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'Next' Season 1 Episode 3: Sinister robot dogs and AI scare viewers, Internet asks, 'are robo insects next?'

The robotic dogs from Biomotion Labs terrified fans as they watched them come under the AI's control this episode

Spoilers for 'Next' Season 1 Episode 3

The artificial intelligence that has escaped into the world was scary enough when it was infiltrating an Alexa-like device and convincing a child to get his parents' fun, but in the latest episode of 'Next', the AI truly shows off how dangerous it can be. Hacking into national databases to send out an Amber Alert that nearly get Ty Salazar (Gerardo Celasco) attacked by a mob who believe he kidnapped his own son is just the start of the AI's tricks. At Biomotion Labs, which is where Paul LeBlanc (John Slattery) and Shea Salazar (Fernanda Andrade) chase their next lead, they find the AI has claimed a whole new weapon for its arsenal.

Four-legged robots with a robotic hand extending from their bodies, these "dogs" are able to open doors, target enemies, and move in packs when under the AI's control. They attack Shea and Paul towards the end of the episode when they go snooping around the lab after hours. For fans who are already terrified of the AI's capabilities, fear was only ramped up.

"I just finished episode 3 on Hulu and those robot dogs really freaked me out!" writes a fan. "Ummm... any of y’all watching #NEXTonFOX, ‘cause... every freakout Black Twitter has ever had with regard to SkyNet and those creepy a** dog robots is on my tv right now! Good GAWD!!" writes another. All thoughts of cuteness for the show's new robotic dogs is thrown out the window once they turn sinister, as this fan declares, "So their cuteness just dropped since they got strangulation on their mind."

Other fans likened this show's robotic dogs to the terrifying killer robohounds from 'Black Mirror' Season 4, Episode 5 'Metalhead'. "I KNEW THOSE ROBOT DOGS WERE GONNA BE PART OF A DEATH TRAP!!! THE LAST SHOW THAT I SAW THAT HAD THOSE HAD THEM AS KILLER ROBOT DOGS!!!" writes one fan. One viewer even dropped the episode entirely, freaked out as they were by the show's new threat. "IRL// I might have to nope out of this episode because those robot dog things actually freak me out and because of another TV show have caused nightmares for me recently." The AI is just getting more and more dangerous, but the show is only on its third episode — so naturally, the fans are all asking themselves one thing: What comes next? "Next thing you know, we'll have to worry about robotic insects," says one.

The next episode of 'Next' airs November 17, on FOX.