# Symbol Emergence and The Solutions to Any Task

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.01281 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.01281/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 4 of its 32 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 Sep 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Symbol Emergence in Cognitive Developmental Systems: a Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.08829/) (2018)
- [Symbol Emergence in Robotics: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1509.08973/) (2015)
- [Symbolic Behaviour in Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.03406/) (2021)
- [Philosophical Specification of Empathetic Ethical Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.10715/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [The Optimal Choice of Hypothesis Is the Weakest, Not the Shortest](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.12987/) (2023)
- [Emergent Causality and the Foundation of Consciousness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.03189/) (2023)
- [Computational Dualism and Objective Superintelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.00843/) (2023)
- [Compression, The Fermi Paradox and Artificial Super-Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.01835/) (2021)
- [Computable Artificial General Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.10513/) (2022)
- [On the Computation of Meaning, Language Models and Incomprehensible Horrors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.12686/) (2023)
- [Is Complexity an Illusion?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.07227/) (2024)
- [Are Biological Systems More Intelligent Than Artificial Intelligence?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.02325/) (2024)
- [The Artificial Scientist: Logicist, Emergentist, and Universalist Approaches to Artificial General Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.01831/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The following defines intent, an arbitrary task and its solutions, and then argues that an agent which always constructs what is called an Intensional Solution would qualify as artificial general intelligence. We then explain how natural language may emerge and be acquired by such an agent, conferring the ability to model the intent of other individuals labouring under similar compulsions, because an abstract symbol system and the solution to a task are one and the same.