RISE OF THE MACHINES: Robots to be treated as our EQUALS by 2045

A world renowned roboticist has claimed that by 2046, our machine counterparts will have the right to vote, get married – both to robots and humans – and own land.

The prediction was made by Dr David Hanson, the creator of the Sofia robot – the extremely lifelike machine which was recently given citizenship in Saudi Arabia and has 62 facial and neck mechanisms to give her that realistic human look, with cameras in the eyes that are capable of facial recognition.

Dr Hanson, who published his ideas in a study called Entering The Age of Living Intelligent Systems and Android Society, believes that by 2029, AI will match the intelligence of a one year old human.

However, once this has been achieved, the growth of AI will be rapid and just two years later machines will be able to assume menial positions in the military and emergency services.