Rise of the Self-Replicators [electronic resource] : Early Visions of Machines, AI and Robots That Can Reproduce and Evolve /

Self-Reproducing Machines: The Evolution of an Idea -- Animals and Machines: Changing Relationships in the 17th and 18th Centuries -- Babbage Meets Darwin: Mechanization and Evolution in the 19th Century -- Robot Evolution and the Fate of Humanity: Pop Culture and Futurology in the Early 20th Century -- From Idea to Reality: Designing and Building Self-reproducing Machines in the Mid-20th Century -- More Recent Developments: Signposts to Work from the 1960s to the Present -- The Next Evolution: Reflection and Outlook.

Is it possible to design robots and other machines that can reproduce and evolve? And, if so, what are the implications: for the machines, for ourselves, for our environment, and for the future of life on Earth and elsewhere? In this book the authors provide a chronological survey and comprehensive archive of the early history of thought about machine self-reproduction and evolution. They discuss contributions from philosophy, science fiction, science and engineering, and uncover many examples that have never been discussed in the Artificial Intelligence and Artificial Life literature before now. In the final chapter they provide a synthesis of the concepts discussed, offer their views on the field’s future directions, and call for a broad community discussion about the significant implications of intelligent evolving machines. The book will be of interest to general readers, and a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and historians engaged with ideas in artificial intelligence, artificial life, robotics, and evolutionary computing.