[ExI] Evolutionary computing

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Thu Feb 7 11:38:44 UTC 2013


“We are working on evolving brains that can be downloaded onto a
robot, wake up, and begin exploring their environment to figure out
how to accomplish the high-level objectives we give them (e.g. avoid
getting damaged, find recharging stations, locate survivors, pick up
trash, etc.),” says Jeffrey Clune, Assistant Professor of Computer
Science at the University of Wyoming, who is part of the robotics
team.

<http://www.fastcompany.com/3005313/evolved-brains-robots-creep-closer-animal-learning>

A recent breakthrough in understanding why biological brains are
organized into modules could prove to be a game changer in the field
of artificial intelligence and allow scaling computer brains to
millions or billions of connections.
The breakthrough in understanding modularity will allow them and
others to start evolving digital brains that are, for the first time,
structurally organized like biological brains, composed of many neural
modules. According to Mouret the merging of modularity with AI “makes
a powerful tool to give robots the adaptation abilities of animal
species.” If a robot breaks a leg or loses a part, it’ll learn to
compensate and still operate effectively, just like animals do.

“Evolutionary computation has already produced many things that are
better than anything a human engineer has come up with, but its
designs still pale in comparison to those found in nature,” states
Clune. “As we begin to learn more about how nature produces its
exquisite designs, the sky’s the limit: There’s no reason we cannot
evolve robots as smart and capable as jaguars, hawks, and human
beings.”
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Let's hope they evolve to be friendly to humans..........


BillK




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