It may sound like something out of sci-fi B movie, but representatives of the human race are meeting this week in Geneva to discuss the threat of killer robots.

The United Nations' Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) is currently holding its Meeting of Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, which started yesterday and runs until April 17 at the United Nations in Geneva.

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Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, or LAWS, is the technical term scientists use to refer to the kind of killer robots seen in movies such as "The Terminator." According to the UN, the meetings will "address the state of play in the development of increasingly autonomous functions in technical systems, increasing complexity and autonomy in weapon systems as well as in civilian autonomous systems."

The UN adds that "the issues of resilience against programming and deployment errors and the vulnerability of LAWS to cyber-attacks merit closer attention. In addition, an exchange on the military rationale for increasing autonomy in weapons systems may provide for a better understanding of the subject under discussion."

This is not the first time UN members have gathered to discuss a potential attack of the drones. The group met in May 2014 in a Meeting of High Contracting Parties, which agreed on a mandate.

The U.S. delegation said that although the first meeting provided a useful forum for discussing the technical, legal, and ethical issues involved in autonomous in weapon system that "more work still needs to be done to establish a common understanding of lethal autonomous weapons systems."

However, the U.S. emphasized that its definition referred to "future weapons" and "emerging technologies," making it clear that "we are not referring to remotely piloted aircraft, which as their name implies are not autonomous weapons, or other existing weapons systems." So drones are off the table.

The U.S. delegation also said that it "believes that a robust policy process and methodology can help mitigate risk when developing new weapons systems. The United States has a process in place, applicable to all weapon systems, which is designed to ensure weapons operate safely, reliably and are understood by their human operators."

Keeping a close eye on the proceedings is the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an international coalition aimed at preemptively banning fully autonomous weapons.

It was formed by  non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in October 2012 and launched in April 2013. The Campaign is calling for a comprehensive, pre-emptive ban on fully autonomous weapons, and outlines how that could be achieved with an international treaty, as well as through national laws and other measures.

 "Over the past decade, the expanded use of unmanned armed vehicles has dramatically changed warfare, bringing new humanitarian and legal challenges," says the group. "Now rapid advances in technology are resulting in efforts to develop fully autonomous weapons. These robotic weapons would be able to choose and fire on targets on their own, without any human intervention."

The group adds that "giving machines the power to decide who lives and dies on the battlefield is an unacceptable application of technology. Human control of any combat robot is essential to ensuring both humanitarian protection and effective legal control."

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