Cited on HN 8 times, 2020–2026, never outright recommendedscore 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
Used as a reference point in discussions of autonomous weapons, as a once-sci-fi scenario that now looks prescient.
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.
“Quick reminder of the "Slaughterbots" video from 9(!) years ago, when the content was still sci-fi.” (HN, 2026)
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.
Fictional film depicting swarm assassination drones.
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.
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.
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] .
Slaughterbots film resembles real defense contractor marketing.
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
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!?)
Prior fictional depiction of indoor killer drones.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.
Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed
8 Hacker News comments
From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.