Google simulates the emergence of life with an experiment using random data

Google researchers claim to have witnessed this the emergence of self-replicating digital life forms During an experiment with random data that could shed new light on the origins of life on Earth. The results appear in a study published on the platform, which has not yet been reviewed arXiv at the end of June.

The experiment, led by the Mountain View giant’s engineer Ben Laurie, sought to simulate the same “primordial soup” believed to have given rise to life. But instead of water and organic compounds, the group collected large amounts of random data interacting with each other in the same virtual environment.

This “digital soup” There were no rules and no influence was given to the informationIt allows interaction to occur with minimal intervention. In this sense, the team used the brainfck programming language, which is characterized by extreme minimalism, as it only allows addition and subtraction operations.

The idea of ​​the experiment was this: See how chaos can lead to orderJust as the interaction of molecules over billions of years led to the emergence of the first living organisms, data was “left to run code and overwrite itself and its neighbors according to its own instructions,” according to Google experts.

Self-replicating artificial life form

The result of experimenting with the digital primordial soup of random data was that something emerged. self-replicating artificial life formThis happened without the researchers having to add rules that would encourage such behavior.

Computer scientist Susan Stepney called developing self-replicating programs from random data “a major achievement” and may help understand possible pathways to the origin of lifeHowever, other experts emphasize that the study has some limitations.

Laurie and his team believe it is possible If the experiment uses more computing power, more advanced versions of these self-replicating digital lifeforms could emerge. Thus, they can contribute to a better understanding of the evolutionary process.