Reproducing Robots

About 100 years ago the word robot was coined. Its origin is a Czech word, robota, which means “forced labor.” In the ensuing century, the definition of the term robot has evolved (thanks to the use of computers) from a machine that behaves as a slave, to an entity that can act autonomously and intelligently by performing complex tasks. In fact, with the advent of artificial intelligence, some people now speculate that we may be on the verge of creating robots that are far smarter than humans, and may soon turn the tables and enslave us!

Robots running amok is a fear that, by dint of unleashed technology, we may about to uncork a machine-like Pandora's Box, by taking an unwise step that will lead to future ominous problems. That possibility has created countless science fiction tales which suggest that our human future may contain many battles with robots who rebel and try to defeat us. One of the most famous depictions was a series of novels by Isaac Asimov, who expanded upon the Czech origin of robot, to coin the term robotics in 1941. Asimov conceived of his three laws of robotics—that would prohibit robots from harming human beings. His assurances, however, have not mitigated the fear in some people’s minds that robots may eventually rebel and some day take over.

Now comes the possibility from a scientific collaboration between teams from the UK and Netherlands, that robots may soon breed and evolve. That idea takes these machines ever closer to human-like capabilities—maybe even enclosing them within the realm of what we call life. Yikes! That's too close to Frankenstein's creation of a “living being” from dead body parts... and we know the troubles caused by that creature.

So can a robot ever attain the qualities of evolving and being “alive”? Biology defines life as exhibiting about six features: (1) a complex assembly of “living” cells, (2) able to respond to diverse stimuli, (3) reproduction, (4) self-regulation, to respond to its environment, (5) possessing homeostasis—to maintain critical internal conditions and balances, and (6) processing energy, to carry on its metabolic activities.

Maybe those 100-year-old robots were simple programmed machines, but today's robots feature most of these characteristics of life. For example, the UK and Dutch researchers' robotic technology is able to spawn (birth?) offspring that receive a transplanted “brain” (in the form of software) from their “parents,” which contain inherited traits.

These robots employ artificial intelligence, which guides that inheritance, so as to optimize certain capabilities for specific missions that we are as yet unable to comprehend. Is this some form of robotic evolution—an evolution in which they can control themselves, and pass traits on to future robotic generations? Are we opening a Pandora's Box, from which super robots will soon breed and become god-like beings? Asimov, we may need your robotic laws to protect us.