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(2) How to take action: In each simulation cycle, the life body only reads the
states of the three squares in front of it. If 0 and 1 denote the blank square and
the square with food respectively, what the life body reads each time is the
3-bit binary string such as 010, 001, etc. The life body also has the internal
state which is encoded into 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4... In this case, according to the
binary string it reads and the internal state, the life body searches its rule table,
finds out the matching rule, and gets the output actions (0, 1, 2, 3, 4) and the
next state. Herein, (0, 1, 2, 3, 4) are the action codes, which denote moving
ahead, turning left, turning right, reproducing, and seeding, respectively. That
is to say, the actions which the life body takes in each cycle are totally
determined by its rules. Reproduction means that a new life body is born in
current location, which inherits all the states of its father.
(3) Environmental rules: If there exists some food in the world which the life
body is located in, eat up the food to increase its energy value. In addition,
each kind of actions of the life body corresponds to a certain energy
consumption value. A newly-born life body will receive some energy from its
father. If the energy has been totally consumed or the life-span exceeds the
maximal life-span, the life body will die. In order to limit the reproduction of
life bodies, each life body is given the upper limit of its reproductive number.
(4) Genetic rules: In the process of heredity, the father passes the complete rule
table down to its offspring. But at the same time, the variation is caused with
probability muteP, and the length of rule table also changes with the
probability lenP (which may increase or decrease). The living agents can
write programs for themselves by means of heredity and variation.
With respect to artificial life, the essence of life is information. The change of
information symbolizes the life. The research and breakthroughs of artificial life
show that information, algorithm, and computation have become important
concepts in understanding the essence of life. People can not only create artificial
life by artificial means in the natural environment, but also create digital life in
the virtual environment of computer. The artificial creatures can have variation as
well as replicate themselves. They can even struggle for the living resources, in
order to make their offspring use these resources more efficiently.
Exercises
1. Give a sketch of the basic meaning of artificial life.
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