AI: will the machines ever rise up?

From Ex Machina to Terminator Genisys, 'synths' and robots have invaded our popular culture. But how real is the reel depiction of artificial intelligence?

The harried parents in one family in the Channel 4 drama Humans are divided about having a robot called Anita.

The father is delighted with the extra help; the mother unnerved and threatened. The teenage daughter, bright and hardworking, gives up at school after wondering why she would spend seven years to become a doctor, when a "Synth" could upload the skills in as many seconds. The teenage son, of course, is preoccupied with the sexual possibilities.