John Holland, a University of Michigan pioneer in an artificial-evolution method called genetic algorithms, wants the project to add cybersex, allowing robot parents to pool their best features in their offspring, rather than using mutation alone for improvement. Inevitably, the work resonates with fears of robots running amok. Pollack dismisses such fears. Yet the project's name plays on the unease such work stirs. A golem, in ancient Jewish legend, is a lump of clay sculpted to human form and animated through cabalistic magic.
Some variants are tireless servants that work without pay.
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