Nonetheless, since the whole point of artificial life research was to grapple with the most fundamental principles of life, there was no avoiding the question: Could human beings ultimately create artificial life for real? Langton found that question to be a tough one, not least because neither he nor anyone else had a clear idea of what “real” artificial life would be like. Some kind of genetically engineered superorganism, perhaps? A self-reproducing robot? An overeducated computer virus? What is life, precisely? How do you know for sure when you’ve got it and when you haven’t?
