2019/08/01 by Kenneth O. Stanley · 7 citations
Computer Science · #Cellular Automata and Applications #Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms #Evolutionary Algorithms and Applications
paper · doi:10.1162/artl_a_00294
openalex publication_date 2019/08/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Rather than acting as a review or analysis of the field, this essay focuses squarely on the motivations for investigating open-endedness and the opportunities it opens up. It begins by contemplating the awesome accomplishments of evolution in nature and the profound implications if such a process could be ignited on a computer. Some of the milestones in our understanding so far are then discussed, finally closing by highlighting the grand challenge of formalizing open-endedness as a computational process that can be encoded as an algorithm. The main contribution is to articulate why open-endedness deserves a place alongside artificial intelligence as one of the great computational challenges, and opportunities, of our time.