Artificial Life

Artificial Life vs. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Life (AL)  -- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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takes bottom-up approach -- takes top-down approach

goal: to understand low-level life collectives (such as ants) -- goal: to understand human mind

uses computer as a simulation tool -- uses computer as a paradigm of what mind is like

simulates populations -- simulates individual mind

emergent properties: complex and -- reductionism: mind is reduced to symbols and rules
unpredictable global behaviour
emerging out of interaction
of a population of simple elements
 

Application of AL ideas -- examples:

Christopher Langton. "Self Reproducing Loops and Virtual Ants" (visual demonstration of AL principles)

Craig Reynolds. "Boids Demos" (1987) -- behavioral animation
The goal: to explore how cooperative group behavior could emerge from the interaction of individual behavior. Each bird sought (1) to avoid crowding, preferring to maintain a certain separation from nearby flockmates, (2) to match velocity, preferring to move in the same direction and at the same speed as nearby flockmates, and (3) to avoid starying from the flock, preferring to be in the center of the nearby flockmates. Behavior priorities: at a higher priority than flocking was obstacle avoidance. At a lower priority than flocking was the desire to fly towards an attractor, such as food, or away from a predator.
 

Artificial Evolution -- using principles of evolution theory to create computer shapes, animations and interactive experiences

Crista Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau, interactive computer installations which use AL:
Haze Express
A-volve
Interactive Plant Growing

William Latham. "Conquest of Form" video -- using artificial evolution to "evolve" shapes (1990 --)