Robots could drive humanity to extinction

Experts have claimed that artificial intelligence (AI) machines could take control of their programming and make the human race extinct in a similar fashion to the 1984 film The Terminator.

They have warned that the advanced technology could be an "existential threat to humanity" and must be regulated like nuclear weapons.

The boffins believe that the rise of the robots could happen before the end of this century.

Michael Cohen, a doctoral student at the University of Oxford, told British MPs: "With superhuman AI, there is a particular risk that is of a different sort of class, which is, well, it could kill everyone."

Cohen also warned that the robots could take the human race by surprise with their attack.

He said: "If you have something that's much smarter than us over every domain, it would presumably avoid sending any red flags while we still could pull the plug."

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