7 June 2024
Work from our School suggests that cumulative improvements in route efficiency can spontaneously emerge in artificial agents without social communication or complex thought
This extends work on pigeons, and throws a little more oil on (or at least in the general direction of) the fire around the question of whether animals can show cumulative cultural evolution.
The publication appeared in PLOS Biology, was picked up by The Conversation and several smaller news outlets, and it featured on the University website.
Publication:
Dalmaijer, E.S. (2024). Cumulative route improvements spontaneously emerge in artificial navigators even in the absence of sophisticated communication or thought. PLoS Biology, 22(6), e3002644. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002644
