A Wetware Embodied AI? Towards an Autopoietic Organizational Approach Grounded in Synthetic Biology

Damiano, Luisa; Stano, Pasquale

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2021.724023

Cited by 18 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The wetware approach can provide hints and disclosures whose usefulness is somehow more basic [ 40 ]. In recent years, we have been involved in the proposal of SB approaches to forward AI, in particular by proposing a specific form of embodied AI called “autopoietic (or organizationally grounded) embodied AI” [ 33 , 41 , 42 ] which resonates with the current discussion. In short, the research program aims at overcoming some limitations of “Organismically inspired Robotics” and “Enactive AI” [ 43 , 44 ] by bringing the autopoietic organization onto the experimental scene through a wetware autopoietic approach to embodied AI.…”

Section: Synthetic Cells As Tools For Exploring Artificial Life and A...mentioning

confidence: 85%

“…In short, the research program aims at overcoming some limitations of “Organismically inspired Robotics” and “Enactive AI” [ 43 , 44 ] by bringing the autopoietic organization onto the experimental scene through a wetware autopoietic approach to embodied AI. This translates into wetware-based approaches that rely on chemical networks that are defined and that propagate in the functional space and in the structural space, self-generating autopoietic and embodied agents [ 41 ].…”

Section: Synthetic Cells As Tools For Exploring Artificial Life and A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chemical Systems for Wetware Artificial Life: Selected Perspectives in Synthetic Cell Research

Stano

2023

IJMS

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The recent and important advances in bottom-up synthetic biology (SB), in particular in the field of the so-called “synthetic cells” (SCs) (or “artificial cells”, or “protocells”), lead us to consider the role of wetware technologies in the “Sciences of Artificial”, where they constitute the third pillar, alongside the more well-known pillars hardware (robotics) and software (Artificial Intelligence, AI). In this article, it will be highlighted how wetware approaches can help to model life and cognition from a unique perspective, complementary to robotics and AI. It is suggested that, through SB, it is possible to explore novel forms of bio-inspired technologies and systems, in particular chemical AI. Furthermore, attention is paid to the concept of semantic information and its quantification, following the strategy recently introduced by Kolchinsky and Wolpert. Semantic information, in turn, is linked to the processes of generation of “meaning”, interpreted here through the lens of autonomy and cognition in artificial systems, emphasizing its role in chemical ones.

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Section: Synthetic Cells As Tools For Exploring Artificial Life and A...mentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Synthetic Cells As Tools For Exploring Artificial Life and A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Systems for Wetware Artificial Life: Selected Perspectives in Synthetic Cell Research

Stano

2023

IJMS

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“…In the long run, however, higher degrees of autonomy and agency will make bottom-up SCs more like organisms than machines [ 29 , 43 , 73 , 74 ]. Together with the engineering principles, it should be mentioned that the practice of constructing SCs involves considerations referring to theoretical-biology issues, particularly to (i) the theory of autopoiesis [ 75 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]—with its double implications for life and cognition [ 79 , 80 ]; (ii) the epistemology of synthetic methods for generating scientific knowledge [ 43 , 44 , 46 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 ]; (iii) the origin of life , because SCs can be designed and constructed to be models of primitive cells [ 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 ]. The versatility of bottom-up SCs brings about a wide range of interests and possible uses.…”

Section: Bottom-up Scs: Principles Construction and Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Role for Bottom-Up Synthetic Cells in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things?

et al. 2023

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The potential role of bottom-up Synthetic Cells (SCs) in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is discussed. In particular, this perspective paper focuses on the growing interest in networks of biological and/or artificial objects at the micro- and nanoscale (cells and subcellular parts, microelectrodes, microvessels, etc.), whereby communication takes place in an unconventional manner, i.e., via chemical signaling. The resulting “molecular communication” (MC) scenario paves the way to the development of innovative technologies that have the potential to impact biotechnology, nanomedicine, and related fields. The scenario that relies on the interconnection of natural and artificial entities is briefly introduced, highlighting how Synthetic Biology (SB) plays a central role. SB allows the construction of various types of SCs that can be designed, tailored, and programmed according to specific predefined requirements. In particular, “bottom-up” SCs are briefly described by commenting on the principles of their design and fabrication and their features (in particular, the capacity to exchange chemicals with other SCs or with natural biological cells). Although bottom-up SCs still have low complexity and thus basic functionalities, here, we introduce their potential role in the IoBNT. This perspective paper aims to stimulate interest in and discussion on the presented topics. The article also includes commentaries on MC, semantic information, minimal cognition, wetware neuromorphic engineering, and chemical social robotics, with the specific potential they can bring to the IoBNT.

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“…This is made possible by sensorimotor capacities embedded in the agent body. As we have recently argued in a dedicated article, SB provides an excellent platform for investigations on "chemical embodied AI" via the development of properly designed wetware models (i.e., SCs) (Damiano and Stano, 2021). For example, in order to model minimal cognition, SCs should cope with environmental perturbation by adaptive mechanisms of self-regulation.…”

Section: The Theoretical Track: What Scs Actually Arementioning

confidence: 99%

A four-track perspective for bottom-up synthetic cells

Stano

2022

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.

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A crucial move for the development of the bottom-up synthetic biology (SB) branch took place about 20 years ago, when Jack W. Szostak, David Bartel and Pier Luigi Luisi coauthored a Nature paper entitled "Synthesizing Life" (Szostak et al., 2001), which can be considered a sort of foundational paper for (or even the manifesto of) the modern approaches for constructing living artificial cells from scratch. Possibly as a sign of the Zeitgeist, the article was published almost simultaneously to two other foundational papers in SB (Elowitz et al., 2000;Gardner et al., 2000).The very idea of synthesizing life-the Faustian dream of all times-is not new. Several (unsuccessful) attempts to build cell-like systems of minimal complexity fill the annals of science (Hanczyc, 2009). These attempts share a common anti-vitalistic viewpoint: synthesizing (cellular) life from scratch should be possible, and it would demonstrate that the biological phenomenology follows a "continuity principle" with respect to physics and chemistry. That is, life is an emergent property of some molecular systems characterized by a very peculiar type of structural and dynamical (self-) organization. However trivial and generally taken for granted by scientists, the emergence of life from inanimate matter has never been demonstrated experimentally and it is still one of the big targets in science.What is, then, the remarkable and novel element that has been put forward in the "Synthesizing Life" article, and that can be considered as a foundational concept for bottom-up approaches in SB? The Authors actually focused on the hypothetical construction of primitive cell (protocell) models, made of catalytically active RNAs (ribozymes) (Bartel and Szostak, 1993; Eckland et al., 1995), encapsulated inside fatty acid vesicles (Hargreaves and Deamer, 1978; Bachman et al., 1992;Walde et al., 1994). The claim is that such structures would display minimal life-like behavior (reproductive and potentially evolutive) if the intravesicle ribozymes catalyze their own replication and the production of membrane molecules at the expenses of certain precursors available in the environment. The whole process would lead to a spontaneous growth-division of protocells in an allegedly primitive Earth scenario.Leaving aside, for the moment, the mechanistic details and their plausibility, the fundamental and explicit message of that paper goes beyond the apparently narrow focus on the origin of life. To a closer inspection, in fact, the Authors put forward an operational methodology for the construction of chemical reacting systems that would show the difficult-to-define property of being alive just by fulfilling a specific structural and

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A Wetware Embodied AI? Towards an Autopoietic Organizational Approach Grounded in Synthetic Biology

Cited by 18 publications

References 24 publications

Chemical Systems for Wetware Artificial Life: Selected Perspectives in Synthetic Cell Research

Chemical Systems for Wetware Artificial Life: Selected Perspectives in Synthetic Cell Research

A Role for Bottom-Up Synthetic Cells in the Internet of Bio-Nano Things?

A four-track perspective for bottom-up synthetic cells

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