– Someone creates robots that can go out in the environment and engage in meaningful activity for weeks or months without human intervention.
– Someone creates robots that are robustly ambulatory in outdoor environments.
– Robots with onboard batteries that allow them to operate for at least a day before seeking a recharge.
– Very small (insect sized) robots that can do all this.
– Robots that use narrow beam control and communications to avoid getting hacked.
– Robots that have software capability to hack or convert other robots to their value system.
– Robots that are able to purposefully upgrade, repair and maintain their own infrastructure components.
– Robots that have integrated infrastructure grids, such as anti-fragile solar collectors, to gather energy for the robots.
– Robots that have integrating capability to print complex 3D structures, including more robots.
– Robots that maintain a nest that has capability to print complex 3D structures, including more robots.
– Robots that can decide to download software, or hardware designs, and print (implement) these designs as they need them.
– Multiform robots with the same value systems that attribute tasks to swarm members.
– Multiform robots that can decide to change their morphology by “snapping on” specialized tools which are printed as needed.
– Robots capable of harvesting materials from the environment, and recycle this to create feedstock for their 3D printers.
– Robots that can designate competing robot swarms as enemies, disable them, and recyle parts of enemy robots.
– Robots that can infer design schematics of patterns of captures parts of adversarial robots and steal these designs.
– Robots of differing shape and function, that form complex interacting societies and clades.
– Robots that can trade or barter with humans
– Robots that have small ability to engage in small trades of Bitcoin with other robots – or with humans.
All of the above should exist well before 2030.