Anticipation: Beyond synthetic biology and cognitive robotics.
Slawomir J Nasuto, Yoshikatsu Hayashi
Bio Systems October 1, 2016 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2016.07.011 via PubMed
Summary
Current robotic technologies cannot possess intentional states beyond what is possible within the sensorimotor variant of embodied cognition. Anticipation is an emerging concept that bridges philosophical theories about life and cognition with empirical biological and cognitive sciences. To advance, cognitive robotics needs new platforms and a conceptual framework to investigate autonomy and purposeful behavior. Hybrid systems combining robotic and neuronal cultures offer experimental platforms to explore different dimensions of enactivism, including sensorimotor and biological autonomy, potentially unifying theoretical and empirical sciences.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Current robotic technologies cannot have intentional states beyond the sensorimotor variant of embodied cognition, and hybrid robotic-neuronal systems offer experimental platforms to investigate enactivism and anticipation. |
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to propose that current robotic technologies cannot have intentional states any more than is feasible within the sensorimotor variant of embodied cognition. It argues that anticipation is an emerging concept that can provide a bridge between both the deepest philosophical theories about the nature of life and cognition and the empirical biological and cognitive sciences steeped in reductionist and Newtonian conceptions of causality. The paper advocates that in order to move forward, cognitive robotics needs to embrace new platforms and a conceptual framework that will enable it to pursue, in a meaningful way, questions about autonomy and purposeful behaviour. We suggest that hybrid systems, part robotic and part cultures of neurones, offer experimental platforms where different dimensions of enactivism (sensorimotor, constitutive foundations of biological autonomy, including anticipation), and their relative contributions to cognition, can be investigated in an integrated way. A careful progression, mindful to the deep philosophical concerns but also respecting empirical evidence, will ultimately lead towards unifying theoretical and empirical biological sciences and may offer advancement where reductionist sciences have been so far faltering.