Evolution in materio: looking beyond the silicon box

Abstract

It is argued that natural evolution is, par excellence, an algorithm that exploits the physical properties of materials. Such an exploitation of the physical characteristics has already been demonstrated in intrinsic evolution of electronic circuits. This paper is an attempt to point the way toward the exciting possibility of using artificial evolution to directly exploit the properties of materials, possibly at a molecular level. It is suggested that this may be best accomplished in materials not normally associated with electronic functions. Electronic components have been prefected by human designers to construct circuits using the traditional top-down methodology. Workers in artificial intrinsic hardware evolution have with the best of motives, been abusing such components. It is a tribute to the amazing resourcefulness of a blind evolutionary process that it has been possible to evolve new circuits in this way. Artificial evolution may be much more effective when the configurable medium has a rich and complicated physics. This idea is discussed and particular examples that look extremely promising are given. Ultimately it may be possible to evolve entirely new technologies and new sorts of computational systems may be devised that confer many advantages over conventional electronic technology.