Defining life: connecting robotics and chemistry.

Area of Science:

• * Interdisciplinary research bridging chemistry, robotics, and systems biology.

Background:

• * Life is traditionally defined as an open, self-reproducing, and evolving chemical system.
• * The concept of life has expanded to include non-chemical systems, such as artificial intelligence and robotics.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To compare the defining characteristics of living systems across chemical and robotic domains.
• * To explore the conceptual overlap and divergence in autonomy, self-replication, and self-organization.

Main Methods:

• * A comparative analysis framed as a dialogue between a chemist and a robotician.
• * Examination of key life-defining properties: autonomy, self-replication, self-reproduction, self-organization, self-aggregation, and autocatalysis.

Main Results:

• * Identified shared principles of self-organization and autonomy in both chemical and robotic systems.
• * Highlighted differences in the mechanisms and substrates of self-replication and reproduction.
• * Demonstrated the applicability of life-defining characteristics beyond traditional biological contexts.

Conclusions:

• * The fundamental characteristics of life can be observed and analyzed in diverse systems, including robotics.
• * This comparative approach deepens the understanding of life's essential properties and its potential artificial manifestations.