From the moment the word “robot” was first uttered in a Czechoslovakian play nearly 100 years ago, man has feared his creation will someday kill the creator. It's a narrative that has stuck with us, said Patrick Tucker, Defense One’s Technology Editor, at a recent event in Washington called Genius Machines: The Next Decade of Artificial Intelligence: “The idea of artificial intelligence eventually killing us is actually borne into our first fever dreams about what it would be.” The 1920 play was R.U.R., subtitled in English as Rossum’s Universal Robots.

Now 98 years later, robotics researchers across the globe are seeking inroads into AI, machine-learning, and human-machine teaming. And it's all happening under the changing shadows of great-power dynamics.

Dominant players: China and the U.S., two of the three most militarily powerful countries in the world. They're also the two clear leaders in AI research and investment. Not to be left out, Russia has begun making a concerted effort in AI, advancing plans as recently as last summer. With these great-power dynamics taken together, that old 1920's man-vs-machine death trap play begins to look pale and simple (maybe even desirable) by comparison. But the reality of AI is much more banal—for now.