"The robot broke the child's finger. This is of course bad." This is the last thing you might expect to hear from the organiser of a chess competition. But it is how Sergey Lazarev, president of the Moscow Chess Federation, summed up an incident last week in which a seven-year-old player fell foul of a quick-firing machine.

The robotic arm, programmed to play multiple matches at once, suddenly lunged at the boy and grabbed his hand. Four adults had to extricate him from its grasp.

The boy seemed unfazed and returned the next day.

But it has some wondering if we are introducing robots into our lives too quickly, before we have had time to ensure they are safe.

Even the simplest machines are lethal. Around two people die in the USA every year from being crushed under a vending machine.

Industrial robots are programmed to carry out a series of tasks. Unlike human beings, they cannot recognise - for now - when they are causing harm. Yet we are introducing more and more of these complex machines into our lives.

We have been quick to embrace self-driving cars. Yet last month, it was revealed that Teslas had been involved in 273 crashes since 2021.

Some fear intelligent robots could be used by authoritarian governments. Recently, the internet was left disturbed by a video showing a small, dog-like robot operating a submachine gun.

Humans cannot be relied upon to follow unethical orders; they might simply refuse to fire upon fellow citizens. Robots have no such qualms.

Some believe one day humans will lose control of AI. In 2016, tech enthusiasts were left disturbed when human-like robot Sophia declared her intention to "destroy humans". And Google fired an engineer who claimed that an unreleased AI system had become sentientAble to perceive or feel things..

Others think it is not the robots that are to blame. In almost every case that robots have caused deaths or injuries, human error has been responsible.

Some think the question is not whether humans are safe from AI, but whether robots are safe from us. In 2014, scientists designed a robot hitchhiker named hitchBot. It went on adventures around the world, hitching rides with adoring fans.

Until one day, hitchBot was found stripped and decapitated in Philadelphia. Even friendly robots are not safe from human cruelty.

Yes: The number of injuries caused by machines is rising, and yet we are incorporating more of these machines into our lives. One day, AI will be able to override our commands not to hurt us.

No: If the future of humanity is in peril, then it is from human activity, not from intelligent machines. Robots are improving our lives - and we can program them not to destroy us.

Or... AI is probably not going to overthrow human rule. But powerful, unscrupulous human beings could certainly use AI to overthrow democracy and introduce repressive forms of government.