Creativity in Evolution: Individuals, Interactions and Environments

Publication details

Creativity in Evolution: Individuals, Interactions and Environments

Tim Taylor

1999

Abstract

This paper addresses the nature of open-ended evolutionary processes, and the related, but more subtle, issue of how fundamental novelty (i.e. creativity) can arise in such processes. A number of existing artificial evolutionary systems, such as Tierra, are analysed in this context, but it is found that the theoretical grounding upon which they are based does not usually consider all of the relevant issues for creative evolution. The importance of considering the design of the environment, and of interactions between individuals, as well as the design of the individuals themselves, is emphasised. The properties of a hypothetical ’proto-DNA’ structure—a suitable seed for an open-ended, and creative, evolutionary process—are discussed. A number of open questions relating to these issues are highlighted as useful areas of future research. Finally, a paradigm for an evolutionary process described by Waddington is described. It is suggested that this might represent a suitable starting place for a more unified and productive exploration of these issues using synthetic (artificial life) modelling techniques.

Full text

Author preprint: pdf

Reference

Taylor, T. (1999). Creativity in Evolution: Individuals, Interactions and Environments. In P. J. Bentley & D. W. Corne (Eds.), Proceedings of the AISB’99 Symposium on Creative Evolutionary Systems (pp. 8–17). The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{taylor1999creativity,
  author = {Taylor, Tim},
  title = {Creativity in Evolution: Individuals, Interactions and Environments},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the AISB'99 Symposium on Creative Evolutionary Systems},
  year = {1999},
  editor = {Bentley, Peter J. and Corne, David W.},
  pages = {8-17},
  publisher = {The Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour},
  isbn = {1902956036},
  category = {conference},
  keywords = {creativity, cosmos}
}

Note

An expanded version of this paper was published in 2001 as a book chapter.

Related publications

Taylor, T. (2001). Creativity in Evolution: Individuals, Interactions and Environments. In P. J. Bentley & D. W. Corne (Eds.), Creative Evolutionary Systems (pp. 79–108). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-155860673-9/50037-9
PDF Full details
```
@incollection{taylor2001creativity,
  author = {Taylor, Tim},
  title = {Creativity in Evolution: Individuals, Interactions and Environments},
  booktitle = {Creative Evolutionary Systems},
  editor = {Bentley, Peter J and Corne, David W},
  chapter = {1},
  pages = {79--108},
  publisher = {Morgan Kaufmann},
  year = {2001},
  doi = {10.1016/b978-155860673-9/50037-9},
  category = {chapter},
  keywords = {creativity, oee}
}
```

Taylor, T. (1999). On Self-Reproduction and Evolvability. In D. Floreano, J.-D. Nicoud, & F. Mondada (Eds.), Advances in Artificial Life. ECAL 1999 (pp. 94–103). https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48304-7_15

PDF Full details

@inproceedings{taylor1999selfreproduction,
  title = {On Self-Reproduction and Evolvability},
  author = {Taylor, Tim},
  year = {1999},
  booktitle = {Advances in Artificial Life. ECAL 1999},
  series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
  volume = {1674},
  pages = {94-103},
  editor = {Floreano, Dario and Nicoud, Jean-Daniel and Mondada, Francesco},
  doi = {10.1007/3-540-48304-7_15},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address = {Berlin},
  category = {conference},
  keywords = {selfrep, cosmos}
}

Taylor, T. J. (1999). From Artificial Evolution to Artificial Life (PhD thesis). School of Informatics, College of Science and Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
PDF Full details
```
@phdthesis{taylor1999artificial,
  author = {Taylor, Timothy John},
  title = {From Artificial Evolution to Artificial Life},
  school = {School of Informatics, College of Science and Engineering, University of Edinburgh},
  year = {1999},
  uri = {http://hdl.handle.net/1842/361},
  category = {dissertation},
  keywords = {selfrep, oee, cosmos}
}
```
Taylor, T., & Hallam, J. (1998). Replaying the Tape: An Investigation into the Role of Contingency in Evolution. In C. Adami, R. K. Belew, H. Kitano, & C. E. Taylor (Eds.), Artificial Life VI: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Artificial Life (pp. 256–265). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
PDF Full details
```
@inproceedings{taylor1998replaying,
  title = {Replaying the Tape: An Investigation into the Role of Contingency in Evolution},
  author = {Taylor, Tim and Hallam, John},
  pages = {256-265},
  booktitle = {Artificial Life VI: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Artificial Life},
  editor = {Adami, Christoph and Belew, Richard K. and Kitano, Hiroaki and Taylor, Charles E.},
  publisher = {MIT Press},
  address = {Cambridge, MA},
  year = {1998},
  category = {conference},
  keywords = {cosmos}
}
```
Taylor, T., & Hallam, J. (1997). Studying Evolution with Self-Replicating Computer Programs. In P. Husbands & I. Harvey (Eds.), Fourth European Conference on Artificial Life (pp. 550–559). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
PDF Full details
```
@inproceedings{taylor1997studying,
  title = {Studying Evolution with Self-Replicating Computer Programs},
  author = {Taylor, Tim and Hallam, John},
  pages = {550--559},
  booktitle = {Fourth European Conference on Artificial Life},
  editor = {Husbands, Phil and Harvey, Inman},
  publisher = {MIT Press},
  address = {Cambridge, MA},
  isbn = {0262581574},
  year = {1997},
  category = {conference},
  keywords = {cosmos, selfrep}
}
```
Taylor, T. (1997). The COSMOS Artificial Life System (Departmental Working Paper No. 263). Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh.
PDF Full details
```
@techreport{taylor1997cosmos,
  author = {Taylor, Tim},
  title = {The COSMOS Artificial Life System},
  institution = {Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh},
  year = {1997},
  type = {Departmental Working Paper},
  number = {263},
  month = oct,
  category = {techreport},
  keywords = {cosmos},
  note = {Version 2.0: May 1999}
}
```
Taylor, T. (1996). PhD Proposal: A Study of Evolution in Self-Replicating Parallel Computer Programs (Departmental Discussion Paper No. 169). Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh.
PDF Full details
```
@techreport{taylor1996study,
  author = {Taylor, Tim},
  title = {PhD Proposal: A Study of Evolution in Self-Replicating Parallel Computer Programs},
  institution = {Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh},
  year = {1996},
  type = {Departmental Discussion Paper},
  number = {169},
  month = jun,
  category = {techreport},
  keywords = {cosmos}
}
```
Taylor, T. (1996). The COSMOS Environment and REPLiCa Programming Language (Departmental Working Paper No. 259). Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh.
PDF Full details
```
@techreport{taylor1996cosmos,
  author = {Taylor, Tim},
  title = {The COSMOS Environment and REPLiCa Programming Language},
  institution = {Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh},
  year = {1996},
  type = {Departmental Working Paper},
  number = {259},
  month = jun,
  category = {techreport},
  keywords = {cosmos}
}
```
Taylor, T. (1996). On the Incorporation of a Developmental Process in a System of Self-Replicating Programs (Departmental Working Paper No. 258). Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh.
PDF Full details
```
@techreport{taylor1996incorporation,
  author = {Taylor, Tim},
  title = {On the Incorporation of a Developmental Process in a System of Self-Replicating Programs},
  institution = {Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh},
  year = {1996},
  type = {Departmental Working Paper},
  number = {258},
  month = jan,
  category = {techreport},
  keywords = {cosmos}
}
```