{"id":331870,"date":"2021-08-29T11:00:16","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T08:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-robot-swarms-can-teach-us-about-making-collective-decisions\/"},"modified":"2021-08-29T11:00:16","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T08:00:16","slug":"what-robot-swarms-can-teach-us-about-making-collective-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-robot-swarms-can-teach-us-about-making-collective-decisions\/","title":{"rendered":"#What robot swarms can teach us about making collective decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a30e042b1d97\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a30e042b1d97\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-robot-swarms-can-teach-us-about-making-collective-decisions\/#Keeping_it_simple\" >Keeping it simple<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-robot-swarms-can-teach-us-about-making-collective-decisions\/#Nature_knows_the_rule\" >Nature knows the rule<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-robot-swarms-can-teach-us-about-making-collective-decisions\/#Caught_by_surprise\" >Caught by surprise<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-robot-swarms-can-teach-us-about-making-collective-decisions\/#Lessons_for_social_media\" >Lessons for social media<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#What robot swarms can teach us about making collective decisions<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you know <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Neural is taking the stage this fall<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">? Together with an amazing line-up of experts, we will explore the future of AI during TNW Conference 2021. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Secure your ticket now<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p>You find a new restaurant with terrific food, but when you suggest meeting there in a group text to your friends, the choice to meet at the same old place carries the day.<\/p>\n<p>Next time, you should consider persuading your friends one by one, rather than reaching out to the group as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>Research conducted by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bet-lab.group.shef.ac.uk\">my colleagues<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.giovannireina.com\">me<\/a> using swarms of robots suggests that this less-is-more strategy of distributing information over time can increase the probability of getting a group to choose the best option. Our results could make it easier to develop microscopic robots that work inside the body\u00a0and could have implications for how information spreads on <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Our robot swarm study looked at how opinions spread in large populations. We found that a population of uninformed individuals <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.abf1416\">can cling to outdated beliefs<\/a> and fail to adopt better available alternatives when information about the new options spreads to everyone all at once. Instead, when individuals only share the information one by one, the population can better adapt to changes and reach an agreement in favor of the best option.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Keeping_it_simple\"><\/span>Keeping it simple<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>In <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.abf1416\">our study<\/a>, published in July 2021 in the journal <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science<\/a> Robotics, we set up a swarm of autonomous robots that make collective decisions on the best available alternatives and operate in an environment that changes over time. We found that less was more: robot swarms with reduced social connections \u2013 meaning the number of other robots they can communicate with \u2013 adapted more effectively than globally connected swarms. This runs counter to the common belief in network science that more connections <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.77.041121\">always lead to more effective information exchange<\/a>. We show that there are situations when the opposite occurs.<\/p>\n<p>Each <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.k-team.com\/mobile-robotics-products\/kilobot\">Kilobot<\/a> is less than an inch and a half (3.8 cm) in diameter and height and communicates by infrared light. We programmed 50 of the robots with very simple behaviors: random movements to explore the environment and basic voting rules to exchange opinions. The robot swarm scans an unknown environment and collectively selects the best site; for example, the site best suited for building a structure. Each robot develops its own opinion from its scans of the environment and regularly checks the opinion of a single random neighbor. If a robot receives a conflicting opinion, it resets its own opinion by polling other robots. This allows the swarm to reach consensus without getting deadlocked.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center zoomable\">\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/414986\/original\/file-20210806-17-1b7fit1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C2263&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Several dozen small plastic discs containing electronics and perched on metal wire legs are spread across a smooth featureless surface\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/414986\/original\/file-20210806-17-1b7fit1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C2263&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/414986\/original\/file-20210806-17-1b7fit1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C2263&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"Several dozen small plastic discs containing electronics and perched on metal wire legs are spread across a smooth featureless surface\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fneural%2F2021%2F08%2F29%2Frobot-swarms-can-tech-us-about-making-collective-decisions-syndication%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Experiments with swarms of robots have shown that sporadic social interactions can increase the spread of newly discovered information, compared to sharing the information with all members of a group at once. Andreagiovanni Reina, CC BY-ND\" data-title=\"Share Experiments with swarms of robots have shown that sporadic social interactions can increase the spread of newly discovered information, compared to sharing the information with all members of a group at once. Andreagiovanni Reina, CC BY-ND on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Experiments with swarms of robots have shown that sporadic social interactions can increase the spread of newly discovered information, compared to sharing the information with all members of a group at once. Andreagiovanni Reina, CC BY-ND on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Experiments with swarms of robots have shown that sporadic social interactions can increase the spread of newly discovered information, compared to sharing the information with all members of a group at once. Andreagiovanni Reina, CC BY-ND<\/figcaption><\/figure><figcaption\/><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The simplicity of the individual behavior isn\u2019t merely a matter of convenience in our study. It\u2019s key to building <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.abe4385\">robot swarms of the future<\/a>. These include swarms with very small robots like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.aaz3867\">microscopic robots that operate in the body<\/a>, robots with simple components like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1089\/soro.2020.0011\">biodegradable robots for cleaning the ocean<\/a>, and low-budget, single-use robots like those that could be <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41586-019-1322-0\">damaged or destroyed in disaster sites<\/a>. Robot swarms with minimal behaviors can also be a viable option for robots that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.aar7650\">operate without human supervision<\/a> in otherwise inaccessible locations.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Nature_knows_the_rule\"><\/span>Nature knows the rule<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To write the algorithms that control our robots, we built mathematical models that explain the spreading of opinions in populations of socially connected, uninformed individuals. This process is similar to collective decision-making in other settings, including animals and humans.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, our algorithm is inspired by the behavior of European honeybees <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/science.1210361\">when they collectively select the site to build their future nest<\/a>. Bees interact locally with one another and exchange voting messages by vibrations. The bee colony makes decisions without any central authority.<\/p>\n<p>Similar collective decisions can be observed in schools of fish, who seem to know the less-is-more rule. In fact, recent research has shown that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1905585116\">schooling fish reduce their social network<\/a> \u2014 the number of fish they pay attention to \u2014 when they need to quickly absorb new information such as the source of a perceived threat.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Caught_by_surprise\"><\/span>Caught by surprise<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Despite finding the less-is-more rule in nature, we did not expect to find it in our study of robot swarms. We were testing hundreds of robots running a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1103\/PhysRevE.95.052411\">model<\/a> based on observations of the collective behavior of honeybees selecting a nest site. This model allows the swarm to make decisions that take into account <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/dec0000075\">the value of the option<\/a> based on how much good <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> it\u2019s receiving, whether it\u2019s indicators of a good nest-building site or positive restaurant reviews. This means the swarm not only considers the relative quality of the alternatives but also their absolute quality, meaning whether any of the alternatives are good enough.<\/p>\n<p>This corresponds to what organisms \u2014 including humans \u2014 typically do. For example, when picking where to eat, if all open restaurants serve meals below your standard for quality, you won\u2019t care that one restaurant is 5% better than the others; you won\u2019t eat out today. But if a couple of restaurants are very good, picking either of the two will be satisfying even if there is a 5% difference in quality between them.<\/p>\n<p>When we implemented this in the robot swarm, we expected that the more the individuals were socially connected, the better the swarm would adapt to environmental changes. This is what is predicted and observed in most models of networked individuals. But we found the opposite: The less connected the group was, the better our robot swarm responded to a change.<\/p>\n<p>We then built a mathematical model that described the system and explained the observed phenomenon. Environmental changes are discovered by a small group. In a globally connected network, the small group faces an almost impossible task in trying to overturn the established opinion of the majority, even if the environmental changes present a better alternative. Instead, when individuals interact sporadically and in small numbers, an opinionated minority can easily gain traction and change the opinion of the entire group in cases where the group opinion isn\u2019t as strongly held as the minority\u2019s opinion.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Lessons_for_social_media\"><\/span>Lessons for social media<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1126\/scirobotics.abf1416\">less-is-more effect<\/a> doesn\u2019t hold up in all cases. We observed this phenomenon in networks where the individuals follow simple rules and changing the opinion of others is not instantaneous but requires some time. Humans, in certain contexts, have simple reactive behavior that doesn\u2019t involve much thinking, and may therefore be subject to similar dynamics.<\/p>\n<p>People are globally connected through social media, which influences the spread of opinions in large populations. Understanding how opinions change \u2014 and don\u2019t \u2014 is crucial for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/content\/118\/27\/e2025764118\">facing the challenges of the digital age<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/andreagiovanni-reina-1256955\">Andreagiovanni Reina<\/a>, FNRS Research Fellow, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/universite-libre-de-bruxelles-ulb-1220\">Universit\u00e9 Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/lesson-from-a-robot-swarm-change-group-behavior-by-talking-one-on-one-rather-than-getting-on-a-soapbox-165597\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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Together with an amazing line-up of experts, we will explore the future of AI during TNW Conference 2021. Secure your ticket now! You find a new restaurant with terrific food, but when you suggest&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":331871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/neural?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/08\/Robothed.jpg&signature=dda8984634939301025aa710c62104d4","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-331870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}