What is the term given to an entity that exhibits Life but is actually unliving ?

Question

If the description of Life as we know it, can be explained in this Wikipedia article I have found: "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life". Then what word or term can be used to describe what is actually happening within the "Internet" ?, Could not the internet itself become some sort of living, intellegent, reproducing, self aware, have the ability to adapt system that tends to respond to changes in it's own environment, and inside itself, in such a way as to promote it's own continuation ?

Of course it's artificial intelligence. I've already noted that in the question. But what is it exactly, If it isn't Life as we know it ?

Again reproduction has been covered in original question. As in reproduction of subprogramming and subscripts and such.

Answer 1

One of the characteristics of living things is that they must be able to reproduce. So the internet would have to have little baby internets in order to be considered living. I think of the internet as being like a huge brain.

Answer 2

No, the Internet is still subject to being grounded by the code that human programmers give it. The Internet at large is just a medium of communication, albeit an incredibly complex one.

The machines will only do what we tell them to do. That is, until we manage to break the boundary that will allow sophisticated self-programming.

The term that is most commonly used now is "Artificial Intelligence," and that seems to cover adaptation, propagation, and self-awareness.

If you're interested in the field, I suggest reading the Wikipedia article on AI, and Douglas Hofstadter's "Gödel, Escher, Bach." It's a very dense and tangled concept, but that just might be something that tickles your fancy.

Answer 3

It's artificial intelligence.

Answer 4

robotic personality