Will robots one day destroy us? It's a question that increasingly preoccupies many of our most brilliant scientists and tech entrepreneurs.

For developments in artificial intelligence (AI) — machines programmed to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence — are poised to reshape our workplace and leisure time dramatically.

This year, a leading Oxford academic, Professor Michael Wooldridge, warned MPs that AI could go 'rogue', that machines might become so complex that the engineers who create them will no longer understand them or be able to predict how they function.

Yes, it's a concern, but a 'historic' new development makes unpredictable decisions by AI machines the least of our worries. And it all started with a game of chess.