Introduction to Recent Developments in Living Technology

When the scientific and technological fruits of artificial life are embodied in technology with real practical use, sometimes the result can properly be called living technology [6]. Technology today is becoming increasingly lifelike, and there has recently been increasing foundational discussion of the broader scientific, socioeconomic, cultural, and ethical implications of living technology (e.g., [5, 7]). This special issue of Artificial Life describes recent developments in living technology, and samples current progress and applications in the works. The scientific core of the volume consists of seven articles describing new advances toward living technology. The volume also contains four articles about living technologyʼs broader social, ethical, and political implications. Living technology is most simply defined as technology that is alive, but it is convenient to require that such technology furthermore be useful because of being lifelike [6] and not be a simple variant of existing life. We will call something lifelike if it has one or more of lifeʼs characteristic properties. Although there is controversy about the nature of life [4], there is a rough consensus about the characteristic properties exhibited by all typical living beings. Many also agree that a subset