Machines can already outclass seasoned fighter pilots in aerial combat while drones and other robotic weapons are replacing soldiers on the battlefield but can we trust them to fight on our behalf?
A white drone hovers high above a sunny Californian valley.
Then a bigger black drone appears, mimicking its movements, stalking it.
“It’s like on those nature shows when a lion’s chasing a wildebeest – you know it’s not going to end well for the wildebeest,” says Chris Brose of Anduril Industries, an American company that manufactures defence technology.