The newest threat to humans may not be nuclear weapons or climate change, but rather robots intended for intimate purposes that could suddenly turn deadly. Even worse, they can even be armed with guns or knives.

Cyber security expert Dr. Nick Patterson recently voiced his concerns about the killer sex robots, cautioning that hackers could take control of the devices and turn them into wanton killing machines. “Hackers can hack into a robot or a robotic device and have full control of the connections, arms, legs and other attached tools like in some cases knives or welding devices,” he declared. “Often these robots can be upwards of 200 pounds, and very strong.”

Elon Musk has previously warned about killer robot armies, describing artificial intelligence research as “summoning a demon.” Dr. Patterson, however, believes that the danger lies in hackers taking control of the sex robots and using them as deadly weapons. “The last thing you want is for a hacker to have control over one of these robots! Once hacked they could absolutely be used to perform physical actions for an advantageous scenario or to cause damage.”

Sex robots are a booming field in artificial intelligence, and the race is on to build the first mass-market robotic erotic companion. Harmony, a $15,000 robot created by Matt McMullen at Abyss Creations, is programmed to be “docile, submissive, and built like a porn star.” Over five years, she has evolved through six iterations and is generating a lot of interest among robot doll aficionados. “My goal, in a very simple way, is to make people happy,” McMullen said. “There are a lot of people out there, for one reason or another, who have difficulty forming traditional relationships with other people. It’s really all about giving those people some level of companionship – or the illusion of companionship.”

Some sex robots have been programmed with actual personalities, and there are others that need to be seduced before you, uh, get down to business. Some robots can be stimulated to orgasm, and there are even plans for robot brothels in Europe. These virtual girlfriends aren’t cheap, however – plan to shell out at least ten grand for even the base models.

On top of that, there’s always the danger they’ll go on a homicidal rampage. Perhaps we should take our cue from the writings of Isaac Asimov and require that all sex robots be programmed with the Three Laws of Robotics.