Artificial Models of Natural Intelligence

Current Research

This is an overview of current AmonI research projects.  For previous projects (some of which we are still interested in) see Older Research.  Our policy is to publish software as soon as the archival journal article comes out that it supports. That software is available on the AmonI software page.  See also our seminar series listed on our home page.

Making NI Modelling Easier

• Joanna Bryson designed a methodology for building complex AI systems called Behavior Oriented Design (BOD).  We are use this both for some of our more complicated modelling (see task learning & social behaviour below) and for cognitive systems development.
• Our currently released software is a BOD version of the agent-based modelling tool, MASON, and a  jython/python version of BOD's action selection, jyPOSH.  James Mitchell is developing a version for NetLogo which should be done by late 2011.  John Grey may be developing a verison in Lua.
  
• James Mitchell is also working to improve the BOD IDE, ABODE.
• Our affiliates Cyril Brom and his team in Prague support a version of POSH (with an IDE) in their games-development platform Pogamut.
• Another aspect of this research is our work on improving the representation of life-like emotions.  To this end we developed the Dynamic Emotion Representation, available as part of EE-FAS, and the flexible latching system, which comes standard with jyPOSH and BOD/MASON.  More information is available under Older Research.
  

Individual Learning

• Bidan Huang is conducting a PhD on integrating learning modules into cognitive robots for health-care applications.
  
• One of the most interesting characteristics of intelligence is its modularity.  Joanna Bryson has since her PhD been working on modular models of a standard benchmark task from experimental psychology: Transitive `Inference' Performance.  Jack Kenyon is working on extending this research by gathering data on implicit learning of TI in games environments.
  

Social Behaviour

• Karolina Sylwester, Pablo Lucas (with advice from Benedikt Herrmann and Simone Gächter) are working on understanding geographic variation in the prevelance of an apparently maladaptive cultural norm, anti-social punishment.  They are using Behavioural Economics to gather the data and Agent Based Modelling to express and examine the theory.
  
• Michael Tremante is looking at extending the Behavioural Economics research paradigm with VR avatars.
  
• Gideon Gluckman is looking at understanding the impact of primate social organisation on their genetic evolution.  This relates to understanding how cognition and individual learning affect operate as adaptive strategies, a common interest held with Joanna Bryson, Marios Richards and Daniel Taylor.  It also extends from recent work done by Hagen Lehmann on modelling macaque social behaviour.
  
• Joanna Bryson and Julia Lehmann are trying to understand the adaptive strategy of fission-fusion.  Joanna is also working with Petra Kaczensky on this, looking at the specific case of Wild Mongolian Asses.  Rob Jenks did a recent model of chimpanzee-like fission-fusion which is not yet published.  Chris Harrison is looking to extend Jenks' work.
  
• Ando Yasushi did an MSc on the impact of predation on primate social organization which still needs extension for publication.
• Daniel Taylor is looking at how social structures in early hominids might influence cultural evolution (see below).
• Will Lowe studies political science using computational linguistics to determine policy dynamics.
• We are working with both Sam Brown and perhaps Danny Rozen on bacterial social behaviour and communication.
• David Greenhill is working on understanding female social dominance in lemurs and spotted hyenas.
  

Social Learning and Cultural Evolution

• Dominic Mitchell is looking at understanding the evolution of language, with a particular emphasis on the importance of the public language hypothesis.
• Daniel Taylor is working on understanding the biological evolution of cultural evolution.
  
• Joanna Bryson with Will Lowe, Ivana Cace & Avri Biolovich are working on understanding the evolutionary consequences of the altruistic communication of behaviour -- that is, culture.
• Joanna Bryson has recently published a good deal of work on how interacting differences in representational capacities may account for the exceptional size of human culture, see our evolving human-like culture web page.
• We are working with Harvey Whitehouse at Oxford University on understanding the origins of religious behaviour.
• Bidan Huang may be using imitation learning for training her robots, although see our previous experience with real time imitation learning.
  

Biological Evolution and Development

• Marios Richards is working on understanding the Baldwin Effect and how it interacts with development and individual variation.  He and/or Daniel Taylor may extend this to look at interactions with cultural evolution as well.
• Marios Richards is also working on understanding epistasis and the evolutionary origins of sex with Nick Priest and Steve Dorus.
• Joanna Bryson's research in cultural evolution has lead her to more general work in evolution, including understanding the impacts of culture, modularity and biological development on biological evolution and speciation.

Cognitive Systems:  Robots, intelligent spaces, VR Avatars and Computer Game Characters

Not all of our applications are scientific.

• Bidan Huang is working on dexterous cognitive robotics to help in a health care setting.
• Jason Leake is interested in extending BOD to help create complex interactive environments for problems such as health care.
• Bidan Huang, Jason Leake and Joanna Bryson are working with the Bath Institute for Medical Engineering on designing robots to assist nurses and help control infection.
  
• Human-like intelligence is useful in computer games too. Besides being fun, this is a good test-bed for the usability of BOD & helps us debug and improve it.  The most recent work on this is by John Grey, who created generative quests for non-player characters.  These give the characters individual history and social networks, making them generally more interesting to interact with.
• Cyril Brom's group working at Charles University, Prague have been working to make creating game intelligence easier with a goal to using it as a platform for teaching programming.
• Joanna Bryson works on Robot Ethics.