Producer Biases and Kin Selection in the Evolution of Communication (original) (raw)
The evolution of communication requires the co-evolution of two abilities: the ability of sending useful signals and the ability of reacting appropriately to perceived signals. This fact poses two related but distinct problems, which are often confused the one with the other: (1) the phylogenetic problem regarding how can communication evolve if the two traits that are necessary for its emergence are complementary and seem to require each other for providing reproductive advantages; (2) the adaptive problem regarding how can communication systems that do not advantage both signallers and receivers in the same way emerge, given their altruistic character. Here we clarify the distinction, and provide some insights on how these problems can be solved in both real and artificial systems by reporting experiments on the evolution of artificial agents that have to evolve a simple food-call communication system. Our experiments show that (1) the phylogenetic problem can be solved thanks to the presence of producer biases that make agents spontaneously produce useful signals, an idea that is complementary to the well-known 'receiver bias' hyopthesis found in the biological literature, and (2) the adaptive problem can be solved by having agents communicate preferentially among kin, as predicted by kin selection theory. We discuss these results with respect both to the scientific understanding of the evolution of communication and to the design of embodied and communicating artificial agents.
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