FT News in the UK is reporting that a robot by the name of Adam is the first of its kind to have become aware without the aid of its human creator’s programming.
Adam has yet to become self-aware, however, with his latest ciruitous thinking that may not be too far off. It (He) was able to form its own hypothesis independent of its programing during an experiment examining baker’s yeast at the University of Aberystwyth. Full details of Adam’s research have been published in the latest Science journal.
“Ultimately we hope to have teams of human and robot scientists working together in laboratories,” stated Adam creator Ross King, Ph.D.
The same team, headed by Ross, are currently developing Adam’s counterpart — appropriately named Eve which Ross reports will be “better designed and more elegant.”
At the moment Adam is very aware of yeast biology but not much else, however, it is being hailed as the first remarkable step on the evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) that will see further teaming up of the computer and biology sciences.
Can anyone say Skynet…Cyborg…Cylon……BORG!
Now is the time that the Three Laws of Robotics were put into place and put to practical use. For those who don’t get the reference, read the robot books (including the print version of “I, Robot”) written by Isaac Asimov. Now all we need to hear is that NASA found a planet full of androids.