Generating meaning: active inference and the scope and limits of passive AI.

Journal: Trends in cognitive sciences
Published Date: Nov 15, 2023

Abstract

Prominent accounts of sentient behavior depict brains as generative models of organismic interaction with the world, evincing intriguing similarities with current advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI). However, because they contend with the control of purposive, life-sustaining sensorimotor interactions, the generative models of living organisms are inextricably anchored to the body and world. Unlike the passive models learned by generative AI systems, they must capture and control the sensory consequences of action. This allows embodied agents to intervene upon their worlds in ways that constantly put their best models to the test, thus providing a solid bedrock that is - we argue - essential to the development of genuine understanding. We review the resulting implications and consider future directions for generative AI.

Authors

  • Giovanni Pezzulo
    Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council of Italy, Via S. Martino della Battaglia 44-00185 Rome, Italy.
  • Thomas Parr
    Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, WC1N 3AR, UK. Electronic address: thomas.parr.12@ucl.ac.uk.
  • Paul Cisek
    Department of Neuroscience, University of Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
  • Andy Clark
    Department of Philosophy, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Karl Friston
    Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK.

Keywords

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals