Phil 11.29.19

ALIFE 2020

  • July 13-18 2020
  • Centre Mont-Royal, Montrial, Quebec
  • Call for papers (Due March 1, 2020)
  • Topics
    • Complex dynamical systems and networks
    • Artificial chemistry, origins of life, computational biology
    • Synthetic biology, protocells and wet artificial life
    • Ecology and evolution
    • Bio-inspired, cognitive and evolutionary robotics, swarms
    • Artificial intelligence and machine learning
    • Perception, cognition, behavior
    • Social systems, artificial and alternative societies
    • Evolution of language, computational linguistics
    • Philosophy of mind, philosophy of science
    • Artificial-life-based art
    • Artificial Life in education
    • For this edition of the conference the special theme is “New Frontiers in AI: What can ALife offer AI?

AI and Compute

  • We’re releasing an analysis showing that since 2012, the amount of compute used in the largest AI training runs has been increasing exponentially with a 3.4-month doubling time (by comparison, Moore’s Law had a 2-year doubling period).[1]

     Since 2012, this metric has grown by more than 300,000x (a 2-year doubling period would yield only a 7x increase). Improvements in compute have been a key component of AI progress, so as long as this trend continues, it’s worth preparing for the implications of systems far outside today’s capabilities

Does play matter? Functional and evolutionary aspects of animal and human play

  • In this paper I suggest that play is a distinctive behavioural category whose adaptive significance calls for explanation. Play primarily affords juveniles practice toward the exercise of later skills. Its benefits exceed its costs when sufficient practice would otherwise be unlikely or unsafe, as is particularly true with physical skills and socially competitive ones. Manipulative play with objects is a byproduct of increased intelligence, specifically selected for only in a few advanced primates, notably the chimpanzee.

Dissertation – slooooooow going setting up the reflection and reflex section. Found some nice stuff on developing skills through training an play though