# Hybrid Life: Integrating Biological, Artificial, and Cognitive Systems

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.00285 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.00285/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 22 of its 154 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 1 Dec 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [A free energy principle for a particular physics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.10184/) (2019)
- [Lenia and Expanded Universe](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.03742/) (2020)
- [Path integrals, particular kinds, and strange things](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.12761/) (2022)
- [Interpreting systems as solving POMDPs: a step towards a formal understanding of agency](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.01619/) (2022)
- [An active inference implementation of phototaxis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.01806/) (2017)
- [Towards information based spatiotemporal patterns as a foundation for agent representation in dynamical systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1605.05676/) (2016)
- [Interpreting Dynamical Systems as Bayesian Reasoners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.13523/) (2021)
- [A Minimal Active Inference Agent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1503.04187/) (2015)
- [Blankets, Heat, and Why Free Energy Has Not Illuminated the Workings of the Brain](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.01668/) (2022)
- [The modularity of action and perception revisited using control theory and active inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.02649/) (2018)
- [Embodied social interaction constitutes social cognition in pairs of humans: A minimalist virtual reality experiment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1401.4158/) (2014)
- [Learning by Stimulation Avoidance: A Principle to Control Spiking Neural Networks Dynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.07706/) (2016)
- [Formal approaches to a definition of agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.02716/) (2017)
- [A macro agent and its actions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.00058/) (2020)
- [Predictions in the eye of the beholder: an active inference account of Watt governors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11495/) (2020)
- [Motion Illusion-like Patterns Extracted from Photo and Art Images Using Predictive Deep Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.12254/) (2021)
- [Flora robotica -- An Architectural System Combining Living Natural Plants and Distributed Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.04291/) (2017)
- [Integrated Information and Autonomy in the Thermodynamic Limit](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1805.00393/) (2018)
- [An artifcial life approach to studying niche differentiation in soundscape ecology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.12812/) (2019)
- [Behavioral Mereology: A Modal Logic for Passing Constraints](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10490/) (2021)
- [Trimanipulation: Evaluation of human performance in a 3-handed coordination task](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.06080/) (2021)
- [Motion Illusions Generated Using Predictive Neural Networks Also Fool Humans](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.13243/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Biospheric AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.17805/) (2024)
- [Does Capital Dream of Artificial Labour?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.16042/) (2025)
- [Plantbot: Integrating Plant and Robot through LLM Modular Agent Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.05338/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Artificial life is a research field studying what processes and properties define life, based on a multidisciplinary approach spanning the physical, natural and computational sciences. Artificial life aims to foster a comprehensive study of life beyond "life as we know it" and towards "life as it could be", with theoretical, synthetic and empirical models of the fundamental properties of living systems. While still a relatively young field, artificial life has flourished as an environment for researchers with different backgrounds, welcoming ideas and contributions from a wide range of subjects. Hybrid Life is an attempt to bring attention to some of the most recent developments within the artificial life community, rooted in more traditional artificial life studies but looking at new challenges emerging from interactions with other fields. In particular, Hybrid Life focuses on three complementary themes: 1) theories of systems and agents, 2) hybrid augmentation, with augmented architectures combining living and artificial systems, and 3) hybrid interactions among artificial and biological systems. After discussing some of the major sources of inspiration for these themes, we will focus on an overview of the works that appeared in Hybrid Life special sessions, hosted by the annual Artificial Life Conference between 2018 and 2022.