Talk:Biologically-inspired computing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] I like it

Do you have a feel for who first used the term "Biologically-inspired computing"? A quick search of Medline reveals The Embryonics Project: a machine made of artificial cell published in 1999 as the first article in that database.

I really like how traditional AI is described as using a 'creationist' approach to making intelligent systems. I was tempted to link to Top-down and bottom-up design from bottom-up, but there would also have to be a whole new section made at the "Top-down and bottom-up design" article dealing with how "top-down" and bottom-up" are used within AI, rather than just conventional software design. It also is the case that the role of inspiration from biology is almost totally absent from the Artificial_intelligence article.....which is a true but unfortunate reflection of how most AI researchers ignore biology.

JWSchmidt 14:21, 25 Mar 2004 (UTC)


Hi John. Unfortunately I have no idea where the name comes from... the first time I heard it was when I registered for a course entitled 'Bio-inspired computing' at my university. I don't know where my lecturer got the name from. I took the course at the end of 2003, but it'd run for a few years before that I think. I wrote the article based on what I learnt in that course and what I've learnt subsequently.
I think the link to top-down... etc. is a great idea (in fact I think I'll link it when I've done this...). You're right, it doesn't mention AI or BI (I just realised a nice abbreviation for bio-inspired is BI... AI's next of kin), but that doesn't really matter... the general idea is there. The link I put to decentralisation is more of a political theory, but in a way I think even all these things tie in nicely to BI; one of my favourite examples of collective behaviour/swarm intelligence is human society...
Yes, traditional AI doesn't really seem to take much notice of biology. I personally like BI because I really Do like biology, and nature. I've studied some AI myself, and I find BI infinitely more interesting because you get to talk about, you know, computers and stuff, but nature at the same time. It's perfect. Obviously both approaches have their merits, but right now traditional AI seems to be the preferred method when it comes to teaching things at university. I took an 'AI overview' class once, and the teacher quite conspicuously ignored all 3 chapters in the textbook dealing with neural nets, GAs, and cellular automata.
Anyway... glad to hear you like the article! Cheers, Neil.
Chopchopwhitey 01:18, 26 Mar 2004 (UTC)

[edit] transposition

When you mention "transposition" I think of Transposons and genetics. Do you have some other meaning in mind? JWSchmidt 02:18, 26 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Someone else actually added transposition to the entry. I don't know what it is myself. Neil. Chopchopwhitey 04:20, 26 Mar 2004 (UTC)

I did add the bit on transposition. Yes, it does indeed mean to simulate the activity of transposons. I would have to find the correct reference, but some recent work has suggested that there in the evolution of evolvability, loci that are closely inter-related tend to get localized together to form modules. This was simulated using a GA that included the transposition operator. Shyamal

Stuart Kauffman's book Origins of Order: Self-Organization and Selection in Evolution has an extensive discussion of the evolution of evolvability. JWSchmidt 14:16, 29 Mar 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Recommended Reading

  • Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order by Steven Strogatz. Hardcover ed., 2003; paperback ed., 2004. TODO: need to annotate. Cema 05:18, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Science of Networks by Mark Buchanan. Hardcover ed., 2002; paperback ed., 2003. TODO: need to annotate. Cema 05:18, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • Self-Organized Criticality : Emergent Complex Behavior in Physical and Biological Systems (Cambridge Lecture Notes in Physics) by Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen, Peter Goddard (Editor), Julia Yeomans (Editor). Paperback ed., 1998. A formal introduction to self-organized criticality. TODO: need to annotate. Cema
  • Theory of Interaction the Simplest Explanation of Everything by Eugene Savov. Paperback, hardcover and digital ed. (Adobe Reader), 2002. TODO: need to annotate. Cema 06:13, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

[edit] correcting hyphenation in the title

English grammar rules dictate that since "biologically" is an adverb, it must modify "inspired" and not "computing" and thus the proper way to spell the title is "Biologically inspired computing."

68.181.248.135 (talk) 22:56, 15 April 2008 (UTC)