Termite colonies seem to display a great deal of consciousness. Even though an individual component of the hive mind is limited—because a termite has limited capacity—the entire collection of component creatures displays emergent behavior and produces intelligent solutions.

1986

ARTIFICIAL LIFE

Consider hive minds on Earth, like termite colonies, that seem to display a great deal of consciousness. Even though an individual component of the hive mind is limited—a single termite has limited capacity, for example—the entire collection of components displays emergent behavior and produces intelligent solutions. Termites create huge, intricate mounds that are taller than our Empire State Building relative to their own height. These termites control the temperature of the mound by altering its tunnel structure, and thus the component termites come together to create a warm-blooded super-organism. Is the hive conscious, even if its components are not? Perhaps the decision making of the colony bears some resemblance to the collective behavior of neurons in our brain.

Among the most interesting models for artificial life are those in which complex, collective, lifelike behaviors arise from simple rules. The field of artificial life—coined by biologist Christopher Langton in 1986—often involves researchers examining simulations that can exhibit or imitate intelligent behavior. As an example, consider cellular automata—a class of simple mathematical systems that can model a variety of physical processes with complex behaviors. Some of the classic cellular automata consist of a grid of cells, like a checkerboard, that can exist in two states: occupied or unoccupied. The occupancy of one cell is determined from a simple mathematical analysis of the occupancy of neighbor cells.

The most famous two-state, two-dimensional cellular automaton is the Game of Life, invented in 1970 by mathematician John Conway (b. 1937). Despite its simple rules, an amazing diversity of behaviors and forms multiply and evolve, including gliders, which are arrangements of cells that move themselves across their universe and can even interact to perform computations. Could such “creatures” be considered alive?

The field of artificial life seems limitless, and other areas of this field include the development of genetic algorithms that evolve and reproduce, physical robotic swarms that exhibit lifelike behavior, and computer games like The Sims, in which the player creates virtual people, places them in towns, and tends to their needs and moods.