Elements of an Epistemology of Embodied AI

Abstract

This paper discusses epistemological aspects of embodied AI as an engineering and as a cognitive science. The paper is abaout a warning and a proposal. The warning concerns potentially misleading assumptions about how spatial characteristics can be used to generate an alternative approach to grounding cognition. The proposal is to concentrate on biological transformations of epistemological questions that have lead to the development of modern ethology. These have been proven to be useful in the design of control systems for behavior-based robots. This also leads to a reacknowledgement of finality in the description and design of autonomous systems. Key words: embodied AI, epistemology, robotics, Kant, theoretical biology, finality, teleology. Introduction In its short history, embodied Artificial Intelligence has challenged a sizeable number of foes. Among the list of opponents we find classical robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in computer science, cognitivism in psychology...