Scientists working for British Telecommunications have developed software, modelled on biological systems, which enables computer systems to adapt to changes automatically, "think for themselves" and identify problems before they occur.

The "thinking" software, developed by BT Laboratories, could have important applications in businesses and elsewhere. BT believes it could help overcome problems filtering Internet content to exclude pornography, or help manage the next generation of intelligent telephone networks.

The software could also be used to help users to track down the most relevant information from thousands of documents on offer, or build visualisation tools for use on the Internet and elsewhere.

Professor Peter Cochrane, head of research at BT Laboratories, said: "We have taken a holistic view and are trying to make technology adapt to human beings rather than the other way around."

"So far, we have tended to treat computer programmes as electronic servants. We humans have kept the real thinking to ourselves and only asked the machine to try out 'what if?' scenarios we dreamt up."

Conventional computer systems only respond to specific instructions, but the BT researchers wanted to build a degree of intelligence into their systems.