China's first "intelligent security robot", which reportedly includes an "electrically charged riot control tool" and an SOS button for people to notify police, has been compared to the killer Dalek race from Doctor Who after being shown off at a tech fair.

The People's Daily Online news site tweeted a photo of the robot, which was then shared by intelligence agency whistleblower Edward Snowden with the caption: "Surely this will end well".

The robot, unveiled at the 12th Congqing Hi-Tech Fair on April 21, is 1.49 metres tall, weighs 78 kilograms, has a claimed top speed of 18 kilometres per hour and an operating duration of eight hours between charges, according to a report by People's Daily Online.

Dubbed AnBot, it was built by the National Defence University in China and has "sensors that mimic the human brain, eyes and ears".

The report said AnBot represented breakthroughs in "key technologies including low-cost autonomous navigation and intelligent video analysis" and would play an important role in anti-terrorism and anti-riot operations.

AnBot has an SOS button for people to use to notify police of a problem, but it is unclear what criteria AnBot uses to assess threats autonomously.

The robot also has offensive capability in the form of an "electrically charged riot control tool", which is activated remotely by a human operator.

A video report by New China TV did not show the riot control tool being demonstrated.

'China just created a Dalek. We're all dead'

China's announcement was received with pessimism by many on social media.

Replies to Mr Snowden's tweet on the robot referenced a range of dangerous robots from science fiction movies and television series, including ED-209 from the 1987 movie Robocop.

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ED-209 malfunctioned on its first demonstration and fired twin machine guns into one of its manufacturer's board members, but was still put into police service.

Other comparisons included the humanoid Cylons from the Battlestar Galactica movies and television series and the Terminator robots from the eponymous movies, both of which are dedicated to the destruction of human life.

The most common comparison, however, was to the Daleks from British television series Dr Who.

The Daleks, first shown in 1963 and a recurring theme in the current seasons of Dr Who, are alien-machine hybrids known for a pathological hatred of all other life and for being the most dangerous species in the universe.

They have invaded Earth on numerous occasions and even stolen the Earth along with several other planets in an attempt to destroy the entire universe.

Daleks are a similar shape and size to AnBot, but are also equipped with a gun, a sucker-shaped manipulator on a stalk, and a single stalk-mounted eye attached to a turret-like swivelling head.

AnBot is not the first autonomous security robot in operation: The similar-looking Knightscope K5 has been used in Silicon Valley since 2014 but they have no offensive capabilities and only have a deterrent effect by acting as mobile security cameras.