Bounded rationality, abstraction and hierarchical decision-making: an information-theoretic optimality principle
Abstraction and hierarchical information-processing are hallmarks of human and animal intelligence underlying the unrivaled flexibility of behavior in biological systems. Achieving such a flexibility in artificial systems is challenging, even with more and more computational power. Here we investigate the hypothesis that abstraction and hierarchical information-processing might in fact be the consequence of limitations in information-processing power. In particular, we study an information-theoretic framework of bounded rational decision-making that trades off utility maximization against information-processing costs. We apply the basic principle of this framework to perception-action systems with multiple information-processing nodes and derive bounded optimal solutions. We show how the formation of abstractions and decision-making hierarchies depends on information-processing costs. We illustrate the theoretical ideas with example simulations and conclude by formalizing a mathematically unifying optimization principle that could potentially be extended to more complex systems.
Author(s): | Genewein, T and Leibfried, F and Grau-Moya, J and Braun, DA |
Journal: | Frontiers in Robotics and AI |
Volume: | 2 |
Number (issue): | 27 |
Pages: | 1-24 |
Year: | 2015 |
Month: | October |
Bibtex Type: | Article (article) |
DOI: | 10.3389/frobt.2015.00027 |
Electronic Archiving: | grant_archive |
BibTex
@article{GeneweinLGB2015, title = {Bounded rationality, abstraction and hierarchical decision-making: an information-theoretic optimality principle}, journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI}, abstract = {Abstraction and hierarchical information-processing are hallmarks of human and animal intelligence underlying the unrivaled flexibility of behavior in biological systems. Achieving such a flexibility in artificial systems is challenging, even with more and more computational power. Here we investigate the hypothesis that abstraction and hierarchical information-processing might in fact be the consequence of limitations in information-processing power. In particular, we study an information-theoretic framework of bounded rational decision-making that trades off utility maximization against information-processing costs. We apply the basic principle of this framework to perception-action systems with multiple information-processing nodes and derive bounded optimal solutions. We show how the formation of abstractions and decision-making hierarchies depends on information-processing costs. We illustrate the theoretical ideas with example simulations and conclude by formalizing a mathematically unifying optimization principle that could potentially be extended to more complex systems.}, volume = {2}, number = {27}, pages = {1-24}, month = oct, year = {2015}, slug = {geneweinlgb2015}, author = {Genewein, T and Leibfried, F and Grau-Moya, J and Braun, DA}, month_numeric = {10} }