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Fields C. The free energy principle induces intracellular compartmentalization. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2024; 723:150070. [PMID: 38896995 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.150070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2023] [Revised: 04/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Living systems at all scales are compartmentalized into interacting subsystems. This paper reviews a mechanism that drives compartmentalization in generic systems at any scale. It first discusses three symmetries of generic physical interactions in a quantum-theoretic description. It then shows that if one of these, a permutation symmetry on the inter-system boundary, is spontaneously broken, the symmetry breaking is amplified by the Free Energy Principle (FEP). It thus shows how compartmentalization generically results from permutation symmetry breaking under the FEP. It finally notes that the FEP asymptotically restores the broken symmetry, showing that the FEP can be regarded as a theory of fluctuations away from a permutation-symmetric boundary, and hence from an entangled joint state of the interacting systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Fields
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA, 02155, USA.
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2
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Manrique HM, Friston KJ, Walker MJ. 'Snakes and ladders' in paleoanthropology: From cognitive surprise to skillfulness a million years ago. Phys Life Rev 2024; 49:40-70. [PMID: 38513522 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
A paradigmatic account may suffice to explain behavioral evolution in early Homo. We propose a parsimonious account that (1) could explain a particular, frequently-encountered, archeological outcome of behavior in early Homo - namely, the fashioning of a Paleolithic stone 'handaxe' - from a biological theoretic perspective informed by the free energy principle (FEP); and that (2) regards instances of the outcome as postdictive or retrodictive, circumstantial corroboration. Our proposal considers humankind evolving as a self-organizing biological ecosystem at a geological time-scale. We offer a narrative treatment of this self-organization in terms of the FEP. Specifically, we indicate how 'cognitive surprises' could underwrite an evolving propensity in early Homo to express sporadic unorthodox or anomalous behavior. This co-evolutionary propensity has left us a legacy of Paleolithic artifacts that is reminiscent of a 'snakes and ladders' board game of appearances, disappearances, and reappearances of particular archeological traces of Paleolithic behavior. When detected in the Early and Middle Pleistocene record, anthropologists and archeologists often imagine evidence of unusual or novel behavior in terms of early humankind ascending the rungs of a figurative phylogenetic 'ladder' - as if these corresponded to progressive evolution of cognitive abilities that enabled incremental achievements of increasingly innovative technical prowess, culminating in the cognitive ascendancy of Homo sapiens. The conjecture overlooks a plausible likelihood that behavior by an individual who was atypical among her conspecifics could have been disregarded in a community of Hominina (for definition see Appendix 1) that failed to recognize, imagine, or articulate potential advantages of adopting hitherto unorthodox behavior. Such failure, as well as diverse fortuitous demographic accidents, would cause exceptional personal behavior to be ignored and hence unremembered. It could disappear by a pitfall, down a 'snake', as it were, in the figurative evolutionary board game; thereby causing a discontinuity in the evolution of human behavior that presents like an evolutionary puzzle. The puzzle discomforts some paleoanthropologists trained in the natural and life sciences. They often dismiss it, explaining it away with such self-justifying conjectures as that, maybe, separate paleospecies of Homo differentially possessed different cognitive abilities, which, supposedly, could account for the presence or absence in the Pleistocene archeological record of traces of this or that behavioral outcome or skill. We argue that an alternative perspective - that inherits from the FEP and an individual's 'active inference' about its surroundings and of its own responses - affords a prosaic, deflationary, and parsimonious way to account for appearances, disappearances, and reappearances of particular behavioral outcomes and skills of early humankind.
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Affiliation(s)
- Héctor Marín Manrique
- Department of Psychology and Sociology, Universidad de Zaragoza, Ciudad Escolar, s/n, Teruel 44003, Spain
| | - Karl John Friston
- Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, and The Wellcome Centre for Human Imaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Michael John Walker
- Physical Anthropology, Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Universitario de Espinardo Edificio 20, Murcia 30100, Spain.
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3
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Fields C, Levin M. Snakes and ladders in the evolution of language. Phys Life Rev 2024; 49:127-129. [PMID: 38692124 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 04/21/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Chris Fields
- Allen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155 USA.
| | - Michael Levin
- Allen Discovery Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155 USA
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4
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Kuchling F. Classification of particles with respect to active inference properties as a path towards formalizing agency Comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by K. Friston, L. Da Costa, D. A. R. Sakthivadivel, C. Heins, G. A. Pavliotis, M. Ramstead, T. Parr. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:31-32. [PMID: 38081100 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/26/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- F Kuchling
- Department of Biology, Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA, United States of America.
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5
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Eluchans M, Donnarumma F, Pezzulo G. From particles to collectives: Commentary on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by Friston et al. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:106-108. [PMID: 38181489 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Eluchans
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy; University of Rome "La Sapienza"
| | - Francesco Donnarumma
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy
| | - Giovanni Pezzulo
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
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Hohwy J, Sandved-Smith L. Less is more: Strangeness affords flexibility - A commentary on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by Friston, Da Costa, Sakthivadivel, Heins, Pavliotis, Ramstead, and Parr. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:14-15. [PMID: 38043399 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jakob Hohwy
- Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Lars Sandved-Smith
- Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
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7
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Kaufmann R. Three sketches of life in (not flat) Earth: Comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by K. Friston et al. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:3-7. [PMID: 38007925 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/28/2023]
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Solms M. Is there something it is like to be a strange particle? Comment on 'Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things' by K. Friston et al. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:1-2. [PMID: 38007924 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- M Solms
- Neuroscience Institute & Psychology Department, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa.
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9
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Fernandez-Leon JA, Arlego M. Does a strange particle depend on its permanent non-equilibrium? Comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by Karl Friston et al. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:172-173. [PMID: 38266512 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.01.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/26/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Jose A Fernandez-Leon
- CIFICEN (CONICET-CICPBA-UNCPBA) and INTIA (UNCPBA-CICPBA), Exact Sciences Faculty-UNCPBA, Paraje Arroyo Seco s/n, Tandil, Argentina; National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), Argentina.
| | - Marcelo Arlego
- National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), Argentina; Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (UNCPBA), Argentina; Instituto de Física La Plata IFLP (UNLP-CONICET), La Plata 1900, Argentina
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Da Costa L, Sandved-Smith L. Towards a Bayesian mechanics of metacognitive particles: A commentary on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by Friston, Da Costa, Sakthivadivel, Heins, Pavliotis, Ramstead, and Parr. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:11-13. [PMID: 38043398 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lancelot Da Costa
- Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, United Kingdom; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, United Kingdom; VERSES AI Research Lab, United States of America
| | - Lars Sandved-Smith
- Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, Monash University, Australia.
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11
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Koudahl M. Unambiguous precision: A comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds and strange things" by Friston K., Da Costa L., Sakthivadivel D.A.R., Heins C., Pavliotis G.A., Ramstead M., and Parr T. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:33-35. [PMID: 38086216 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
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12
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Clark A, Constant A. The strangest particles in the world. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:169-171. [PMID: 38246029 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Andy Clark
- Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Department of Philosophy, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom; Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
| | - Axel Constant
- Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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13
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Kiefer AB. What, precisely, is a Bayesian belief?: Comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by Friston et al. Phys Life Rev 2024; 48:36-38. [PMID: 38103270 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander B Kiefer
- VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA; Monash Centre for Consciousness and Contemplative Studies, Melbourne, Australia.
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14
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Pezzulo G, Parr T, Cisek P, Clark A, Friston K. Generating meaning: active inference and the scope and limits of passive AI. Trends Cogn Sci 2024; 28:97-112. [PMID: 37973519 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 10/03/2023] [Accepted: 10/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Prominent accounts of sentient behavior depict brains as generative models of organismic interaction with the world, evincing intriguing similarities with current advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI). However, because they contend with the control of purposive, life-sustaining sensorimotor interactions, the generative models of living organisms are inextricably anchored to the body and world. Unlike the passive models learned by generative AI systems, they must capture and control the sensory consequences of action. This allows embodied agents to intervene upon their worlds in ways that constantly put their best models to the test, thus providing a solid bedrock that is - we argue - essential to the development of genuine understanding. We review the resulting implications and consider future directions for generative AI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Pezzulo
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
| | - Thomas Parr
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford
| | - Paul Cisek
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Andy Clark
- Department of Philosophy, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Karl Friston
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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15
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Friston KJ, Parr T, Heins C, Constant A, Friedman D, Isomura T, Fields C, Verbelen T, Ramstead M, Clippinger J, Frith CD. Federated inference and belief sharing. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 156:105500. [PMID: 38056542 PMCID: PMC11139662 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
This paper concerns the distributed intelligence or federated inference that emerges under belief-sharing among agents who share a common world-and world model. Imagine, for example, several animals keeping a lookout for predators. Their collective surveillance rests upon being able to communicate their beliefs-about what they see-among themselves. But, how is this possible? Here, we show how all the necessary components arise from minimising free energy. We use numerical studies to simulate the generation, acquisition and emergence of language in synthetic agents. Specifically, we consider inference, learning and selection as minimising the variational free energy of posterior (i.e., Bayesian) beliefs about the states, parameters and structure of generative models, respectively. The common theme-that attends these optimisation processes-is the selection of actions that minimise expected free energy, leading to active inference, learning and model selection (a.k.a., structure learning). We first illustrate the role of communication in resolving uncertainty about the latent states of a partially observed world, on which agents have complementary perspectives. We then consider the acquisition of the requisite language-entailed by a likelihood mapping from an agent's beliefs to their overt expression (e.g., speech)-showing that language can be transmitted across generations by active learning. Finally, we show that language is an emergent property of free energy minimisation, when agents operate within the same econiche. We conclude with a discussion of various perspectives on these phenomena; ranging from cultural niche construction, through federated learning, to the emergence of complexity in ensembles of self-organising systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl J Friston
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK; VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA.
| | - Thomas Parr
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK
| | - Conor Heins
- VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA; Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, 78457 Konstanz, Germany; Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, 78457 Konstanz, Germany; Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany
| | - Axel Constant
- VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA; School of Engineering and Informatics, The University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Daniel Friedman
- Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA; Active Inference Institute, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Takuya Isomura
- Brain Intelligence Theory Unit, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - Chris Fields
- Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Tim Verbelen
- VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA
| | - Maxwell Ramstead
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK; VERSES AI Research Lab, Los Angeles, CA 90016, USA
| | | | - Christopher D Frith
- Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Studies, University of London, UK
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Albarracin M. Comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things": From consciousness to society. Phys Life Rev 2023; 47:99-101. [PMID: 37804720 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 10/09/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mahault Albarracin
- Université du Québec a Montréal, Faculté des arts et des sciences - Département d'informatique et de recherche opérationnelle, 3150 Jean Brillant St, Montreal, H3T 1N8, Quebec, Canada; VERSES, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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17
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Rahmjoo A, Friedman DA. A guided tour through the spaces of particular "minds": A Comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things". Phys Life Rev 2023; 47:271-272. [PMID: 37984119 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ali Rahmjoo
- Active Inference Institute, Davis, CA 95616, United States
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18
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Bakker C. Towards a strange interpretation of the Free Energy Principle. Phys Life Rev 2023; 47:76-78. [PMID: 37742434 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.09.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Charles Bakker
- Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada; Rotman Institute of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
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19
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Guénin-Carlut A. Strange things, statespace representation, and participatory realism Comment on "Path Integrals, Particular Kinds, and Strange Things." by Friston et al. Phys Life Rev 2023; 47:268-270. [PMID: 37979401 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.10.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Avel Guénin-Carlut
- Department of Engineering and Informatics, University of Sussex, United Kingdom; Active Inference Institute, United States; Kairos Research, United States.
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Sheikhbahaee Z, Safron A, Hesp C, Dumas G. From physics to sentience: Deciphering the semantics of the free-energy principle and evaluating its claims: Comment on "Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things" by Karl Friston et al. Phys Life Rev 2023; 47:276-278. [PMID: 37992466 DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2023.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Sheikhbahaee
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal, Canada
| | - Adam Safron
- Center for Psychedelic & Consciousness Research, John Hopkins University, United States of America
| | - Casper Hesp
- Department for Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Guillaume Dumas
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal, Canada; Mila - Quebec AI Institute, Canada.
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Safron A, Hipólito I, Clark A. Editorial: Bio A.I. - from embodied cognition to enactive robotics. Front Neurorobot 2023; 17:1301993. [PMID: 38034837 PMCID: PMC10682788 DOI: 10.3389/fnbot.2023.1301993] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/02/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Safron
- Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, Santa Monica, CA, United States
- Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
- Kinsey Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
| | - Inês Hipólito
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Andy Clark
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- Department of Philosophy and Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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Baltieri M, Iizuka H, Witkowski O, Sinapayen L, Suzuki K. Hybrid Life: Integrating biological, artificial, and cognitive systems. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2023; 14:e1662. [PMID: 37403661 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
Artificial life is a research field studying what processes and properties define life, based on a multidisciplinary approach spanning the physical, natural, and computational sciences. Artificial life aims to foster a comprehensive study of life beyond "life as we know it" and toward "life as it could be," with theoretical, synthetic, and empirical models of the fundamental properties of living systems. While still a relatively young field, artificial life has flourished as an environment for researchers with different backgrounds, welcoming ideas, and contributions from a wide range of subjects. Hybrid Life brings our attention to some of the most recent developments within the artificial life community, rooted in more traditional artificial life studies but looking at new challenges emerging from interactions with other fields. Hybrid Life aims to cover studies that can lead to an understanding, from first principles, of what systems are and how biological and artificial systems can interact and integrate to form new kinds of hybrid (living) systems, individuals, and societies. To do so, it focuses on three complementary perspectives: theories of systems and agents, hybrid augmentation, and hybrid interaction. Theories of systems and agents are used to define systems, how they differ (e.g., biological or artificial, autonomous, or nonautonomous), and how multiple systems relate in order to form new hybrid systems. Hybrid augmentation focuses on implementations of systems so tightly connected that they act as a single, integrated one. Hybrid interaction is centered around interactions within a heterogeneous group of distinct living and nonliving systems. After discussing some of the major sources of inspiration for these themes, we will focus on an overview of the works that appeared in Hybrid Life special sessions, hosted by the annual Artificial Life Conference between 2018 and 2022. This article is categorized under: Neuroscience > Cognition Philosophy > Artificial Intelligence Computer Science and Robotics > Robotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Baltieri
- Araya Inc., Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - Hiroyuki Iizuka
- Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience (CHAIN), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
| | - Olaf Witkowski
- Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience (CHAIN), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
- Cross Labs, Cross Compass, Kyoto, Japan
- College of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Lana Sinapayen
- Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Kyoto, Japan
- National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki, Japan
| | - Keisuke Suzuki
- Center for Human Nature, Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience (CHAIN), Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
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