Artificial intelligence could be a reality within years, rather than decades, scientists have said. Elon Musk recently warned AI has the potential to be as dangerous to mankind as nuclear weapons. But is there hope for artificial intelligence in the form of religion? And could faith allow AI to do more good than harm? Elon Musk recently warned AI has the potential to be as dangerous to mankind as nuclear weapons.

In the year since the European Court of Justice ruled that anyone can ask Google to remove personal information about them, the site has evaluated more than one million links. Each request has to be verified and processed by a dedicated team of people, but the sheer volume can cause delays. To speed this up, researchers from Germany and New Zealand have developed an algorithm capable of analysing hundreds of such requests in seconds. Oblivion (illustrated) allows a user to automatically find and tag their personal information on the web, using both text - or natural language processing (NLP) - and image recognition. And they hope to offer it to Google, and other search engines, to help them manage future demands.

The US Army is developing sympathetic avatars to communicate meaningfully and sympathetically with humans. Research is well underway that aims to help humans and robots speak the same language and boost communication in the unpredictable and upsetting situations that war brings. Scientists are honing interactive virtual humans that serve as mentors and role players to soldiers, to teach them leadership skills and act as counsellors. The US Army is developing virtual humans to train and help its soldiers. This image shows virtual Staff Sgt.

A humanoid robot named Yangyang is the latest to be revealed in China. Dressed in a full-length coat, the android can display a wide range of facial expressions and can speak, move its head, and raise its hands to greet people convincingly. And the machine bears an uncanny - yet apparently accidental - resemblance to former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Yangyang is one of a number of impressively realistic robots to be unveiled at the Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) 2015 in Beijing, China. The android was produced jointly by China's Shanghai Yangyang Intelligent Robot Science Service Centre and renowned Japanese robotics professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who has created some of the world's most eerily lifelike androids.

Nasa's next rover to land on Mars could have a little helper to help keep it safe while exploring the planet's surface. British engineers have been testing a new type of intelligent robot that can be deployed from a larger vehicle on the Martian surface to act as a scout in the surrounding landscape. They hope the scout, which is about 30 inches (76cm) long, will be used on a planned joint Nasa and European Space Agency mission to bring back samples of soil from Mars to Earth. British engineers are testing a new intelligent scout robot (shown). They say it could be deployed from a larger vehicle on the Martian surface.

For fans of the cult film the Karate Kid, it is a familiar pose. However, in the latest video from the US military team developing a two legged fighting robot, the buildup to'crane kick' is seen in a new way. The researchers taught the robot to stand on one leg - recreating a key scene from the film in the process. According to Boston Dynamics, Atlas is a'high mobility, humanoid robot designed to negotiate outdoor, rough terrain. 'Atlas can walk bipedally leaving the upper limbs free to lift, carry, and manipulate the environment.

When Japan hosts the summer Olympics in 2020, prime minister Shinzo Abe is determined to make it an event to remember. And what better way, he claims, than to include robotic competitors to show off the world's technical achievements. Mr Abe made the comments during a tour of robotics factories in Tokyo and Saitama, where he also announced the creation of a taskforce to treble the size of the Japanese robotics industry. The industry could help revitalise the country's economy, and Mr Abe hopes to increase its market for machines to 2.4 trillion yen (£13.8 billion or $24 billion). 'In 2020, I would like to gather all of the world's robots and aim to hold an Olympics where they compete in technical skills,' Mr Abe said.

Behind the numerous benefits of self-driving cars, being touted by Google and other manufacturers, an imminent danger is lurking. The technology could see criminals using the cars in high-speed chases, for example, or to shoot out of the window while the car drives itself. In fact, the FBI is so concerned about the threats they pose, the agency has dubbed them'potential leathal weapons' in a recent report. Files detail the FBI's concerns about self-driving vehicles, (Google's autonomous car pictured). The report said: 'Autonomy...will open up ways for a car to be more of a potential lethal weapon than it is today.'

Emerging from a lake, a giant amphibious drone gingerly picks its way over Russia's Rzhevka military training ground. This huge drone is the latest in a menagerie of automated robots to be developed worldwide, adding to what some have described as the creation of ground-based robotic armies. Its appearance comes as large organisations, such as Google and Amazon, invest in drone technology, with some experts claiming the it could lead to a full on robotics war by 2020. Air-based drones have been under development in Russia for some time, with reports last year that the country had been developing a new 20-tonne attack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). These latest images, however, provide a glimpse into Russia's future capabilities in ground-based drones.

He might look like an extra member of Daft Punk, but Russia's robot humanoid is set to be joining astronauts aboard the International Space Station as early as next year. Scientists at the Gagarin Cosmonauts' Training Centre in Star City Centre, just outside Moscow, have shown off their creation, called SAR-401. Russia is working on its own version of Nasa's Robonaut, which is already lending a hand on the International Space Station – so the two robots might work together in the future. Russia's SAR-401robot humanoid could be joining astronauts aboard the International Space Station as early as next year A slightly earlier model called SAR-400 is scheduled to be blasted into space in 2014. Russia's robonaut is similar to Nasa's as it is not designed to be completely autonomous but is operated remotely from the ground, Spectrum reported.