Are there any ethical concerns with self-replicating machines? Can they proliferate out of control?
These robots were programmed to stop after two generations, because we wanted to show just a proof of concept. Also, they cannot reproduce without a supply of power and more cubes provided at the right place and at the right time, so they are fairly constrained and under control. So there is no danger they will “take over the world”. Other forms of artificial self-replication can be more concerning – computer viruses and genetically modified crops, for example, are less controllable. Ray Kurzweil has an interesting discussion on the Ethics and concerns of self-replication technologies.
