Artificial life

Introduction

Thenatureofthefield

Althoughtheartificiallife(AL)fieldandartificialintelligence(AI)fielddohaveobviousAreasofoverlap,buttheyhavecompletelydifferentoriginalintentionsandhistories.Artificialintelligenceresearchtostudywhetherandhowtoachievesimulationintelligencehasemergedasearlyastheearlydaysafterthebirthofcomputers.However,theresearchersofartificiallifetryingtoclarifytheessenceofemergentbehaviors,itcanbesaidthattheyhaveneverknownotherpeoplearedoingsimilar.Workingandfightingalone,itwasnotuntiltheendofthe1980sthatthisfieldwasofficiallyborn.

Theconceptofartificiallife(artificiallife)mainlyreferstothevirtuallifesystembelongingtothefieldofcomputerscience,involvingcomputersoftwareengineeringandartificialintelligencetechnology.Artificialliferefersspecificallytotheartificialtransformationoforganismsbygeneticengineeringtechnology,90Intheearlyyears,theChineseAcademyofSciencesZengBangzheproposedtheconceptofanengineeredbiologicalsystemofartificialbiosystemtointegratethetwoconceptsofthecomputerfieldandthefieldofgeneticengineering,involvingsyntheticbiologyandsystemsbioengineeringtechnology.

Background

Artificiallife(Alife)isanemergingdisciplinethatemergedinthelate1980s.TheconceptofartificiallifewasproposedbyProfessorLangtonCGoftheSantaFeInstituteintheUnitedStatesin1987anddefineditas"thestudyofartificialsystemswiththebehavioralcharacteristicsofnaturallifesystems."Thereisnounifieddefinitionofartificiallife.Scholarsofdifferentdisciplinarybackgroundshavedifferentunderstandingsofit.Boden,awell-knownscholarinartificiallifesciences,believes:"Artificiallifeusesinformationconceptsandcomputermodelingtostudygenerallifeanduniquelifeonearth";RayTbelievesthat"artificiallifeusesnon-lifeelementstoconstructlifephenomenatoUnderstandingbiology,ratherthanbreakingdownnaturalorganismsintoindividualunits,isacomprehensivemethodratherthanareductionmethod."

Theideaof​​artificiallifecanbetracedbacktovonNeumann’sCellularautomatainthe1940sand1950s.VonNeumanntriedtoputasidethespecificbiologicalstructureoflife,usedmathematicalandlogicalmethodstorevealthemostessentialaspectsoflife,andappliedtheessentialcharacteristicsofself-reproductiontoman-madesystems.Herealizedthatanyself-reproductionGeneticmaterial,whethernaturalorartificial,shouldhavetwodifferentbasicfunctions:oneisanalgorithmthatcanrunintheprocessofreproducingthenextgeneration,whichisequivalenttoacomputerprogram;theotheristhatitcanbecopiedandtransmittedtothenext.Agenerationofdescription,itisequivalenttoprocesseddata,vonNeumannproposedtheideaof​​cellularautomata,andprovedthatthereisindeedacellularautomatacapableofself-reproduction.Thisshowsthatifself-reproductionisregardedasauniquefeatureoflife,machinescanalsodoit.Atthesametime,Turing,thefatherofartificialintelligence,publishedaprofoundlyconnotativemathematicalpaperonmorphogenesisin1952,proposingsomebuddingideasofartificiallife.

However,duetothelimitedcomputingpowerofcomputersatthattime,vonNeumannandTuring’sresearchonartificiallifewasrestrictedanddidnotattractenoughattention.In1970,JohnConwaywrotethe"GameofLife"program,whichenablescellularautomatatoproducecomplexpatternssuchasunpredictableextension,deformation,andstopping.Thisfeaturehasattractedalargenumberofscholars,includingLangtonCG,hebelievesOneshouldnotfocusonknownformsoflife.Ifman-madesystemshavelifecharacteristicssuchasreproduction,evolution,survival,anddeath,theyshouldalsoberegardedasaformoflife.In1987,LangtonCGorganizedthefirstartificiallifeacademicconference,whichattractedtheparticipationofscientistsinmanyfields.Sincethen,artificiallifeasadisciplinewasofficiallyborn.

Developmentstatus

Thisfieldrequirestheuseofmanycomputerprogramsandcomputersimulations,includingevolutionarycomputation(evolutionaryalgorithms(EA),geneticalgorithms(GA),geneticprogramminggeneticprogramming(GP),swarmintelligence(SI),antcolonyoptimization(ACO))artificialchemistries(AC),agent-basedmodels,andcellularautomata(CA).TheseFieldsareusuallyregardedassub-fieldsofAL.ThetopicsinthesefieldsandotherrelatedtechnicalissuesthathavenotyetbeenattributedtootherfieldsarealsodiscussedatALmeetingsbeforetheirindependentportal.

Inmanydisciplinessuchaslinguistics,physics,mathematics,philosophy,computerscience,biology,anthropology,andsociology,controversialunconventionalcomputationalandtheoreticalattemptscanalsobeusedDiscussedhere.Thisisahistoricallycontroversialarea.JohnMaynardSmithcriticizedsomeALworkas"scienceoutoffact"in1995.Inaddition,ALhasnotreceivedwidespreadattentionfrombiologists.However,thepublicationofAL-relatedpapersonthewidelyreadScienceandNatureprovesthattechnologiesinthisfield,atleastasamethodofstudyingevolution,arebeingacceptedbythemainstream.Thecharacteristicsandcapabilitiesofthelifesystembeingsimulated.

Features

Artificiallifeistherealizationofaprocessorsystemwiththecharacteristicsofbiologicalsystemsbymeansofcomputersandothernon-biologicalmedia.Thecharacteristicsoftheseachievablebiologicalsystemsinclude:

Reproductioncanbeachievedbydoublingthedatastructureunderdeterminableconditions.Similarly,thedeathofanindividualcanbeachievedbydeletingthedatastructureunderdeterminableconditions;sexualreproductioncanbeachievedbycombiningthedatastructurecharacteristicsoftwoindividuals.

Evolutioncanbeachievedbysimulatingmutationsandbysettingtheselectionpressureofnaturalselectionforitsreproductivecapacityandsurvivability.

InformationexchangeandprocessingcapabilityTheinformationexchangebetweenthesimulatedindividualandthesimulatedexternalenvironment,aswellastheinformationexchangebetweenthesimulatedindividuals-thatis,thesimulatedsocialsystem.

Thedecision-makingabilityisrealizedbyartificiallysimulatingthebrain,whichcanberealizedbyartificialneuralnetworksorotherartificialintelligencestructures.

Dominantconcept

Strongartificiallife:advocates"theevolutionprocessofalivingsystemisaprocessthatcanbeabstractedfromanyspecialmedium."(JohnVonNeumann).Notably,TomRaydemonstratedforthefirsttimeintheTierrasimulationexperimentthattheevolutionaryprocessisverypronetooccurinacertaingroupofcomputerprogramsthatcompeteforcomputerstoragespace.

Weakartificiallife:Itisbelievedthatitisimpossibletogeneratea"lifeprocess"thatisnotbasedoncarbon.Theirresearchisnottosimulatethisprocess,buttotrytounderstandindividualphenomena.Researchisusuallycarriedoutthroughanagentbasedmodel,whichcanusuallyprovidethesimplestpossibleconclusion,thatis:wedon'tknowwhatinnaturegeneratesthisphenomenon,butthroughsimulation,wemaybeabletofindtheprincipleofcomplexbiologicalphenomena.

Researchmethod

1.Cellularautomata

Atechniquethatisrelativelycommonintheearlystageofartificialliferesearch.StanisławUlambeganresearchingrelatedtechnologiesasearlyasthe1940s.Inthe1970s,JohnConwayinventedthefamousgridgame,whichbecametherepresentativeofcellularautomata.

2.Neuralnetwork

Neuralnetworkintroduceslearningfunction.Thecombinationofthelearningfunctionofsimulatedorganismsandsimulatedevolutionarycalculationlaysthefoundationformodernartificialliferesearch.

Others

Thebirthoftheworld’sfirstartificiallifestructure

ThecontroversialgenomeresearchpioneerCraigVentandhisresearchteamrecentlyproducedTookthegenomeofabacteriumandimplanteditintoacell.Sofar,theyhavecreatedtheworld'sfirstartificiallifestructure.

Thisachievementisconsideredalandmarkandwillpavethewayforthedesignoforganics.Inthefuture,organicmattermaynotbechangedthroughevolution,butwillbemanufacturedthroughartificialsynthesis.

Cancreatenewlifeforthebenefitofmankind

Atotalof20scientistsparticipatedinthiscontroversialexperiment,whichtookupto10yearsbeforeandafter,andthecostoftheexperimentwasabout40millionUSdollars.Onescholarsaidthatthisexperimentwasa"decisivemomentinbiology."

ThepioneerofgenomeresearchandAmericangeneticistCraigWentisoneoftheleadersoftheexperiment.Hesaidthatthisachievementislikethedawnofanewera.Inthefuture,scientistscancreatenewlivesforthebenefitofmankind,andthebacteriathatcanmakebiofuelswillbecomethefirst"artificiallife".

Theresearchteamnowplanstousesyntheticorganicstocreatethegenesnecessaryforsurvival.Throughthismethod,newgenescanbeaddedtoexistingorganismstocreatenewmicroorganisms,therebymakingusefulcompounds,reducingpollutants,ormakingproteinsneededforvaccines.

Thegenomeissynthesizedbychemicals

ThenewlifecreatedbyWenteandhisscientificteamusesanexistingbacteriumthatcausesgoatmastitis,butthisbacteriumThecoreofthecellisagenomeentirelyartificiallysynthesizedfromchemicals.

Four"watermarks"havebeenwrittenintotheDNAofthisnewlifetoshowitssyntheticidentityandallowscientiststotraceitsdescendants.

"Whenwediscoveredthatthecellswiththe'watermark'startedtoreproduce,wewereecstatic,"Wendtsaid."Itisalivingspeciesandapartoflifeonourplanet."

Thisresearchwillbepublishedintoday's"Science"magazineonlineedition.Wentetoldthe"Science"magazine,"Thisisanimportantmomentinthescientificandphilosophicalworld.Ithaschangedmyviewoflifeandhowlifeworks."