The "grey goo," a term coined by Eric Drexler in the book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (1986), represents a hypothetical scenario related to advanced nanotechnology. Drexler envisions a situation where self-replicating nanorobots escape control and begin indiscriminately consuming all matter around them to create copies of themselves. This hypothesis is based on the idea of molecular replicators designed to assemble material at the atomic level, but due to programming errors or lack of regulation, they could lead to a global catastrophe.
Drexler, K. Eric. Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology. Anchor Books, 1986. ISBN: 9780385199735.
Drexler, K. Eric. Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization. PublicAffairs, 2013. ISBN: 9781610391139.
