It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie - U.S. researchers have given robots the ability be to deceptive.

"We have developed algorithms that allow a robot to determine whether it should deceive a human or other intelligent machine and we have designed techniques that help the robot select the best deceptive strategy to reduce its chance of being discovered," said Ronald Arkin, a professor in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing, in a release about the study.

The researchers taught a robot how to recognize when a situation warrants the use of deception, then programed it to behave appropriately.

The researchers said the study - which was published this week online in the International Journal of Social Robotics - will help in places like a battlefield, where a robot can deceive an enemy soldier by creating a false trail, then hide so it will not be caught.

The researchers also said in a search-and-rescue operation, a robot may need to deceive in order to calm or get co-operation from a panicking victim.

"Most social robots will probably rarely use deception, but it's still an important tool in the robot's interactive arsenal, because robots that recognize the need for deception have advantages in terms of outcome compared to robots that do not recognize the need for deception," Wagner said.