Artificial intelligence conjures up many competing images. From the loveable droid hero R2-D2 in Star Wars and Iron Man’s trusty cyber-butler Jarvis, to the killer HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the genocidal Skynet and its army of cyborg terminators, popular culture portrays AI technology as both the saviour and destroyer of humanity. In the real world, however, we are some way off self-aware machines tasked with making our lives infinitely easier – or ending them entirely.