Sky- could be described as "more grounded", and follows a group of traders who are looking to make their fortunes on a unique planet. No spoilers.  But the tech! very cool ideas that you can really wrap your mind around.  Their is no AI in the sense of an "intelligence" but intelligent interfaces between the people and the machinery.  As well, descriptions of intelligent automation, which I'm confident is not redundant.  Either way, highly recommended, and if you've read summaries or the books themselves, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Upon-Deep-Zones-Thought/dp/0765329824/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1354355662&sr=1-1&keywords=fire+upon+the+deep

http://www.amazon.com/A-Deepness-Sky-Vernor-Vinge/dp/0812536355/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354355635&sr=8-1&keywords=deepness+in+the+sky