*Editor's Note: Check back for an updated version of the audio portion of this interview. 

If software algorithms can create meaningful simulations of modern warfare in popular video games like "Call of Duty," can they contribute to the Pentagon's military combat strategy?

More sophisticated electronic war machines are on the horizon. Things like helicopters and drones that can figure out how and where to land on their own are in development, and military research is moving towards creating robot war fighters that would take on all the responsibilities of human soldiers. That includes deciding when to kill and when to stand down. 

But how can a robot make that decision? Even humans struggle with that question on and off the battlefield. Would it even be legal under current international law to have a robot that could these kinds of decisions?

Reporter Thomas Reintjes covered this story in Germany and worked with WNYC's New Tech City team to produce it for English-speaking audiences. Here, New Tech City Host and Managing Editor Manoush Zomorodi sits down with Takeaway Host John Hockenberry to talk about some of the troubles of creating robot armies.