
Title: Causal Entropic Forces Authors: A. D. Wissner-Gross and C. E. Freer Presenter: John Bechhoefer Abstract: Entropic forces arise when a system, by changing its configuration, accesses more states. A familiar example is rubber elasticity: There are fewer stretched configurations of a polymer chain than "relaxed" ones, leading to a macroscopic elasticity. Wissner-Gross and Freer ask what happens if a system evolves towards states that have more future possibilities. Implementing this simple rule, the authors show that "intelligent behaviour" can arise spontaneously: a particle moves to the middle of a room, a pendulum learns to balance itself upside down, and both tool use and social cooperation can emerge. Is this the birth of a "statistical physics of intelligence"? Reference: Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 168702 (2013) (http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v110/i16/e168702) See also the summary in Physics Focus: http://physics.aps.org/articles/v6/46

Title: Causal Entropic Forces
Authors: A. D. Wissner-Gross and C. E. Freer
Presenter: John Bechhoefer

Abstract: Entropic forces arise when a system, by changing its configuration, accesses more states. A familiar example is rubber elasticity: There are fewer stretched configurations of a polymer chain than "relaxed" ones, leading to a macroscopic elasticity. Wissner-Gross and Freer ask what happens if a system evolves towards states that have more future possibilities. Implementing this simple rule, the authors show that "intelligent behaviour" can arise spontaneously: a particle moves to the middle of a room, a pendulum learns to balance itself upside down, and both tool use and social cooperation can emerge. Is this the birth of a "statistical physics of intelligence"?

Reference: Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 168702 (2013) (http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v110/i16/e168702)
See also the summary in Physics Focus: http://physics.aps.org/articles/v6/46