The Artificial And The Natural

These essays - written by specialists of different periods and various disciplines - reveal that the division between nature and art has been continually challenged and reassesed in Western thought. Nature and art, the essays suggest, are mutually constructed, defining and redifining themselves.

Genetic algorithms are playing an increasingly important role in studies of complex adaptive systems, ranging from adaptive agents in economic theory to the use of machine learning techniques in the design of complex devices such as aircraft turbines and integrated circuits. Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems is the book that initiated this field of study, presenting the theoretical foundations and exploring applications. In its most familiar form, adaptation is a biological process, whereby organisms evolve by rearranging genetic material to survive in environments confronting them. In this now classic work, Holland presents a mathematical model that allows for the nonlinearity of such complex interactions. He demonstrates the model's universality by applying it to economics, physiological psychology, game theory, and artificial intelligence and then outlines the way in which this approach modifies the traditional views of mathematical genetics. Initially applying his concepts to simply defined artificial systems with limited numbers of parameters, Holland goes on to explore their use in the study of a wide range of complex, naturally occuring processes, concentrating on systems having multiple factors that interact in nonlinear ways. Along the way he accounts for major effects of coadaptation and coevolution: the emergence of building blocks, or schemata, that are recombined and passed on to succeeding generations to provide, innovations and improvements.

Climate and Land Use Impacts on Natural and Artificial Systems: Mitigation and Adaptation provides in-depth information on the linkages between climate change and land use, how they are related, how land use is shifting over time, and the major global regions at risk for climate and land use changes. This comprehensive resource discusses climatic factors and processes that impact natural and artificial systems, as well as the relationship between climate change and both natural and man-made hazards. The book includes case studies and original maps to provide real-life examples of climate change and land use over regions around the globe. In addition, the book presents future perspectives on mitigation and adaptation of the climate change impact. Summarizes current research on land use and climate change Provides future perspectives on climate change using climate models Includes case studies to provide real-life examples from various countries Incorporates high level graphics, images, and maps to support reviews and case studies

It has become clear to researchers in robotics and adaptive behaviour that current approaches are yielding systems with limited autonomy and capacity for self-improvement. To learn autonomously and in a cumulative fashion is one of the hallmarks of intelligence, and we know that higher mammals engage in exploratory activities that are not directed to pursue goals of immediate relevance for survival and reproduction but are instead driven by intrinsic motivations such as curiosity, interest in novel stimuli or surprising events, and interest in learning new behaviours. The adaptive value of such intrinsically motivated activities lies in the fact that they allow the cumulative acquisition of knowledge and skills that can be used later to accomplish fitness-enhancing goals. Intrinsic motivations continue during adulthood, and in humans they underlie lifelong learning, artistic creativity, and scientific discovery, while they are also the basis for processes that strongly affect human well-being, such as the sense of competence, self-determination, and self-esteem. This book has two aims: to present the state of the art in research on intrinsically motivated learning, and to identify the related scientific and technological open challenges and most promising research directions. The book introduces the concept of intrinsic motivation in artificial systems, reviews the relevant literature, offers insights from the neural and behavioural sciences, and presents novel tools for research. The book is organized into six parts: the chapters in Part I give general overviews on the concept of intrinsic motivations, their function, and possible mechanisms for implementing them; Parts II, III, and IV focus on three classes of intrinsic motivation mechanisms, those based on predictors, on novelty, and on competence; Part V discusses mechanisms that are complementary to intrinsic motivations; and Part VI introduces tools and experimental frameworks for investigating intrinsic motivations. The contributing authors are among the pioneers carrying out fundamental work on this topic, drawn from related disciplines such as artificial intelligence, robotics, artificial life, evolution, machine learning, developmental psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. The book will be of value to graduate students and academic researchers in these domains, and to engineers engaged with the design of autonomous, adaptive robots. The contributing authors are among the pioneers carrying out fundamental work on this topic, drawn from related disciplines such as artificial intelligence, robotics, artificial life, evolution, machine learning, developmental psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience. The book will be of value to graduate students and academic researchers in these domains, and to engineers engaged with the design of autonomous, adaptive robots.

Intermediate Readers Distinguish Between Natural And Man-Made Objects.

Since antiquity, technology has tried to either control or imitate nature. Both these traditions take advantage of the progress of science, but their teleology and their typical design problems remain basically different.The technology of the artificial may be defined as the effort to reproduce natural objects or processes by means of current conventional technology and materials. This book reports on the results of a theoretical study of the logic characterizing any attempt to design something artificial.While designers of artificial devices work in their own area facing field-specific problems (e.g. bioengineering, artificial organs, robotics, AI, ALife, remakings, etc.), the present study refers to the artificial in itself, trying to find out what is common to instances very far from each other, in an intrinsically interdisciplinary way. The result may be defined as a proposal of a general theory of the artificial.