Why is AI so scary?

This article is a review of the following three books, and explores the question of why artificial intelligence is viewed with fear by many people [T.M. Georges, Digital Soul: Intelligent Machines and Human Values, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, 2004; S. Helmreich, Silicon Second Nature: Culturing Artificial Life in a Digital World, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 2000; A. Foerst, God in the Machine: What Robots Teach Us About Humanity and God, Dutton, New York, 2004].