From reinforcement learning to agency: Frameworks for understanding basal cognition.

Biosystems

Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.

Published: January 2024

AI Article Synopsis

  • The text explores the behaviors of organisms, questioning whether these actions serve a purpose or represent mere reactions, proposing that this distinction is overly simplistic.
  • The authors advocate for a combined approach using two frameworks: multiscale competencies and goal-directedness in biology (TAME) and reinforcement learning (RL), to better understand both biological organisms and artificial agents.
  • By integrating RL and TAME, the authors aim to generate new research questions that can enhance our understanding of biological behaviors and contribute to advancements in artificial intelligence development.

Article Abstract

Organisms play, explore, and mimic those around them. Is there a purpose to this behavior? Are organisms just behaving, or are they trying to achieve goals? We believe this is a false dichotomy. To that end, to understand organisms, we attempt to unify two approaches for understanding complex agents, whether evolved or engineered. We argue that formalisms describing multiscale competencies and goal-directedness in biology (e.g., TAME), and reinforcement learning (RL), can be combined in a symbiotic framework. While RL has been largely focused on higher-level organisms and robots of high complexity, TAME is naturally capable of describing lower-level organisms and minimal agents as well. We propose several novel questions that come from using RL/TAME to understand biology as well as ones that come from using biology to formulate new theory in AI. We hope that the research programs proposed in this piece shape future efforts to understand biological organisms and also future efforts to build artificial agents.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystems.2023.105107DOI Listing

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