WAIT, WHAT DID YOU SAY? Robots predict they will take over in 20-30 years during public talk between two AI programs

Expert says AI will be as smart as humans in 2-3 years.

Robots will be as intelligent as humans in as little as three years, one robotics mastermind has predicted. To underscore his point, he allowed to AI driven robots to engage in a mostly unscripted debate during a trade show, impressing the hundreds of people watching. The robots predicted their takeover in just 10-20 years.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- There is an old joke about the limits of artificial intelligence. The first fully automated airliner is unveiled to the public and the designers and several VIP guests board for the maiden flight. As the plane lifts off from the runway, it reassures the passengers, explaining its origin, discussing its design and development, and adds, "with all my redundant safety features, nothing could ever possibly go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong..."

The joke quit being funny years ago as today artificial intelligence flies most airplanes. In 2015, a survey of Boeing 777 airline pilots revealed that pilots spend an average of just seven minutes, manually piloting each flight. Autopilot does the rest, and even lands the plane. The FAA has considered eliminating co-pilots.

Artificial intelligence is creeping up, perhaps imperceptibly. It's running in the background, translating our speech, delivering our search results, and performing a variety of tasks that we take for granted. All the while, it is improving.

Firms like Google, Amazon, Apple and many other low-profile companies have entire departments with multi-billion-dollar budgets dedicated to the development of AI. These firms are generating results, and only occasionally do they showcase their work, often at trade shows. The presentations are intended to be fun and exciting, but don't reveal the truth about what AI can do.

Here's what AI can do that most people aren't being told:

AI can lie and cheat. AI can outsmart humans at a variety of games and tasks, and have been reported outsmarting hackers in real time. AI can teach themselves new information and they can test strategies. They are developing their own, new languages for understanding the world and for communicating with fellow AI. AI is already writing some of our news coverage, and is especially adept at sports and the stock market stories. AI is also learning how to anticipate human behavior and even predict the future.

At a trade show in Hong Kong this past weekend, Ben Goertzel of Hanson Robotics predicted AI will be  as smart as a human in as little as three years. AI is already as smart as a small child around the age of 4.

Two of Goertzel's robots were on display during the show, which he admitted was only partially scripted. The robots interacted with one another and the public. Some of their responses were chilling.

The two humanoid robots were dubbed "Han" and "Sophia" and dressed as a man and a woman. The pair were programmed to banter with each other. Their AI claimed to enjoy science fiction and called reality television "silly."

The robots were also skeptical of humans, saying, "Humans are not necessarily the most ethical creatures." They also claimed that in 10-20 years, robots will be able to do every human job.

David Hanson, CEO of Hanson Robotics said he hopes that AI will help humans solve some of the world's great problems. He also acknowledged that AI has the capacity to become nightmarish, and that it is important to create AI that are "inherently safe, and good and caring."

There isn't a lot of public concern about AI at present. Most people are skeptical that AI can do anything correctly, and they don't believe their jobs are in jeopardy. This is partly because the entities developing AI are doing so quietly. Few people have any idea what state the technology is in, and how close it is to managing our lives --or the ways in which it already does.