# The Function-Representation Model of Computation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.07928 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.07928/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 8 of its 50 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 10 Oct 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Survey of Hallucination in Natural Language Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.03629/) (2022)
- [Measuring Catastrophic Forgetting in Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1708.02072/) (2017)
- [Shaking the foundations: delusions in sequence models for interaction and control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.10819/) (2021)
- [A Mathematical Theory of Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Feature Extraction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.06293/) (2015)
- [Why Neurons Have Thousands of Synapses, A Theory of Sequence Memory in Neocortex](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.00083/) (2015)
- [TensorDIMM: A Practical Near-Memory Processing Architecture for Embeddings and Tensor Operations in Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.03072/) (2019)
- [On the Kolmogorov neural networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.00049/) (2023)
- [From Manifestations to Cognitive Architectures: a Scalable Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.09823/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Cognitive Architectures are the forefront of the research into developing an artificial cognition. However, they approach the problem from a separated memory and program model of computation. This model of computation poses a fundamental problem: the knowledge retrieval heuristic. In this paper we propose to solve this problem by using a novel model of computation, one where memory and program are merged: the Function-Representation. This model of computation involves defining a generic Function-Representation and instantiating multiple instances of it. In this paper we explore the potential of this novel model of computation through mathematical definitions and proofs. We also explore the kind of functions a Function-Representation can implement, and present different ways to organise multiple instances of a Function-Representation.