Value-SIG
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Original Aims
... the most important problem that needs to be solved is the question of the value of artificial life for an external observer and how we can translate the collective community's knowledge and sense of the value in artificial life and translate that into real-world value.
... this problem is really about definition and representation. There are a number of real-world value examples from the artificial life community which have either failed to translate back into value in the community or have been exploited through lack of definition and representation.
iRobot is a good example of this. iRobot is fundamentally a hard artificial life company that is phenomenally successful. Whilst it produces a number of ethical questions about its military robotics, it still should be an active contributor back into the artificial life community. Yet it is not.
Last year, I talked with Ed Seufert on Biota Live over a few episodes. Ed works at Eli Lily and uses artificial life algorithms to match compounds with potential research avenues. Thus producing more novel and considerably faster results than could be achieved by a traditional human-centric approach. This, again, should be heralded as artificial life in industry and actively contribute back into the artificial life community. Yet it does not.
I think what I proposed to you is still a good method even with the current economic situation which seems to see more of the community unemployed and certainly a substantial majority not earning a living from their artificial life related knowledge. As you may recall I proposed a unification in the teaching of artificial life in universities the world over and also an active interest from ISAL in finding, documenting and publicizing the use of artificial life in industry. This is done with the view that these industries would also see the value and potentially contribute back to ISAL or strengthen their own recognition of artificial life.
It is not that artificial life doesn't have immense value that contributes both to academia and industry, it is that this value is currently hidden through lack of organization. I think that's the challenge to ISAL and the broader artificial life community.
