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Bots is the story of cyberspace's first indigenous species.
These bots -- mere strings of code -- are now poised to change our lives. They
are as close to us as the nearest computer. They live autonomously on the Net
as stand-ins for our drives and desires. They collect things for us. They correct
things for us. They do what we want them to do. They do what we don't want
them to do. Bots will soon be as crucial to you as your
car, your newspaper, your reference books, and your credit cards. You will only
be as good as your bots. Andrew Leonard recounts the
saga of these software robots in all its quirkiness: from the trials and tribulations
of artificial intelligence to the hilarious lifestyles of the first bots and the
havoc they set in motion. Meet your new servants -- and tormentors. Andrew
Leonard is a contributing writer for Wired magazine, a columnist for Salon,
and has written about techno-culture for a variety of publications. He lives in
Berkeley, California, with his wife Jeni and daughter Tiana.
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