Sections Some Theory Cellular Automata Neural Networks Genetic Algorithms Applications of aLife People Ethical Implications artificial a. manufactured, synthetic; insincere life n. active principle of existence of animals and plants; animate existence

Introduction The study of artificial life is the study of life beyond the bounds of carbon-based biological life found in nature. ALife is something that fits the definition of life, but is not created by nature, it is created by man. It challenges our conception of life itself and forces us to consider a new definition of life. Work done in the field of aLife is largely philosophical. From attempting to reproduce life in the computer, biologists have come up with new ideas regarding the nature and purpose of life. Although great advances have been made in the area of artificially creating life, aLife forms remain distinctly artificial without a comparable amount of complexity that natural life exhibits. Biologists are not the only ones intersted in aLife. Programmers and computer scientists adapt studies in aLife to create better programs and new innovative ways of sovling problems. Artificial life is a diverse field which covers a number of topics including cellular automata, genetic algorithms, and neural networks. There have been a number of contributors to the progress of artificial life, including Thomas Ray, John von Neumann, Jon Conway, Christopher Langton, Larry Yeager, Richard Dawkings, Rodney Brooks and many others. Other important people include Alan Turing, who made great contributions to computer science and artificial intelligence in the 30's and 40's.