Page 39 - Robots Androids and Animatrons : 12 Incredible Projects You Can Build

Are these programs alive? It depends upon the definition used for
life. What if the programs evolve and develop higher levels of pro-
gramming? What happens when these programs are encased in
and control mobile robots? How about if the robots learn to build
copies of themselves (self-replicate)?
Nanorobotics—are we alive yet?
A nanobot is a robot the size of a microbe. IBM is making progress
in manipulating atoms and molecules to create simple machines
and electronics (transistors and wire). So far, there appears to be
no restriction on how small one can make an object. Bacteria-sized
robots are theoretically possible.

Some scientists predict silicon life will be the next evolutionary
step, replacing carbon life forms on this planet. What we call elec-
tronics and robotics will evolve into self-creating, self-replicating
silicon life.

Whether or not silicon life becomes the next major evolutionary
step on Earth will not be debated here. This chapter will remain
focused on the development of artificial intelligence (conscious-
ness) and artificial life.
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A little history
The progression of computer technology over the last five and
a half decades is staggering. In 1946 the ENIAC computer filled a
large area with electronic equipment. The computer was almost
100 feet (ft) long, 8 ft high, 3 ft deep, and weighed 30 tons. ENIAC
contained 18,000 tubes, 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6000
switches, and 1500 electromagnetic relays. ENIAC could perform
5000 additions per second, 357 multiplications per second, and up
to 38 divisions per second. Today that same 1946 computer could
1
be condensed on a tiny sliver of silicon less than ″ square.
4
Physicist Robert Jastrow stated in The Enchanted Loom (New
York, Simon & Schuster, 1981) that, “The first generation of comput-
ers was a billion times clumsier and less efficient than the human
brain. Today, the gap has narrowed a thousand fold.”
Science is progressing unrelentingly toward creating AI. Artificial
intelligence is something we may see in our lifetime. From the
standpoint of creating competent AI, it’s a small step to generating
superior intelligence in machines. That’s a dream, many scientists
will tell you, trying to retain the waxing illusion that human intelli-

Team LRN
Chapter two