Smart phones and computers are part of all our lives now but when machines become so smart that they start to think for themselves, is it time to worry?

A robot expert said yesterday that two Facebook machines called Alice and Bob started talking to each other in their own language, and scientists could not work out what they were saying, according to a report in The Sun newspaper.

Scientists had to pull the plug on the experiment as it could have been dangerous to allow the machines to think and act for themselves.

The two robots started communicating in gobbledegook which, although in English, made no sense to researchers.

The New York incident was the first one officially recorded but it is understood there have been many more instances involving AIs that have not been recorded or reported.

This has implications for many high tech companies in Gloucestershire, which depend on robotic systems for many of their manufacturing processes.

The repercussions of machines developing the ability to act independently sounds frightening and could be serious, particularly for military robots.

The Facebook episode has resonances of the sci-fi storylines in some of the big Hollywood films, such as "2001: A Space Odyssey, when computer Hal developed a mind of its own, or in Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, when a computer programme developed into a highly sophisticated robot, bent on destroying mankind.

However, there is confidence that adequate safety procedures will be put in place to ensure a nightmarish future of robotic wars is not an option.

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Picture credit: Pixabay