Sexy Robot Apocalypse? Robots Can Now Mate and Reproduce
Sexy Robot Apocalypse? Robots Can Now Mate and Reproduce
Researchers in Amsterdam recently created robots that can ‘mate’ and create offspring in a roundabout way. Each robot is programmed with a genome that determines their software and hardware. They can communicate with each other through WiFi, and combine that information randomly to create a new genome, which is then sent to a 3D printer. Thus, a new robot is born in a way that resembles evolution in nature. So what could be so advantageous about teaching robots to reproduce themselves in this manner?
In the Robot Baby Project at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, scientists have developed a way for robots to have ‘sex’ and pass on their DNA to offspring.
Doing this can allow them to ‘develop their bodies through evolution,’ making for successive generations that have more advanced physical and behavioural capabilities.
As the process continues, the researchers say robots can become more suitable for use in unknown environments that could be hazardous to humans, like deep sea mines or even other planets.
Of course, all great technologies are by their nature, a double-edged sword. Every technology that can be used for good can also be used for evil. Or even with the best of intentions, any new technology can lead to horrific accidents. Self-reproducing robots will be no different.
Right now these little robots seem novel and harmless, but when combined with other advances that are on the horizon, they could be a serious threat. Right now we already have artificial intelligence algorithms with the capability to learn and retain information, and we already have robots that can consume matter from the environment for energy. Altogether, science has laid the groundwork for machines that act like living creatures. They could in the very foreseeable future, think, eat, and reproduce.
More at site
Sexy Robot Apocalypse? Robots Can Now Mate and Reproduce
Researchers in Amsterdam recently created robots that can ‘mate’ and create offspring in a roundabout way. Each robot is programmed with a genome that determines their software and hardware. They can communicate with each other through WiFi, and combine that information randomly to create a new genome, which is then sent to a 3D printer. Thus, a new robot is born in a way that resembles evolution in nature. So what could be so advantageous about teaching robots to reproduce themselves in this manner?
In the Robot Baby Project at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, scientists have developed a way for robots to have ‘sex’ and pass on their DNA to offspring.
Doing this can allow them to ‘develop their bodies through evolution,’ making for successive generations that have more advanced physical and behavioural capabilities.
As the process continues, the researchers say robots can become more suitable for use in unknown environments that could be hazardous to humans, like deep sea mines or even other planets.
Of course, all great technologies are by their nature, a double-edged sword. Every technology that can be used for good can also be used for evil. Or even with the best of intentions, any new technology can lead to horrific accidents. Self-reproducing robots will be no different.
Right now these little robots seem novel and harmless, but when combined with other advances that are on the horizon, they could be a serious threat. Right now we already have artificial intelligence algorithms with the capability to learn and retain information, and we already have robots that can consume matter from the environment for energy. Altogether, science has laid the groundwork for machines that act like living creatures. They could in the very foreseeable future, think, eat, and reproduce.
More at site
