Robots will take over and eventually kill us all, terrified Britons believe

Britons are terrified of being enveloped by a dystopian future in which robots take control of society, research has found. More than a third of people fear the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to robots evolving beyond our understanding and taking over. And around 40% of us think so-called humanoids could eventually destroy humanity as we know it - concerns echoed by Professor Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, founder of the SpaceX programme who has previously described AI as mankind's "biggest existential threat". Our paranoia about androids was revealed in studies ahead of the launch of Westworld, a new Sky Atlantic programme starting on Tuesday in which guests at a futuristic park based in the Old West live out their wildest fantasies. While the new series, produced by JJ Abrams - the man behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Trek and Cloverfield - is pure fantasy, our fears of robots becoming the supreme beings on Earth are very real.