You’ve probably heard of the term ‘bot’ before, perhaps used to describe artificial beings in sci-fi fiction. But did you know they already exist? Oh yes, they’re very real alright. They’re currently living within the social layer of the internet - from Twitter to Flickr - and behave like real people, leaving a trail of activity behind them. And more of these bots are being created every single day.

The man behind these artificial beings is David Bausola, a creative technologist and the CEO of digital developers Philter Phactory. Bausola calls his bots Weavrs, and has created a way for people to build their own, each with a different personality. Once created, they are let loose across the social web where they live and slowly evolve. They use Foursquare to check-in at locations they pass. They find books they like on Amazon. And find photographs of their favourite places on Flickr. All this information is tracked through status updates on their individual Weavr pages.

Want to learn more? Well, stay tuned for the launch of our Protein OS next week, which will feature a full interview film with Bausola in the Profiles section. For now, have a look at the above teaser video, and prepare yourself for the droid takeover!