Special Issue, “What AI Can Learn from Biology”

Abstract

This special issue uses AI to cast light on the nature of life. Many assume that life emerges from a blend of information and complexity. If this is the case, then we might expect a future generation of machines to exhibit lifelike behavior or, as some would claim, to come alive. Two perspectives are offered for considering the question of life: agency and intelligence. Intelligence is associated with information, rationality and consequent knowledge representations, while agency associates with embodiment, judgment and material organization. Predictions about machine life rely on conceptions of intelligence, but the addition of agency to the analysis of life and lifelike behavior results in nuanced conclusions that can beneficially inform regulation and future research.

Keywords: AI, cognition, worlding, thermodynamics