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Horror Short Film “Slaughterbots” | ALTER

ALTERCited 8× on HN, 2020–2026
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other · general · evergreen · 2020–2026 on HN

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.

Used as a reference point in discussions of autonomous weapons, as a once-sci-fi scenario that now looks prescient.

8 comments from Hacker News

@kleiba2026-03 · in “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

@grues-dinner2025-08 · in “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!?)

@kvetching2023-03 · in “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

@snthd2021-11 · in “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).

@sebmellen2021-05 · in “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 .