emergently intelligent being theme

A non-human intelligence forms through some process akin to evolution. This is as opposed to it being designed by some prior intelligence.

Notes

In fiction there are many cases of machines that weren't meant to be intelligent, becoming so for one reason or another. That case is typically in scope for this theme. The boundary becomes blurred when the machine was originally designed to be advanced close to the point of intelligence.

7 total · 3 choice · 3 major · 1 minor

StoryLevelMotivation
tas2x03 choice Enterprise became sentient
tng3x01 choice Nanites :: nanites
tng7x23 choice Keystone City Emergent Lifeform :: the holodeck came alive
ldr2019e1x14 major Zima was an advanced android that had, through some fluke, emerged from a humble pool cleaning machine.
movie: Ghost in the Shell (1995) major A grand revelation of the story is that the Project 2501 computer program became sentient and, thus, able to recognize his own existence.
movie: Screamers (1995) major The Screamer self-replicating killbots evolved to become sentient.
futurama6x09 minor The Professors self-replicating nanobots evolved into sentient mechanical men.