'Killer robots': Will they be banned?

These aren't the drones that deliver your online order. Loaded with cameras, sensors, and explosives, their mission is to drive themselves to a target with an algorithm in the driver's seat. They destroy themselves along with the target, leaving behind just a pile of electronic detritus. Increasingly, these sorts of weapons are the stuff of a manufacturer's promotional materials rather than science fiction movies. From today, a United Nations conference of 80 countries gathers in Geneva to debate whether to ban them or at least regulate them more strictly.