The British engineers creating robots that ‘breed’
Self-cloning robots that may lead way to colonising a new planet, but first scientists must grapple with the question of AI
14 March 2021 • 4:33pm
Hidden deep in robotics labs around the world, a new generation of intelligent machines is learning to breed and evolve.
Just like humans, these robots are able to “give birth” to new versions of themselves, with each one better than the last. They are precise, efficient and creative – and scientists say they could someday help save humanity.
It might sound like something from a sci-fi novel, but robot evolution is an area that has been explored in earnest ever since mathematician John von Neumann showed how a machine could replicate itself in 1949. Now, British engineers are leading global efforts to make it a reality.