The term artificial life refers to a range of types of model, that operate at various levels from from those close to bacterium to entire human socities. A common low-level example are celluar automota such as Conway, John's Game of Life. Higher level examples include models of flocking behaviour, modelling of human movements in emergency planning and artificial society. Swarm computing can also be seen as a form of artificial life.
Artificial life can also refer to the design of biological matter, often using AI to drive the process. This includes xenobots, groups of cells designed to act like living robots; and even completely designing DNA from scratch.
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