The next global conflict will move at a speed which humans can barely keep up with - due to the fact that artificial intelligence will be in the driving seat.

The death toll could ramp up at barely conceivable speeds, a Pentagon chief has warned - due to the use of ‘smart weaponry’ and AI.

Major General William Hix said, ‘A conventional conflict in the near future will be extremely lethal and fast, and we will not own the stopwatch.

'The speed of events are likely to strain our human abilities,’ Hix said.

'The speed at which machines can make decisions in the far future is likely to challenge our ability to cope, demanding a new relationship between man and machine.’

Earlier this year, Pentagon chiefs warned that the world is entering an ‘arms race’ for robotic weapons - and the result could be machines like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator.

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Air Force General Paul Selva, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the US Defense Department, has warned that technology could lead to, ‘Robotic systems to do lethal harm… a Terminator without a conscience.’

Selva says that the key to retaining control is to ensure machines cannot decide to kill on their own behalf - and that a human must always be ‘in the loop’.

Human Rights Watch warn that Terminator-style robots - which can 'decide’ to kill - will be feasible in decades.