Horror Short Film “Slaughterbots” | ALTER
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as a reference point in discussions of autonomous weapons, as a once-sci-fi scenario that now looks prescient.
What it is
Slaughterbots, a short dystopian film in which swarms of small autonomous drones are programmed to kill targets matching a profile. It opens as a slick product launch before turning into a terror scenario.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2020 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Cites 0-_-0 · 2020-06 · on “Turkey Now Has Swarming Suicide Drones It Could Export”
A suicide drone can be used to take out any individual anywhere on the planet, fully remotely and untraceably with minimal collateral damage, while radar, missles and explosives can't. The scenario depicted in the film below is getting closer to reality: [this video] Although the above is overdramatised, it's not unrealistinc.
Cites searchableguy · 2020-06 · on “Turkey Now Has Swarming Suicide Drones It Could Export”
This reminds me of the video released a year ago - [this video] Next thing you know there is an AI detecting crime and killing the criminal without making a mess.
Cites anonporridge · 2021-03 · on “Toxic people could become a reality, scientists researching snake venom say”
Seriously, [this video] Human 'soldiers' are really only going to be useful in the near future for infiltrating and disrupting social systems, not for dispensing physical violence.
Cites sebmellen · 2021-05 · on “Drones may have attacked humans fully autonomously for the first time”
For those who can't find the video on the page: [LINK] . As hn_throwaway_99 mentions below, the "Slaughterbots" video is not too far off from how STM presents their equipment: [this video] .
Cites snthd · 2021-11 · on “EU Chatcontrol 2.0 [video]”
It's not enough (but it's still a good idea). "Slaughterbots" ( [this video] ) shows a terror angle for some of what technology can do (drones).
Cites kvetching · 2023-03 · on “Pausing AI Developments Isn't Enough. We Need to Shut It All Down”
Slaughterbot mini kamikaze drones were hypothesized 5 years ago - [this video] AI & drone tech is fast enough that it would be trivial to build these now
Cites grues-dinner · 2025-08 · on “Teacher AI use is already out of control and it's not ok”
Even then, Slaughterbots did it first: [this video] And you probably don't need fiber optic, because you're operating in "owned space" - the drones sit on charging platforms until needed. You can have, say, additional access points embedded in the walls and ceilings (for a price, but it's children's safety, so who are we to say base station rental is worth more that little Timmy not getting a 5.56 in the back in a signal blackspot!?)
Cites kleiba · 2026-03 · on “Claude AI Helped Bomb Iran. But How Exactly?”
Quick reminder of the "Slaughterbots" video from 9(!) years ago, when the content was still sci-fi. Well, we're catching up... [this video]