COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE

Ants, termites and even some kinds of fungi possess a collective intelligence that is the result of a large number of interactions between different individuals and with their environment. They are systems able to resolve complex problems, such as finding the way out of a maze or establishing the best road network to link different cities on a map.

Unlike an engineer, none of these individuals has the necessary knowledge to solve these problems. So how do they do it? Can we learn new ways of solving problems by imitating nature? What differences are there between their liquid brains and ours? In this dialogue between Audrey Dussutour, an animal behaviour expert, and Sergi Valverde, a specialist in the dynamics and evolution of complex networks and artificial life, we shall answer some of these questions.