While you are sleeping, artificial life reproduces like a virus. It's in your computer, thinking thoughts for you. It's in your kitchen making your coffee. It's flying over your head right now, extending the vision of jet pilots into the miles... [more]

While you are sleeping, artificial life reproduces like a virus. It's in your computer, thinking thoughts for you. It's in your kitchen making your coffee. It's flying over your head right now, extending the vision of jet pilots into the miles of darkness before them. Soon, it could be inside of your body, correcting failures of your biological systems before they even occur. For some, the proliferation of artificial life suggests nefarious plots and nightmare scenarios (Furbies were just the beginning). Others see it as opening new frontiers in biology, ecology, art, and communication. Those who fear artificial life will be happy to know that artists like Kenneth Rinaldo are among those steering its development. Rinaldo creates interactive media installations that explore the interstices between technological and natural systems. His philosophy is nature-friendly: "I believe it is imperative that technological systems acknowledge and model the evolved wisdom of living systems, so that they will inherently fuse to permit an interdependent earth." In the future, nature and technology will cooperate and co-evolve. For this co-evolution to take place, the mavens of nanotechnology must grasp how physical and mental systems operate, from nerve structure and neurochemistry to language and grammar. While philosophers debate the separation of mind and body, the Naoko Tosas of the world are building virtual babies -- computer-generated infants who, like their flesh-and-drool counterparts, respond to inflections in human voices. How these technological creatures will interact with their natural brethren remains to be seen, and whether you should be worried is a question that only you -- or your computer -- can answer. [show less]