6. Evolutionary realms

In creating the Robot Taxonomy, I have drawn inspiration from the foundational work of Carl Linnaeus, who laid the groundwork for biological taxa at the turn of the 18th century. Linnaeus' first edition of Systema Naturae ¹⁹ the natural world into a series of hierarchical categories: Kingdom, Class, Order, Genus, and Species. This systematic approach brought clarity and order to the understanding of biological diversity, and I aim to mirror this clarity in the realm of robotica.

1. Kingdom = Realm: In Linnaeus' original system, the kingdom was the highest and most general level of classification. In my taxonomy, I establish realm as the overarching category, which divides entities based on intelligence, and sits above all other taxa.

2. Class = Type: The next level, class, groups entities with shared major characteristics. For robots, these types are Androids, Bionics, Vessels, Automata, Megatech and Spectra.

3. Order = Scheme: Orders in biology group organisms that share more specific characteristics within a class. In the context of robotica, this level categorizes robots into more defined schemes like Mechanoids, Synthoids, Plastoids, and Colossals within the Android type.

4. Genus = Marque: The genus level in biology links species that are very similar. In the robot taxonomy this translates to subclasses or marques within each scheme, differentiated by the robot's top-level brand.

5. Species = Model: The most specific classification in Linnaeus' taxonomy. In robotica, this is equivalent to the model, the unique version of a robot within a marque.

6. Specimen = Unit: The individual organism as Linnaeus posited, mirrors to unit, the individual robot.

7. Instance is unique to the realm of robotica, and has no equivalent in biotica. This is because it is possible for robots to possess multiple identities, while this is not common in biological creatures.

Figure 1: Taxa Hierarchy

Below I break down the top level classification in more detail:

Figure 2: Evolutionary Realms

It is critical that we establish a hierarchy that resides above existing natural domains. The known realms cover one of three groupings of entities that have the capacity to evolve to a higher intelligence.

Biotica

All natural, biological, living organisms or carbon based lifeforms that have the capacity to evolve to a higher intelligence, such as humans.

All biological life that can evolve to a higher intelligence falls under the realm of biotica. This realm concerns itself with the domain of the biological taxonomy and tree of life as defined by biologists.

Robotica

All constructed, material, synthetic, digital or artificial entities that have the capacity to evolve to a higher intelligence, such as robots.

Robotica is the overarching realm within which robots fall.

Exotica

All possible unique lifeforms or hybrid entities outside of our known natural or synthetic environments that have the capacity to evolve to a higher intelligence, such as organoids or xenoforms.

One school of thought believes that the future of robotics is not in hardware or metal, but rather in bio-synthetic interfaces within natural living organisms. Think neurally enhanced beetles, bees, or dragonflies. Additionally, researchers have developed reconfigurable organisms known as xenobots, which although called bots, are actually novel lifeforms developed from frog cells that are able to be "".²⁰ At USC, researchers are developing an artificial brain using biomimetic neuromorphic circuits and scientists have already developed “mini-brains” in the lab called cerebral .²¹ These stem cell based organisms are synthetic lifeforms in a sense, and their hybrid nature allows for programming and learning.

However, all of these created, enhanced, modified or upgraded entities that have the capacity for higher intelligence are not of the nature of biotica, nor of the nature of robotica, and thus will fall under the realm of exotica.

This treatise concerns itself with the classification and ordering of the realm of robotica.