Reality of robocops

At this rate, we could be seeing AI patrols sooner than expected

Some patrol South Korean offices. Some order Russian drunks out of the gutter and back to their homes. Some in the US come with a range of handy accessories: pepper spray, a grenade-launcher or a 50000-volt stun gun.

They have everything the modern policeman could need - apart from a code of ethics. Without that, a Pentagon adviser fears, the world could be entering an era where automotons pose a serious threat to humanity.

The robots need to be hack-proof to prevent perpetrators from turning them into criminals, and a code of ethical conduct must be agreed while the technology is nascent.

Patrick Lin, the director of the robotics ethics department at California Polytechnic State University, said the security robot market was on the brink of advance into everyday life.

The "robot in every home" vision expressed by the South Korean government may be some decades away, but police forces and the private security market will become a source of relentless demand.

Globally, there are seven million service robots in operation - about half of them cleaning floors. That number is expected to rocket as new technologies emerge.

The technology has advanced more quickly than many expected and prices for some robots - models that can enter dangerous places, interact with hostage situations or patrol buildings - have fallen.

Makers are keen to rework the machines and push them into the civilian market.

Aerial drones are already deployed by US police along the Mexican border.

South Korean developers are working on robots that will patrol its border with the North and also protect children in playgrounds.

In Japan, there is a refrigerator-sized robot that patrols buildings in search of intruders, fire or leaks. It can aim an extinguisher at a blaze and alert authorities.

But Noel Sharkey, professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield, warned not to expect too much.

"There is absolutely no evidence of machines becoming any more intelligent than they were 30 years ago. Those in control of the machines will control society," he said.