And then AI came a long way, improved to levels hard to imagine back then, it's already threatening programmers, but people just keep telling the same story. That somehow it will run out of steam below their level. If it can talk to a professional it can just as much talk to whoever talks to the professional now. (I mean, unless it gets stuck at a lower level.)
However, when people talk about the future dangers, they still keep looking at the current status quo and not at how fast it evolves. Of course, it's hard to predict, but it seems like some people don't even try and just judge based on what we have today. While what we have been seeing so far is that it's evolving faster than what most experts have expected.
Replacing doctors is probably further away, because being a doctor is like being an airline pilot: it's about trust big time. And everybody likes to think their doctor (or pilot) is especially good. Oh, and also doctors do have to interact with the real world, like examine the patient. (Programmers don't ;) )