Killer robots should be banned to prevent them wiping out humanity, the world’s largest gathering of scientists was told yesterday.

While full-blown android soldiers remain the stuff of science fiction, advances in artificial intelligence mean machines with the power to select and attack targets without human input could soon be developed.

Such robots represent the ‘third revolution’ in warfare after gunpowder and nuclear weapons, scientists and campaigners told the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual meeting in Washington DC.

Scientists have said that 'killer robots' should be banned to prevent them wiping out humanity

Mary Wareham, from the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, said: ‘Bold leadership is needed for a treaty. The security of the world and future of humanity hinges on achieving a ban on killer robots.’

Backers include UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has called autonomous weapons ‘politically unacceptable and morally repugnant’.