Distributed problem solving in social insects

Authors:
Aaron E. Hirsh;Deborah M. Gordon
Affiliations:
Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, USA;Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, USA
Venue:
Annals of Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence
Year:
2001

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Abstract

In a social insect colony, large numbers of individuals all follow the same set of behavioral rules. Without centralized control, these individuals' interactions with each other and with their environment result in the allocation of individuals to various tasks, and in the distribution of foragers among available food sources. We review this highly parallel and distributed form of information processing, discussing its potential sophistication, its actual performance in various groups of social insects, its general strengths and liabilities, and finally, the adaptations that compensate for these liabilities.