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Incorporating Swarm Intelligence Into Computer AI

Posted by Soulskill on from the don't-show-this-to-the-left-4-dead-guys dept.

An anonymous reader writes "From optimizing truck delivery routes to inspiring nerve-cell-based cognition models, ant intelligence has arrived. From the Economist: 'In 1992 Dr. Dorigo and his group began developing Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO), an algorithm that looks for solutions to a problem by simulating a group of ants wandering over an area and laying down pheromones. ACO proved good at solving travelling-salesman-type problems. Since then it has grown into a whole family of algorithms, which have been applied to many practical questions. ... Ant-like algorithms have also been applied to the problem of routing information through communication networks. Dr. Dorigo and Gianni Di Caro, another researcher at IDSIA, have developed AntNet, a routing protocol in which packets of information hop from node to node, leaving a trace that signals the "quality" of their trip as they do so. Other packets sniff the trails thus created and choose accordingly. In computer simulations and tests on small-scale networks, AntNet has been shown to outperform existing routing protocols."

6 of 64 comments (clear)

  1. IDSIA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I split in their general direction.

    Who/what the fuck are they, Mr. Summary Writer?

  2. Re:Hill Climbing by caffeinemessiah · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It just sounds like the classic hill climbing algorithm to me.

    That's because it's very similar -- with a massive stochastic component. It might be effective at routing, but I image leaving "pheromone traces" over network routes to indicate quality (latency, bandwidth, whatever) is something that will make sure security researchers have jobs for a long, long time.

    --
    An old-timer with old-timey ideas.
  3. So, basically an adaptive traceroute? by mrflash818 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Kinda sounds like an adaptive traceroute. Perhaps traceroute was antlike before it became in vogue :)

    --
    Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
  4. Re:Swarm UDP? by Wraithlyn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not sure I understand your post.

    Swarm logic would [...] prevent protocols like UDP from ever getting packets through in any sort of decent order

    UDP packet order is already unreliable. You have to build in your own sequencing and error-correction logic at the application level (if you need it).

    anything with ordered sequential data streams would see little to no benefit

    Again, UDP does not fit this description. Are you sure you're not confusing TCP and UDP?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Datagram_Protocol#Comparison_of_UDP_and_TCP

    --
    "Mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent present in every electron." -Freeman Dyson
  5. Re:Hill Climbing by FrootLoops · · Score: 2, Insightful

    but I image leaving "pheromone traces" over network routes to indicate quality (latency, bandwidth, whatever) is something that will make sure security researchers have jobs for a long, long time.

    Why? I don't see why you'd need uniquely identifiable information left behind in the "pheromone". Hopefully a decent spec would also be sensitive to privacy concerns and would simply have an "off" bit as well.

  6. Economist Article by mark99 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why are we reposting an economist article? I would think SlashDot could come up with an article that goes somewhat deeper than this.