Swarm Intelligence
Swarm Intelligence is a branch in the field of Artificial Intelligence. It deals with the collective behaviour of simple elements (particles, agents, objects, etc.), which interact with each other only on the basis of simple, local rules without any central control. Nevertheless superordinate structure with a form of self organized, collective intelligence may emerge, if the local rules are defined accordingly (so-called emergence).
Typical examples are ant colonies, bie hives, bird flock or fish schools. Without knowing about the overall situation of the swarm and only following simple, local rules, a meta system with extraordinary features and functionalities constitutes in form of a virtual organism.