Tim Taylor
artificial life, open-ended evolution, artificial intelligence and other crazy ideas
A quick update on various projects
I’ve not posted here in a while but I’ve been busy working on various projects in the background. Here’s a quick update on my Barricelli 1954 project and also on a project to produce new editions of W. Grove’s very early novels on AI takeover from around the 1890s.
11 Jul 2025
The first journal paper on our work using agent-based models to study bee pollination systems
Competition and pollen wars: Simulations reveal the dynamics of competition mediated through heterospecific pollen transfer by non-flower constant insects (2021). Our agent-based model of bee pollination dynamics reveals a novel mechanism whereby heterospecific pollen transfer may benefit the pollen producer.
One of my favourite papers that received relatively little attention
Redrawing the Boundary between Organism and Environment (2004). I describe a biosemiotics-inspired approach to modelling the evolution of sensing, action and behaviour in computational systems. The paper received very positive comments from the reviewers, but hasn't made much of an impact in the years that followed. I'll soon be embarking on some new experimental work based upon these ideas!
My latest thoughts on the concept of open-ended evolution
Evolutionary Innovations and Where to Find Them: Routes to Open-Ended Evolution in Natural and Artificial Systems (2019). An analysis of the general design requirements for open-ended creativity in evolutionary systems.
Second edition of author-formatted version of Rise of the Self-Replicators
I am pleased to announce that a second edition of the author-formatted version of our book Rise of the Self-Replicators is now available for free download and to read online!
This new edition includes the 2024 afterword (which was published as a paper in the Artificial Life journal earlier this year) as an additional chapter.
10 Oct 2024