Active Inference, Cybernetics & Artificial Life

This lecture introduces the fundamental concept of feedback control, a cornerstone of cybernetics, illustrating how systems maintain stability and achieve goals through self-regulation.

Building on feedback control, this lecture introduces the Free Energy Principle as a more general framework, explaining how biological systems minimize prediction error to maintain their existence and adapt to their environment.

This lecture extends the Free Energy Principle to the domain of communication, demonstrating how information exchange can be understood as a process of minimizing free energy, thus linking perception, action, and interaction.

Transitioning from theoretical principles, this lecture explores the practical implications of these ideas by examining the emergence of digital life and intelligence, connecting theoretical biology with computer science.

This culminating lecture engages with the most profound implications of active inference and the Free Energy Principle, exploring how these frameworks challenge our understanding of consciousness, spacetime, and the ultimate nature of reality.