Artificial Intelligence has been described as a threat that could be 'more dangerous than nukes'. But despite this, the race is on to create robots that can interact naturally with humans and mimic some of our unique characteristics. Now, a robot modelled on a four-year-old child, has been developed with a ‘sense of self’. Scroll down for video . A humanoid called iCub (pictured) has been developed with a ‘sense of self’ and is motivated by goals as we;l as being able to express six emotions on its face and even dance . The humanoid called iCub, which has been under development for 10 years, is motivated by goals and can express six emotions on its face, including raising its eyebrows and generating a light-up smile. It was originally created by the Italian Institute of Technology as part of the eFAA Project and over the years, it’s been refined to be able to crawl, walk and dance to music, manipulate objects in its hands, speak and express emotions. It's latest iteration is more human-like than ever. A video posted by New Scientist shows it playing a game of paddle war – a simple game where two players each hold a paddle - or in this case a cylinder - and try to score goals using a digital ball, while stopping their rival from scoring. A video shows iCub playing a game of paddle war (pictured) – a  game where two players each hold a paddle and try to score goals using a digital ball, while stopping their rival from scoring - but the robot is a sore loser! The robot’s goals and emotions change constantly, based on information picked up by sensors and it reacts appropriately to whether it is winning or losing. When iCub concedes a goal, it frowns and furrows its light-up eyebrows, sometimes swearing like an ill-tempered human. When it scores a goal, it smiles and says phrases like ‘got it,’ although there is not much change in intonation whether a phrase is negative or positive. The robot’s goals and emotions change constantly, based on information picked up by sensors and it reacts appropriately. A stock image is shown . The robot laughs, or says ‘ha ha’ when the ball ricochets off the side of the screen, but is seemingly a bad loser. ‘That isn’t fair, I should be stronger at video games!’ it says, after losing the game. The video also shows how the robot can respond to being touched, a little bit like a slightly creepy human. When a human strokes its arms it affects iCub’s reactions and emotions and the robot says on one occasion in the video: ‘I like when you touch me this way'. ‘Enjoying’ the human contact, the machine smiles and says: 'please, caress me again'. Tweaks to its software also mean that the robot is starting to understand language and can follow instructions that require reasoning, such as identifying two objects and moving them to a position, as instructed. Scientists are so keen to develop human-like robots to advance the field of artificial intelligence, which they hope could one day be used in medicine, and even eradicate disease and poverty, for example. A group of scientists and entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking, have signed an open letter promising to ensure AI research benefits humanity, and doesn't destroy it. The letter warns that without safeguards on intelligent machines, mankind could be heading for a dark future. The document , drafted by the Future of Life Institute, said scientists should seek to head off risks that could wipe out mankind. The authors say there is a 'broad consensus' that AI research is making good progress and would have a growing impact on society. It highlights speech recognition, image analysis, driverless cars, translation and robot motion as having benefited from the research. A group of scientists and entrepreneurs, including Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking (pictured), have signed an open letter promising to ensure AI research benefits humanity, and doesn't destroy it . 'The potential benefits are huge, since everything that civilisation has to offer is a product of human intelligence; we cannot predict what we might achieve when this intelligence is magnified by the tools AI may provide, but the eradication of disease and poverty are not unfathomable,' the authors write. But it issued a stark warning that research into the rewards of AI had to be matched with an equal effort to avoid the potential damage it could wreak. For instance, in the short term, it claims AI may put millions of people out of work. In the long term, it could have the potential to play out like a fictional dystopias in which intelligence greater than humans could begin acting against their programming. 'Our AI systems must do what we want them to do,' the letter says. 'Many economists and computer scientists agree that there is valuable research to be done on how to maximise the economic benefits of AI while mitigating adverse effects, which could include increased inequality and unemployment.' The letter followed comments made by Professor Hawking, who warned that AI could someday overtake humans. Speaking at event in London, the physicist told the BBC : 'The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.' Musk has previously described AI as our 'biggest existential threat'.
The humanoid, called iCub has been under development for a decade . It's latest iteration is shown playing a game and reacting to its progress . Robot is motivated by goals and can express six emotions on its face . Video shows it responding to touch as well as spoken instructions .