"In
2009, Swiss researchers carried out a robotic experiment that produced
some unexpected results. Hundreds of robots were placed in arenas and
programmed to look for a "food source," in this case a light-colored
ring. The robots were able to communicate with one another and were
instructed to direct their fellow machines to the food by emitting a
blue light. But as the experiment went on, researchers noticed that the
machines were evolving to become more secretive and deceitful: When they
found food, the robots stopped shining their lights and instead began
hoarding the resources — even though nothing in their original
programming commanded them to do so. The implication is that the machines learned "self-preservation," said Louis Del Monte, author of The Artificial Intelligence Revolution. "Whether or not they're conscious is a moot point."
An "age old question":
