How many times has your software updated itself in the last month or so? Updates and revisions are nearly constant, but driven by human programmers. DARPA is proposing to create software that will evolve, effectively upgrading itself as hardware and software change around it. Sounds like it could simplify life, but it also opens the door to self-replicating software or software that evolves to the point that we can’t control it. More convenient. Potentially threatening. Is this how the digital singularity begins?
“DARPA Researchers Plan Software That Will Run For Hundreds of Years …” – Slate
Pretending Not To Panic 