The Sigma cognitive architecture and system

Abstract

Sigma (Σ) is a nascent cognitive system – an integrated computational model of intelligent behavior, whether natural and/or artificial – that is based on a novel cognitive architecture: a model of the fixed structure underlying a cognitive system [1]. The core idea behind Sigma is to leverage graphical models [2, 3] – with their ability to yield state-of-the-art algorithms across the processing of signals, probabilities and symbols from a single representation and inference algorithm – in constructing a cognitive architecture/system that meets three general desiderata: grand unification, functional elegance and sufficient efficiency. A unified cognitive architecture traditionally attempts to integrate together the complementary cognitive capabilities required for human(-level) intelligent behavior, with appropriate sharing of knowledge, skills and uncertainty among them. A grand unified architecture goes beyond this, in analogy to a grand unified theory in physics, to include the crucial pieces missing from a purely cognitive theory, such as perception, motor control, and emotion. This shifts issues of embodiment, grounding and interaction into the foreground, to converge with work on robot and virtual human architectures, but without then relegating traditional cognitive concerns to the background. Sigma approaches grand unification via a