Artificial Swarm Intelligence, Autonomous Systems and Drones
This presentation examines artificial swarm intelligence for autonomous and semi-autonomous robotic systems, with particular emphasis on drones. It develops the idea that complex, resilient collective behaviour can emerge from cooperation between relatively simple AI agents, drawing on natural swarm intelligence, emergent behaviour and biological evolution. It then outlines a Swarm AI design trained using modified deep reinforcement learning and evolutionary optimisation, before demonstrating the approach in simulations of grid search, a self-healing communications repeater chain and three forms of coordinated autonomous swarm attack.
Summary & Conclusions
The project aimed to develop advanced AI for autonomous unmanned systems using an approach inspired by collective intelligence in another branch of the tree of life. The resulting Swarm AI is decentralised, resilient to agent losses and capable of developing its own collective strategies rather than simply copying behaviour seen in nature.
The End
The presentation closes with thanks and reflections on preparing the talk in Kyiv during continuing Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure. The speaker invokes Winston Churchill and the phrase 'you will reap what you sow' when discussing resistance to aggression and the consequences of the continuing war.