artificial life 
noun [mass noun]
The simulation by computer programs or computerized systems of the behaviour, population dynamics, or other characteristics of living organisms.Other themes explored are the brain and its ‘computing’ power, artificial life, and some of the important ethical issues....
- More recently, however, computer scientists have begun to extend the techniques of artificial life to computers with real bodies.
- The robots used in artificial life are often rather uncomplicated and do not match the science-fiction vision of a robot that serves tea or solves world problems.