Chris Bishop, of Microsoft Research in Cambridge, has joined a growing list of experts, including Elon Musk and Professor Stephen Hawking, who have expressed their concerns about the threat of AI to the human race.

The computer boffin painted a vision of a Terminator-style wasteland to illustrate the dangers of ultra-intelligent machines, but added that if managed correctly they could bring huge societal benefits.

Professor Hawking has said in the past that "the development of full Artificial Intelligence could spell the end of the human race."

Musk, founder of PayPal and SpaceX, has previously said: "I think we should be very careful about Artificial Intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it's probably that. So we need to be very careful."