LONDON, December 12. /TASS/. Clashes between humans and robots, as depicted in dystopian novels, could begin in Europe by 2035, The Daily Telegraph reported, citing the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol).

The newspaper noted that Europol experts have compiled a report describing a possible future society. They believe that robots will become "a fixture of daily life across Europe." According to their estimates, robots will work in various fields, including parcel delivery and cleaning. At the same time, "displaced workers" in disadvantaged areas of cities will take to the streets in protest and express their dissatisfaction by "bot bashing."

"In this uneasy climate, even minor malfunctions, such as a hospital care robot administering the wrong medication, are magnified into national scandals, fuelling populist calls to ‘put people first’," the newspaper wrote, quoting the report.

Europol also fears that, in such a dystopian scenario, cybercriminals could hack AI-equipped robot assistants and reprogram them to gather information or commit crimes. Experts believe that terrorists could use pocket-sized quadcopters with AI to attack cities' electricity and water supply systems. To counter this threat, police will need to arm themselves with "robo freezer guns" and "nano net grenades," according to Europol.

In a comment to the newspaper, Denis Niezgoda, chief commercial officer at Locus Robotics, a US company that creates robotic assistants, called the described scenario unrealistic within the next ten years. According to the expert, "there are not only technical barriers but regulatory barriers to some of those very extreme scenarios becoming a reality by 2035."

A Europol spokesman told The Daily Telegraph that the agency "can't predict the future" and the report was compiled to "anticipate plausible future scenarios that enable <...> to make more informed decisions today."