Armies of Terminator-like warriors fan out across the battlefield, destroying everything in their path, as swarms of fellow robots rain fire from the skies.

Governments Tuesday began the first-ever talks exclusively on so-called "lethal autonomous weapons systems" – though opponents prefer the label "killer robots".

That was echoed by the International Committee of the Red Cross, guardian of the Geneva Conventions on warfare.

The four-day meeting in Geneva aims to chart the path toward more in-depth talks in November.

Perhaps closest to the Terminator-type killing machine is a Samsung sentry robot used in South Korea, with the ability to spot unusual activity, talk to intruders and, when authorized by a human controller, shoot them.

It's the next step, the power to kill without a human handler, that rattles opponents the most.

Experts predict that military research could produce such killers within 20 years.

...