Seth Bullock

• BA, DPhil
• Chair at University of Bristol

Novelty detection allows robots to recognise unexpected data in their sensory field and can thus be utilised in applications such as reconnaissance, surveillance, self-monitoring, etc. We assess the suitability of Grow When Required Neural Networks (GWRNNs) for detecting novel features in a robot's visual input in the context of randomised physics-...

Objectives Attractiveness judgements have been shown to affect interpersonal relationships. The present study explored the relationships between perceived attractiveness, perceived sexual health status, condom use intentions and condom use resistance in women. Setting The study data were collected using an online questionnaire. Participants 480 E...

Instead of committing to the first source of reward that it discovers, an agent engaged in ”preferential foraging” continues to choose between different reward sources in order to maximise its foraging efficiency. In this paper, the effect of preferential source selection on the performance of robot swarms with different recruitment strategies is s...

In swarm robotics, a design pattern provides high-level guidelines for the implementation of a particular robot behaviour and describes its impact on swarm performance. In this paper, we explore information exchange design patterns for robot swarm foraging. First, a method for the specification of design patterns for robot swarms is proposed that b...

Demand for autonomous swarms, where robots can cooperate with each other without human intervention, is set to grow rapidly in the near future. Currently, one of the main challenges in swarm robotics is understanding how the behaviour of individual robots leads to an observed emergent collective performance. In this paper, a novel approach to under...

The study of complex networks, and in particular of social networks, has mostly concentrated on relational networks, abstracting the distance between nodes. Spatial networks are, however, extremely relevant in our daily lives, and a large body of research exists to show that the distances between nodes greatly influence the cost and probability of...

Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/403544 These files contain ARGoS simulation code, python code and raw data for manuscript "The Information-Cost-Reward framework for understanding robot swarm foraging". Please also visit the project web site: http://rebrand.ly/icrf . See the README.txt file for further details.

Designing and representing control algorithms is challenging in swarm robotics, where the collective swarm performance depends on interactions between robots and with their environment. The currently available modeling languages, such as UML, cannot fully express these interactions. We therefore propose a new, Behaviour-Data Relations Modeling Lang...

Background Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are ongoing concerns. The best method for preventing the transmission of these infections is the correct and consistent use of condoms. Few studies have explored the use of games in interventions for increasing condom use by challenging the false sense of security associated with judging the presenc...

Link: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/385724/ These files contain ARGoS simulation code and raw data collected from simulation runs. Please see the README.txt file for further details.The related paper is Pitonakova,L., Crowder,R. and Bullock, S. Information flow principles for plasticity in foraging robot swarms. Swarm Intelligence. DOI: 10.1007/s1172...

Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/386728 These files contain ARGoS simulation code and raw data collected from simulation runs. Please see the README.txt file for further details.The related paper is Pitonakova, L., Crowder, R. and Bullock, S.: Task Allocation in Foraging Robot Swarms: The Role of Information Sharing, to appear in Proceedings o...

Autonomous task allocation is a desirable feature of robot swarms that collect and deliver items in scenarios where congestion, caused by accumulated items or robots, can temporarily interfere with swarm behaviour. In such settings, self-regulation of workforce can prevent unnecessary energy consumption. We explore two types of self-regulation: non...

Objectives Judgements of attractiveness have been shown to influence the character of social interactions. The present study sought to better understand the relationship between perceived attractiveness, perceived sexual health status and condom use intentions in a heterosexual male population. Setting The study employed an electronic questionnaire...

An important characteristic of a robot swarm that must operate in the real world is the ability to cope with changeable environments by exhibiting behavioural plasticity at the collective level. For example, a swarm of foraging robots should be able to repeatedly reorganise in order to exploit resource deposits that appear intermittently in differe...

It has been proposed that a strong relationship exists between the population size and density of Pleistocene hominins and their competence in making stone tools. Here we focus on the first ‘Out of Africa’ dispersal, 1.8 Ma ago, and the idea that it might have featured lower population density and the fragmentation of hominin groups in areas furthe...

Iterated learning takes place when the input into a particular individual’s learning process is itself the output of another individual’s learning process. This is an important feature to capture when investigating human language change, or the dynamics of culturally learned behaviours in general. Over the last fifteen years, the Iterated Learning...

Living systems are organised in space. This imposes con- straints on both their structural form and, consequently, their dynamics. While artificial life research has demonstrated that embedding an adaptive system in space tends to have a sig- nificant impact on its behaviour, we do not yet have a full ac- count of the relevance of spatiality to liv...

The study of interdependent complex networks in the last decade has shown how cascading failure can result in the recursive and complete fragmentation of all connected systems from the destruction of a comparatively small number of nodes. Existing “network of networks” approaches are still in infancy and have shown limits when trying to model the r...

In this paper, we explore the emergence and direct interaction of two different types of dissipative structure in a single system: self-replicating chemical spot patterns and buoyancy-induced convection rolls. A new Lattice Boltzmann Model is developed, capable of simulating fluid flow, heat transport, and thermal chemical reactions, all within a s...

Organizations face important risks with IT Outsourcing (ITO)—the practice of delegating organizational IT functions to third parties. Here, we employ a system dynamics simulator to support ITO decision-making under risk, taking a dynamic and integrated view of both capabilities management and benefits management. After briefly presenting its functi...

From a multi-disciplinary point of view, research on resilience focuses on robustness, recovery, and adaptive capacity. Robustness quantifies how much damage a system can take before it breaks, whereas recovery refers to the ability of a system to recuperate within limits of time and resources, and adaptability requires a system to be able to struc...

IT Outsourcing (ITO) is the practice to delegate organizational IT functions to a third party. However, this practice introduces important risks for customer organizations. We have developed a system dynamics simulation model to support ITO decision making that considers a dynamic and integrated view of capabilities management and benefits manageme...

IT Outsourcing (ITO) is the practice to delegate organizational IT functions to a third party. However, this practice introduces important risks for customer organizations. We have developed a system dynamics simulation model to support ITO decision making that considers a dynamic and integrated view of capabilities management and benefits manageme...

Rayleigh-Bénard convection is a canonical example of spontaneous pattern formation in a nonequilibrium system. It has been the subject of considerable theoretical and experimental study, primarily for systems with constant (temperature or heat flux) boundary conditions. In this investigation, we have explored the behavior of a convecting fluid syst...

The organisation of living systems is neither random nor regular, but tends to exhibit complex structure in the form of clustering and modularity. Here, we present a very simple model that generates random networks with spontaneous community structure reminiscent of living systems, particularly those involving social interaction. We extend the well...

When is it profitable for robots to forage collectively? Here we compare the ability of swarms of simulated bio-inspired robots to forage either collectively or individually. The conditions under which recruitment (where one robot alerts another to the location of a resource) is profitable are characterised, and explained in terms of the impact of...

Culture is a central component in the study of numerous disciplines in social science and biology. Nevertheless, a consensus on what it is and how we can represent it in a meaningful and useful way has been hard to reach, especially due to the multifaceted aspects of its nature. In this work we dissect culture into its most basic components and pro...

This article introduces a special issue of Complexity dedicated to the increasingly important element of complexity science that engages with social policy. We introduce and frame an emerging research agenda that seeks to enhance social policy by working at the interface between the social sciences and the physical sciences (including mathematics a...

What is it about simulation models that has led some practitioners to treat them as potential sources of empirical data on the real-world systems being simulated; that is, to treat simulations as 'artificial worlds' within which to perform computational 'experiments'? Here we use the work of Richard Levins as a starting point in identifying the app...

Network theory is increasingly employed to study the structure and behaviour of social, physical and technological systems - including civil infrastructure. Many of these systems are interconnected and the interdependencies between them allow disruptive events to propagate across networks, enabling damage to spread far beyond the immediate footprin...

Social networks characterize the set of relationships among a population of social agents. As such, their structure both constrains and is constrained by social processes such as partnership formation and the spread of information, opinions, and behavior. Models of these coevolutionary network dynamics exist, but they are generally limited to speci...

Social networks characterise the set of relationships amongst a population of social agents. As such, their structure both constrains and is constrained by social processes such as partnership formation and the spread of information, opinions and behaviour. Models of these coevolutionary network dynamics exist, but they are generally limited to spe...

This paper investigates the dynamics of decentralised nest construction in the ant species Leptothorax tuberointerruptus, exploring the contribution of, and interaction between, a pheromone building template and a physical building template (the bodies of the ants themselves). We present a continuous-space model of ant behaviour capable of generati...

The world's markets are increasingly interconnected, imposing additional challenges for both regulators and market participants. This paper considers the effect of inter-market dependencies on the spread of endogenously generated merger waves. Though merger activity can generate efficiency gains, it disrupts market competition and can lead to negat...

In this work, we present some fascinating behaviour emerging from a simple synthetic chemistry model. The results of Ono and Ikegami (2001) demonstrated the spontaneous formation of primitive, self-reproducing cells from a random homogeneous mixture of chemical components. Their model made use of a simple, artificial reaction network. Discrete part...

SUMMARY We present an agent-based model of endogenous merger formation in a market with turnover of market participants. We describe the dynamics of the model and identify the conditions under which market competition is sufficiently disrupted to prompt extended periods during which mergers are desirable. We also demonstrate how merger waves can be...

The UK's population is ageing, which presents a challenge as older people are the primary users of health and social care services. We present an agent-based model of the basic demographic processes that impinge on the supply of, and demand for, social care: namely mortality, fertility, health-status transitions, internal migration, and the formati...

Complex network approaches have been used to analyse physical or social networks. Previous research has tended to focus on studying single, isolated systems and ignores the fact that many of these systems are developing into a “network of networks”. Over the years these systems have become increasingly interconnected. Due to this interdependence th...

We introduce a distinction between algorithm performance and algorithm competence and argue that bio-inspired computing should characterize the former rather than the latter. To exemplify this, we explore and extend a bio-inspired algorithm for collective construction influenced by paper wasp behavior. Despite its being provably general in its comp...

The 'Perfect Storm' metaphor describes a combination of events that causes a surprising or dramatic impact. It lends an evolutionary perspective to how social-ecological interactions change. Thus, we argue that an improved understanding of how social-ecological systems have evolved up to the present is necessary for the modelling, understanding and...

The autonomic computing paradigm addresses the operational challenges presented by increasingly complex software systems by proposing that they be composed of many autonomous components, each responsible for the runtime reconfiguration of its own dedicated hardware and software components. Consequently, regulation of the whole software system becom...

A game-theoretic model of handicap signalling over a pair of signalling channels is introduced in order to determine when one channel has an evolutionary advantage over the other. The stability conditions for honest handicap signalling are presented for a single channel and are shown to conform with the results of prior handicap signalling models....

We extend the model of spatial social network formation of Johnson and Gilles (Review of Economic Design, 2000, 5, 273-299) by situating each economic agent within one of a set of discrete spatial locations and allowing agents to maximise the utility that they gain from their direct and indirect social contacts by relocating, in addition to forming...

One of the central challenges facing modern neuroscience is to explain the ability of the nervous system to coherently integrate information across distinct functional modules in the absence of a central executive. To this end, Tononi et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 91, 5033 (1994)] proposed a measure of neural complexity that purports to captu...

Many natural and technological systems are complex, with organizational structures that exhibit characteristic patterns but defy concise description. One effective approach to analyzing such systems is in terms of repeated topological motifs. Here, we extend the motif concept to characterize the dynamic behavior of complex systems by introducing de...

The dynamics of real-world systems often involve multiple processes that influence system state. The timescales that these processes operate on may be separated by orders of magnitude or may coincide closely. Where timescales are not separable, the way that they relate to each other will be important for understanding system dynamics. In this paper...

We introduce a fast cellular automata model for the simulation of surfactant dynamics based on a previous model by Ono and Ikegami (2001). Here, individual lipid-like particles undergo stochastic movement and rotation on a two-dimensional lattice in response to potential energy gradients. The particles are endowed with an internal structure that re...

As the 21st century unfolds, we find ourselves having to control, support, manage or otherwise cope with large-scale complex adaptive systems to an extent that is unprecedented in human history. Whether we are concerned with issues of food security, infrastructural resilience, climate change, health care, web science, security, or financial stabili...

The dynamics of real-world systems often involve multiple processes that influence system state. The timescales that these processes operate on may be separated by orders of magnitude or may coincide closely. Where timescales are not separable, the way that they relate to each other will be important for understanding system dynamics. In this paper...

We introduce a fast cellular automata model for the simula- tion of surfactant dynamics based on a previous model by Ono and Ikegami (2001). Here, individual lipid-like par- ticles undergo stochastic movement and rotation on a two- dimensional lattice in response to potential energy gradi- ents. The particles are endowed with an internal structure...

Immune systems provide a unique window on the evolution of individuality. Existing models of immune systems fail to consider them as situated within a biochemical context. We present a model that uses an NK landscape as an underlying metabolic substrate, represents organisms as having both internal and external structure, and provides a basis for s...

The structure of many biological, social and technological systems can usefully be described in terms of complex networks. Although often portrayed as fixed in time, such networks are inherently dynamic, as the edges that join nodes are cut and rewired, and nodes themselves update their states. Understanding the structure of these networks requires...

We introduce and discuss the role of spatial embedding as an enabling constraint on complex system structure and function.

To gain a deeper understanding of the impact of spatial embedding on the dynamics of complex systems we employ a measure of interaction complexity developed within neuroscience using the tools of statistical information theory. We apply this measure to a set of simple network models embedded within Euclidean spaces of varying dimensionality in ord...

We review and discuss the structural consequences of embedding a random network within a metric space such that nodes distributed in this space tend to be connected to those nearby. We find that where the spatial distribution of nodes is maximally symmetrical some of the structural properties of the resulting networks are similar to those of random...

From Facebook groups and online gaming clans, to social movements and terrorist cells, groups of individuals aligned by interest, values or background are of increasing interest to social network researchers. In particular, understanding the structural and dynamic factors that influence the evolution of these groups remains an open challenge. Why d...

How can we understand the interaction between the social network topology of a population and the patterns of group affiliation in that population? Each aspect influences the other: social networks provide the conduits via which groups recruit new members and groups provide the context in which new social ties are formed. Given that the resources o...

We have re-implemented and extended the 2D artificial chemistry model of Ono and Ikegami (2001) (see also Ono, 2005) to increase its behavioural diversity. In its original form, this cellular automata (CA) simulation of primitive chemical life produces self-organising, autopoietic protocells from a random initial configuration of membrane, catalyst...

Swarm construction involves a population of autonomous agents collaboratively organising material into useful persistent structures without recourse to central co-ordination or control. This approach to fabrication has significant potential within nanoscale domains, where explicit centralised control of building activity is prohibitive (e.g., Marte...

Document is itself an extended abstract.

Architectural design is typically limited by the constraints imposed by physical space. If and when opportunities to attenuate or extinguish these limits arise, should they be seized? Here it is argued that the limiting influence of spatial embedding should not be regarded as a frustrating "tyranny" to be escaped wherever possible, but as a welcome...

The overlapping fields of adaptive behavior and artificial life are often described as novel approaches to biology. They focus attention on bottom-up explanations and how lifelike phenomena can result from relatively simple systems interacting dynamically ...

Tononi [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91, 5033 (1994)] proposed a measure of neural complexity based on mutual information between complementary subsystems of a given neural network, which has attracted much interest in the neuroscience community and beyond. We develop an approximation of the measure for a popular Gaussian model which, applied to a...

A major challenge within open markets is the ability to satisfy service demand with an adequate supply of service providers, especially when such demand may be volatile due to changing requirements, or ?uctuations in the availability of services. Ideally, the supply and demand of services should be balanced; however, when consumer demand change ove...

A major challenge within open markets is the ability to satisfy service demand with an adequate supply of service providers, especially when such demand may be volatile due to changing requirements, or fluctuations in the availability of services. Ideally, the supply and demand of services should be balanced; however, when consumer demand change ove...

How can we understand the interaction between the social network topology of a population and the patterns of group affiliation in that population? Each aspect influences the other: social networks provide the conduits via which groups recruit new members, and groups provide the context in which new social ties are formed. While many social simulat...

In the continuing absence of a formal, consensual, definition of what it is to be a living system, artificial life has learned to make do with a mantra of “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it”. An under-appreciated consequence of this position is the attendant epistemological load placed on seeing and therefore visualization. This paper...

In this paper, we analyse how autonomic resource management can be achieved within a system that lacks centralized information about current system demand and the state of system elements. Rather, regulation of service provision is achieved through local co-adaptation between two groups of system elements, one tasked to autonomously decide which se...

In this paper, we analyse how autonomic resource management can be achieved within a system that lacks centralized information about current system demand and the state of system elements. Rather, regulation of service provision is achieved through local co-adaptation between two groups of system elements, one tasked to autonomously decide which se...

In this paper we demonstrate that signal propagation across a laminar sheet of recurrent neurons is maximised when two conditions are met. First, neurons must be in the so-called centre crossing configuration. Second, the network's topology and weights must be such that the network comprises strongly coupled nodes, yet lies within the weakly couple...

Recently, computer scientists have begun to build computational ecosystems in which multiple autonomous agents interact locally to achieve globally efficient organised behaviour. Here we present a thermodynamic interpretation of these systems. We highlight the difference between the regular use of terms such as energy and work, and their use within...

Recent artificial neural networks for machine learning have exploited transient dynamics around globally stable attractors, ins pired by the properties of cortical microcolumns. Here we explore whether similarly constrained neural network controllers can be exploited for embodied, situated adaptive behaviour. We demonstrate that it is possible to e...

In this paper we explore the relationship between local and global behaviour in a simple model of utility computing infrastructure as the system heterogeneity, load and reliability are varied. To do this, we implement minimally complex agent strategies for which we can identify the fundamental generic feedback underlying system behaviour. Such feed...

Kauffman’s seminal NK model was introduced to relate the properties of fitness landscapes to the extent and nature of epistasis between genes. The original model considered genomes in which the fitness contribution of each of N genes was influenced by the value of K other genes located either at random or from the immediately neighbouring loci on t...

It's a decent bet that right now there are more guilty "robots" roaming the internet on the lookout for your unguarded e-mail address than there will ever be real robot canines patrolling our homes and gardens. But this book is not primarily driven by the actualities of current or future robots, being more closely aligned with modern science fictio...

This chapter examines some of the historical research that has focused on Charles Babbage’s (1791–1871) early machine intelligence and its ramifications. First, it presents Babbage’s use of computing within academic research. It then discusses the implications of this activity on the wider question of machine intelligence, and explores the relation...

This paper studies the effect of constraining interactions within a market. A model is analysed in which boundedly rational agents trade with and gather information from their neighbours within a trade network. It is demonstrated that a trader’s ability to profit and to identify the equilibrium price is positively correlated with its degree of conn...

In this paper we demonstrate that signal propagation across a laminar sheet of recurrent neurons is maximised when two conditions are met. First, neurons must be in the so-called centre crossing configuration. Second, the network’s topology and weights must be such that the network comprises strongly coupled nodes, yet lies within the weakly couple...

Work within the field of artificial life has as history of exploring the ways in which locally constrained interactions between the elements of a system can give rise to organised behaviour at the level of the ensemble. Here we study the effect of constraining co-operative, competitive and communicative interactions within a market by embedding it...

Recent artificial neural networks for machine learning have exploited transient dynamics around globally stable attractors, inspired by the properties of cortical microcolumns. Here we explore whether similarly constrained neural network controllers can be exploited for embodied, situated adaptive behaviour. We demonstrate that it is possible to ev...

For practitioners across a growing number of academic disciplines there is a strong sense that simulation models of complex realworld systems provide something that differs fundamentally from that which is offered by mathematical models of the same phenomena. The precise nature of this difference has been difficult to isolate and explain, but, occa...

The tendency to organise into groups is a fundamental property of human nature. Despite this, many models of social network evolution consider the emergence of community structure as a side effect of other processes, rather than as a mechanism driving social evolution. We present a model of social network evolution in which the group formation proc...

Social movements are groups of people who come together to act collectively in support or opposition of some political or social issue. It is widely accepted that social ties between individuals are a key avenue of recruitment for social movements. Properties of the social network, such as the number and strength of ties, and the presence of well c...

In this paper we explore the relationship between local and global behaviour in a simple model of utility computing infrastructure as the system heterogeneity, load and reliability are varied. To do this, we implement minimally complex agent strategies for which we can identify the fundamental generic feedback underlying system behaviour. Such feed...

Recently, computer scientists have begun to build computational ecosystems in which multiple autonomous agents interact locally to achieve globally efficient organised behaviour. Here we present a thermodynamic interpretation of these systems. We highlight the difference between the regular use of terms such as energy and work, and their use within...

Many real-world networks analyzed in modern network theory have a natural spatial element; e.g., the Internet, social networks, neural networks, etc. Yet, aside from a comparatively small number of somewhat specialized and domain-specific studies, the spatial element is mostly ignored and, in particular, its relation to network structure disregarde...

Kauffman’s seminal NK model was introduced to relate the properties of fitness landscapes to the extent and nature of epistasis between genes. The original model considered genomes in which the fitness contribution of each of N genes was influenced by the value of K other genes located either at random or from the immediately neighbouring loci on t...

The “order for free” exhibited by some classes of system has been exploited by natural selection in order to build systems capable of exhibiting complex behaviour. Here we explore the impact of one ordering constraint, spatial embedding, on the dynamical complexity of networks. We apply a measure of functional complexity derived from information th...

Social interactions between individuals do not occur in a void. Nor do they take place on a pre-existing fixed social network. Real social behaviour can be understood both to take place on, and to bring about, a complex set of overlapping topologies best described by a multilayer network in which different layers indicate different modes of interac...

Utility computing exemplifies a novel kind of solution to the increasing scale and complexity of modern IT systems. Here, the “on-demand” provisioning of computing resources is managed via a population of independent software agents that query and negotiate with one another in an open system of resource providers and consumers that has no fixed org...

A plant's morphology is both strongly influenced by local light availability and, simultaneously, strongly influences this local light availability. This reciprocal relationship is complex, but lies at the heart of understanding plant growth and competition. Here, we develop a sub-individual-based simulation model, cast at the level of interacting...