title: Programming the emergence in morphogenetically architected complex systems.
abstract: Large sets of elements interacting locally and producing specific architectures reliably form a category that transcends the usual dividing line between biological and engineered systems. We propose to call them morphogenetically architected complex systems (MACS). While taking the emergence of properties seriously, the notion of MACS enables at the same time the design (or "meta-design") of operational means that allow controlling and even, paradoxically, programming this emergence. To demonstrate our claim, we first show that among all the self-organized systems studied in the field of Artificial Life, the specificity of MACS essentially lies in the close relation between their emergent properties and functional properties. Second, we argue that to be a MACS a system does not need to display more than weak emergent properties. Third, since the notion of weak emergence is based on the possibility of simulation, whether computational or mechanistic via machines, we see MACS as good candidates to help design artificial self-architected systems (such as robotic swarms) but also harness and redesign living ones (such as synthetic bacterial films).
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Research Group in Sociological Analysis Methods (GEMASS), CNRS (UMR8598), Paris-Sorbonne University, Paris, France, franck.varenne@univ-rouen.fr.
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Varenne
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chaigneau
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petitot
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Doursat
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001695:Biology / Q000379:methods; D032701:Biomimetics; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D047108:Embryonic Development; D006801:Humans; D020049:Isoptera; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012371:Robotics; D058615:Synthetic Biology / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins