01-27-2017, 06:57 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-27-2017, 06:58 PM by stevebowers.)
The first artificial self-replicating systems are likely to be self-replicating factories consisting of several, or many units capable of replicating the factory system as a whole; I would guess that they would be deployed on Luna, and rather than being sentient or autonomous, they would be teleoperated or at least monitored from Earth. Or - even more likely - these systems would be deployed on Earth first- perhaps to build roads, buildings or artificial islands.
In some respects we already have self-replicating systems- they are called 'industrial economies', and the challenge is to reduce these systems in size until they can be deployed as a unit to convert raw materials (such as an asteroid or moon) into the desired end product.
In some respects we already have self-replicating systems- they are called 'industrial economies', and the challenge is to reduce these systems in size until they can be deployed as a unit to convert raw materials (such as an asteroid or moon) into the desired end product.