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uk Thursday 04 January 2018 Advertisement Threat from Artificial Intelligence not just Hollywood fantasy Oxford academic Dr Stuart Armstrong warns humanity runs the risk of creating super intelligent computers that eventually destroy us all Ex Machina 2015 Ex Machina 2015 Patrick Sawer By Patrick Sawer 11:00PM BST 27 Jun 2015 Follow From the dystopian writings of Aldous Huxley and HG Wells to the sinister and apocalyptic vision of modern Hollywood blockbusters, the rise of the machines has long terrified mankind.
 But it now seems that the brave new world of science-fiction could become all too real.
 An Oxford academic is warning that humanity runs the risk of creating super intelligent computers that eventually destroy us all, even when specifically instructed not to harm people.
 Dr Stuart Armstrong, of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University, has predicted a future where machines run by artificial intelligence become so indispensable in human lives they eventually make us redundant and take over.
 And he says his alarming vision could happen as soon as the next few decades.
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 But these may not be the controls that were meant.
" Dr Armstrong, who was speaking at a debate on artificial intelligence organised in London by the technology research firm Gartner, warns that it will be difficult to tell whether a machine is developing in a benign or deadly direction.
 He says an AI would always appear to act in a way that was beneficial to humanity, making itself useful and indispensable - much like the iPhone's Siri, which answers questions and performs simple organisational tasks - until the moment it could logically take over all functions.