论文标题
有机体和机器演化之间的中断：将混合微生物群落与机器人进行对比
The Hiatus Between Organism and Machine Evolution: Contrasting Mixed Microbial Communities with Robots
论文作者
论文摘要
混合微生物群落通常由各种细菌和真菌物种组成，在从土壤到人类肠道和皮肤的众多环境中都是基础。它们的演变是相互交织的动态的一个范式例子，不仅物种之间的关系起作用，而且每个物种都向其他物种展示的机会（可能是可能的危害）。这些机会实际上是\ textit {provryances}，可以通过可遗传的变化和选择来抓住。在本文中，从混合微生物群落的系统性角度开始，我们着重于提供在进化中的关键作用，并将其与程序和机器人的人工演变进行对比。我们坚持认为，这两个领域是整齐的分离，因为自然的演化是通过以完全开放的方式扩展其可能性的空间，而后者固有地受到定义算法框架的固有限制。这种差异也表征了一个设想的设置，在该设置中，机器人在物理世界中发展。我们提出了支持我们主张的论点，并提出了一个用于评估陈述的实验环境。这项贡献的目的不仅是讨论机器人工演变的局限性，还要强调生物圈进化的巨大潜力，以微生物社区的发展为精美。
Mixed microbial communities, usually composed of various bacterial and fungal species, are fundamental in a plethora of environments, from soil to human gut and skin. Their evolution is a paradigmatic example of intertwined dynamics, where not just the relations among species plays a role, but also the opportunities -- and possible harms -- that each species presents to the others. These opportunities are in fact \textit{affordances}, which can be seized by heritable variation and selection. In this paper, starting from a systemic viewpoint of mixed microbial communities, we focus on the pivotal role of affordances in evolution and we contrast it to the artificial evolution of programs and robots. We maintain that the two realms are neatly separated, in that natural evolution proceeds by extending the space of its possibilities in a completely open way, while the latter is inherently limited by the algorithmic framework it is defined. This discrepancy characterises also an envisioned setting in which robots evolve in the physical world. We present arguments supporting our claim and we propose an experimental setting for assessing our statements. Rather than just discussing the limitations of the artificial evolution of machines, the aim of this contribution is to emphasize the tremendous potential of the evolution of the biosphere, beautifully represented by the evolution of communities of microbes.
