THERE are Terminator-like robots that have the technological sophistication to take over the future, experts say.
Technology has come far enough that robots may live forever, and scientists are at work on the logistics.
Right now, AI systems like ChatGPT exist only in the digital realm, but the future might mean that they have a physical robot body interacting on Earth, The Conversation reported.
It is not yet known how this will manifest, but a developed AI that syncs movement with an algorithmic mind paints the picture of a robot that could theoretically live forever.
Just like a human, though, a robot needs an energy source to live infinitely.
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The majority of robots are powered by electric energy via batteries, but the power to last beyond human life takes some serious chemical composition.
At the core of the Nano Diamond Battery lies nuclear waste and thinly-sliced diamonds, The Conversation found.
It was made by the eponymous San Francisco startup which claims it can last up to tens of thousands of years.
But, this scenario is still primarily geared toward nanobots.
In an impressive feat of technology and biology, researchers at U.S. institutions the Berkeley Lab and UMAss Amherst published their findings that nanobots could power themselves from chemicals in a liquid mixture.
This "aqueous robot that runs continuously without electricity" has "potential as an automated chemical synthesis or drug delivery system for pharmaceuticals," according to the research.
This idea would need to be transferred onto bigger machinery that would generate usable amounts of energy to power larger robots.
One key to making autonomously sustainable technology is a machine that can heal and repair itself.
Illinois researchers made a flexible, self-healing robot that springs up again after attack or damage, The Daily Star reported.
Via chemical reactions, the rubber-sensor automaton fuses itself back together after being cut, according to the outlet.
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As a part of their trial, the scientist stabbed the machine's four legs one by one.
After each stabbing, it reportedly restored itself and began walking once more.
Meanwhile, necrobotics, the science of using dead spiders in robotics ventures, saw a huge advancement last year when researchers found deceased spiders had the perfect grip for robotic use.
While it's clear that a robot may be able to live forever with a proper program and power source, how soon we're getting there is a different matter.
Because such machines would need to outlive human maintenance, a swarm of microbots that all share a collective mind, able to repair and replicate itself as necessary has been suggested by some scientists, per The Conversation.
It comes from the idea of insect groupthink, or the hive-mind.
There's research published as recently as 2019 that shows entire ant colonies share a collective kind of memory, one not present in any of the individual ants, Aeon reported.
This means the dead robots would be filtered out by the machine that remains alive due to its connection with the collective.
Diamonds already last forever, and though robots are on their way, you'll have to keep playing with ChatGPT on your laptop for now.
