Skip to main content

On the Complex Behaviour of Natural and Artificial Machines and Systems

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Metrics of Sensory Motor Coordination and Integration in Robots and Animals

Part of the book series: Cognitive Systems Monographs ((COSMOS,volume 36))

Abstract

One of the most important aims of the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence and artificial life is the design and construction of systems and machines as versatile and as reliable as living organisms at performing high level human-like tasks. But how are we to evaluate artificial systems if we are not certain how to measure these capacities in living systems, let alone how to define life or intelligence? Here I survey a concrete metric towards measuring abstract properties of natural and artificial systems, such as the ability to react to the environment and to control one’s own behaviour.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Zenil, H., Gershenson, C., Marshall, J.A.R., Rosenblueth, D.: Life as thermodynamic evidence of algorithmic structure in natural environments. Entropy 14(11), 2173–2191 (2012)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Ciresan, D.C., Meier, U., Masci, J., Schmidhuber, J.: Multi-column deep neural network for traffic sign classification. Neural Netw. 32, 333–338 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Wolfram, S.: A New Kind of Science. Wolfram Media (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Cook, M.: Universality in elementary cellular automata. Complex Syst. 15, 1–40 (2004)

    MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  5. Zenil, H.: Compression-based investigation of the behaviour of cellular automata and other systems. Complex Syst. 19(2) (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Perlis, A.J.: Epigrams on programming. SIGPLAN Not. 17(9), 7–13 (1982)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cronin, L., Krasnogor, N., Davis, B.G., Alexander, C., Robertson, N., Steinke, J.H.G., Schroeder, S.L.M., Khlobystov, A.N., Cooper, G., Gardner, P.M., Siepmann, P., Whitaker, B.J., Marsh, D.: The imitation game—a computational chemical approach to recognizing life. Nat. Biotechnol. 24, 1203–1206 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Zenil, H., Ball, G., Tegnér, J.: Testing biological models for non-linear sensitivity with a programmability test. In: Liò, P., Miglino, O., Nicosia, G., Nolfi, S., Pavone, M. (eds.) Advances in Artificial Intelligence, ECAL 2013, pp. 1222–1223. MIT Press, Cambridge (2013). https://doi.org/10.7551/978-0-262-31719-2-ch188

  9. Maier, R., Zimmer, R., Kü ffner, R.: A Turing test for artificial expression data. Bioinformatics 29(20), 2603–2609 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Zenil, H.: What is nature-like computation? A behavioural approach and a notion of programmability. Philos. Technol. (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13347-012-0095-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Zenil, H.: A turing test-inspired approach to natural computation. In: Primiero, G., De Mol, L. (eds.) Turing in Context II, Historical and Contemporary Research in Logic, Computing Machinery and Artificial Intelligence. Proceedings by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Belgium (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Osawa, H., Tobita, K., Kuwayama, Y., Imai, M., Yamada, S.: Behavioral turing test using two-axis actuators. In: IEEE RO-MAN: The 21st IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Chaitin, G.J.: On the length of programs for computing finite binary sequences: statistical considerations. J. ACM 16(1), 145–159 (1969)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  14. Kolmogorov, A.N.: Three approaches to the quantitative definition of information. Probl. Inf. Trans. 1(1), 1–7 (1965)

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  15. Delahaye, J.-P., Zenil, H.: Numerical evaluation of the complexity of short strings: a glance into the innermost structure of algorithmic randomness. Appl. Math. Comput. 219, 63–77 (2012)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  16. Soler-Toscano, F., Zenil, H., Delahaye, J.-P., Gauvrit, N.: Calculating Kolmogorov complexity from the output frequency distributions of small turing machines. PLoS ONE 9(5), e96223 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Zenil, H.: On the dynamic qualitative behaviour of universal computation. Complex Syst. 20(3) (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Zenil, H.: Programmability for natural computation and the game of life as a case study. J. Exp. Theor. Artif. Intell. https://doi.org/10.1080/0952813X.2014.940686 (in press)

  19. Floridi, L.: Enveloping the world: risks and opportunities in the development of increasingly smart technologies. CONNECT (ed.), 03 Jun 2011. http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/blog/enveloping-the-world-risks-and-opportunities-in-the-development-of-increasingly-smart-technologies. Accessed 15 July 2014

  20. Prokopenko, X., Gerasimov, V., Tanev, I.: Measuring spatiotemporal coordination in a modular robotic system. In: Proceedings of Artificial Life X (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Levin, L.: Laws of information conservation (non-growth) and aspects of the foundation of probability theory. Probl. Inf. Trans. 10(3), 206–210 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Terrazas, G., Zenil, H., Krasnogor, N.: Exploring programmable self-assembly in non DNA-based computing. Nat. Comput. 12(4), 499–515 (2013)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  23. Gauvrit, N., Zenil, H., Soler-Toscano, F., Delahaye, J.-P.: Algorithmic complexity for short binary strings applied to psychology: a primer, Behavior Research Methods, 6 Dec 2013 (epub ahead of print)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. Zenil .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Zenil, H. (2020). On the Complex Behaviour of Natural and Artificial Machines and Systems. In: Bonsignorio, F., Messina, E., del Pobil, A., Hallam, J. (eds) Metrics of Sensory Motor Coordination and Integration in Robots and Animals. Cognitive Systems Monographs, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14126-4_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics