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Dynamics, Morphology, and Materials in the Emergence of Cognition

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KI-99: Advances in Artificial Intelligence (KI 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1701))

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Abstract

Early approaches to understanding intelligence have assumed that intelligence can be studied at the level of algorithms which is why for many years the major tool of artificial intelligence (AI) researchers has been the computer (this has become known as classical AI). As researchers started to build robots they realized that the hardest issues in the study of intelligence involve perception and action in the real world. An entire new research field called “embodied intelligence” (or “New AI”, “embodied cognitive science”) emerged and “embodimen t” became the new buzzword. In the meantime there has been a lot of research employing robots for the study of intelligence. However, embodiment has not been taken really seriously. Hardly any studies deal with morphology (i.e. shape), material properties, and their relation to sensory-motor processing. The goal of this paper is to investigate — or rather to raise — some of the issues involved and discuss the far-reaching implications of embodiment which leads to a new perspective on intelligence. This new perspective requires considerations of “ecological balance” and sensory-motor coordination, rather than algorithms and computation exclusively. Using a series of case studies, it will be illustrated how these considerations can lead to a new understanding of intelligence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Department of Information Technology, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Rolf Pfeifer

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  1. Rolf Pfeifer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Informatik III, Universität Bonn, Römerstraße 164, D-53117, Bonn, Germany

    Wolfram Burgard  & Armin B. Cremers  & 

  2. GMD-Forschungszentrum Informationstechnik GmbH, Schloß Birlinghoven, D-53754, Sankt Augustin, Germany

    Thomas Cristaller

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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Pfeifer, R. (1999). Dynamics, Morphology, and Materials in the Emergence of Cognition. In: Burgard, W., Cremers, A.B., Cristaller, T. (eds) KI-99: Advances in Artificial Intelligence. KI 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1701. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48238-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48238-5_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66495-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48238-3

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