Artificial Intelligence, AI, should never be given the autonomous power to hurt, destroy or deceive people, said a parliamentary report, as ethics should be given priority in the development of AI.
The House of Lords Artificial Intelligence Committee's report - AI in the UK, warned of the danger of AI becoming dominated by a few big firms.
It named Google, IBM and Microsoft as the current leaders in the field and said there was a danger that the fast-growing industry would be monopolised by those few.
They have amassed huge amounts of data needed to train AI-based systems and "must be prevented from becoming overly powerful" it said.
Despite the stark warning there was no need to create an AI-regulator to rein in those tech giants, said the report. Instead regulators in other industries should be aware of the growing use of AI in their sector, such as insurance, and act accordingly.
It also recommends that more is done to protect people's data rights and choices in an age of AI.
This could include establishing a voluntary mechanism to inform people when AI is being used.
The report also recommended that people be educated to work alongside AI in the jobs of the future.
It said that such education would "mitigate the negative effects" on jobs which are possible as AI develops.
"Many jobs will be enhanced by AI, many will disappear and many new, as yet unknown jobs, will be created," the report said.
"Significant government investment in skills and training will be necessary," it added.
"Retraining will become a lifelong necessity."
The report also concluded that "should be developed for the common good and benefit of humanity".
