Of course not! Trust me, as soon as we think that we have gotten as small as humanly possible, we will find something else. It's happened once, it'll happen again

I have some long-time friends in the CIA, FBI, and the Pentagon. They tell me that their technology is on the verge of actually creating an atomically small robot that could go into the blood stream, into the brain and effectively deal with any cancer, on a perfect scale. And here is the part that has blown minds, THEY CAN REPRODUCE!!! Forever! I hope you guys can grasp the full potential of this. It's enormous!

The OP seems to be primarily speaking of nano-scale robots. While this is most heavily popularized by the Borg in Star Trek, the idea is not new to science at all. I've seen programs and articles on nano-scale robots on respectable sources even ten or fifteen years ago. Most were very primitive, such as a very simple drill or a simple swimming device. It is obvious Borg-style nano machines are still a long way off.


However, there are some ways to handle the programming of such devices.

I once layed out 4 possible generations of computer-controlled nano-scaled robots. I will atempt to remember what they were.


For all of these robots, I consider the scale to be somewhere between that of a large virus and approximately a human blood cell. The nano-robots of the Borg in Star Trek are about the size of a human blood cell.

1) Remote controlled nano-machine
This is controlled by a central computer just like any normal scaled ROV. It has a nano-reciever and the most basic programming to allow it to recieve commands from the central computer, just like an RC toy vehicle or UAV or ROV, etc. The actually "intelligence" operates at the central computer, which is a normal scale computer. Thus for first generation naon-robots, each nano robot is actually just a remote controlled add-on device of the main computer. The nano robots have various sensory instruments and tools for their jobs, and they have a transmitter and reciever which connects to the main computer by communicating with a wireless hub.

2) Semi-intelligent nano-machine*
This is a transitional generation. Here, most highly intelligent processing is still done by large scale computers(super computer, desktop pc,hand held device, etc,) but the nano machines are now more functional than simply being remote controlled by the main computer. Now they have enough built in memory and processing power to do some tasks on their own.

3) Collective shared processing nano machines.*
Like generation 2, These machines have a large degree of individual functionality, but cannot define true intelligence individually. However, they can network themselves to obtain enough memory and processing power to perform more complex operations of intelligence and programming. In this setup some robots become specialized in processing, some specialize in memory storage, some specialize in sensation, some specialize in communication, etc. When the task changes and they are given new orders from the controlling computer, they will ten be capable of re-configuring themselves and re-specializing themselves as needed for the new task. The large scale computer is only needed as a means of communicating between man and nano machine, and is no longer necessary for actual processing. Once programmed, this collective of nano-machines will continue to carry out its orders no matter what happens to the large scale computer that programmed them, unless given a shut down order.

4) (semi)Self intelligent nano machine*
This is the true "Borg nano probe" style machine. It is a nano-scale robot complete with a transmitter and reciever to recieve orders from the humans interfacing with the macroscopic computer, as well as all relevant nano-tools, and has its own fully functional quantum computer programmed with an AI to help facilitate its orders. it is still a loyal servant, a "tool" in every sense of the word, but once programmed, all processing relevant to its purpose is done on board in a nano-scale quantum computer, without the need of any oversight from normal-scale computers, nor the need for assistance in computations or AI from other nano-machines. This doesn't mean the nano machine wouldn't have needs or uses for other devices. It would still be capable of communicating with large scale devices and other nano-machines for various reasons depending on what type of input it needs. (That is, a medical nano-robot that is attempting to repair bone damage might find input from a macroscopic x-ray machine useful.)



* Generations 2, 3 and 4 may prove to be absolutely impossible to construct.

Even generation 1 would represent an exponential leap in medicine and many forms of manufacturing, as the total usefulness of generation 1 nano-robots is not all that much less than generation 4.

Imagine an AIDS patient could recieve an injection of nano robots even of the type of generation 1, and wear a wrist watch sized control computer. These nano-robots controlled by the computer, hunt down the individual AIDS viruses and destroy them. They could then be programmed to hunt down the Influenza virus as well, and etc. These devices would have sensors as described which would allow the control computer to determine what they are "looking" at, and then if it is a hostile entity such as a disease causing virus or bacteria, the computer would manipulate the nano-machine to destroy that entity. This works much like a remote controlled UAV hunting down a muslim terrorist in Iraq or Afghanistan.

This will probably seem like a frivolous use of nanotechnology to some people, but might there eventually be the possibility of buying music in the form of a spray or gel that you could put in your ear? In the gel would be suspended numerous nano amplifiers that are designed to synchronize playback of a recording when they are activated by reaching a temperature close to body temperature. The music would be hard-programmed into the nano-amplifier and it would only play forward, unless there was some way to build a nano-radio that received audio transmissions from a hand-held device, but that would defeat the purpose of leaving gadgets behind.

Maybe in a few years we'll be able to get music in gel-form. Maybe you will be able to connect a gel-writer to your pc and then download music to be programmed into the gel. It would be like hand-soap dispenser with a USB connection. Is this possible?