Why a robot might one day kill you

02-01-2011 • Terrence Aym

Are robots our friends or deadly enemies? Robotic expert Hans Moravec from the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute, says intelligent robots today are no smarter than the average insect. But, don't feel too safe about that, after all army ants in South America destroy everything in their path when they go to war—forests, crops, buildings, people… And in case you still feel complacent about our little mechanical friends consider this: robot technology is currently exploding at a rate 10 million times faster than the evolution of animals. To put that into perspective, if dinosaurs had evolved at that rate they probably wouldn't have become extinct, humanity would never have existed, and intelligent dino's may have already established colonies on the Moon and Mars. According to Moravec we probably have some breathing space left before the robot wars start, maybe another 30 years or so.