Boffins have warned that a new breed of AI sex bots could end up blackmailing and even killing their owners.

Lonely blokes are investing in ever increasingly sophisticated pleasure dolls.

But experts say cybercrooks could hack them to extort cash from unsuspecting punters.

READ MORE: AI sees Putin go ‘full-Barbie’ with bright pink suits – despite Russian film ban

Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor with web security firm ESET, told us: “At the very least, they could be hacked for blackmail purposes.

“They probably have cameras and that footage would be very valuable to cyber-criminals for blackmail purposes.”

And boffins fear the bots could be programmed to kill – or even murder their owners by over-exerting them during sex.

Dr Nick Patterson from Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, warned: “Hackers can hack into a robot or a robotic device and have full control of the connections, arms, legs and other attached tools like in some cases knives or welding devices.

“Once a robot is hacked, the hacker has full control and can issue instructions to the robot.

“The last thing you want is for a hacker to have control over one of these robots.

“Once hacked they could absolutely be used to perform physical actions for an advantageous scenario or to cause damage.”

The boffin, who has written a string of papers on the potentially deadly misuse of AI and smart computing systems if they were hacked, first issued his warning six years ago – when sex bots were nowhere near as sophisticated as they are today.

Oliver Bendel, a researcher from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Northwestern Switzerland, warned robots have the potential to carry on romping without tiring out it could put users at risk of over-exertion.

He said: “If the machine over-exerts the human, it reduces the possibility of human sex.”

One new brand of the ultra-pricey sex droids coming out of the US and Japan features a Scottish accent.

One company boasts its AI sex doll “connects to the Internet and can tell jokes and stories, share the weather, and even do math”.

To get more stories from Daily Star delivered straight to your inbox sign up to one of our free newsletters here.