Stigmergy (/ˈstɪɡmərdʒi/STIG-mər-jee) is a mechanism of indirectcoordination, through the environment, between agents or actions.[1] The principle is that the trace left in theenvironment by an individual action stimulates the performance of a succeeding action by the same or different agent. Agents that respond to traces in the environment receive positive fitness benefits, reinforcing the likelihood of these behaviors becoming fixed within a population over time.[2]
Stigmergy is a form ofself-organization. It produces complex, seemingly intelligent structures, without need for any planning, control, or even direct communication between the agents. As such it supports efficient collaboration between extremely simple agents, who may lack memory or individual awareness of each other.[1][3]
The term "stigmergy" was introduced by French biologistPierre-Paul Grassé in 1959 to refer totermite behavior. He defined it as: "Stimulation of workers by the performance they have achieved." It is derived from the Greek wordsστίγμαstigma "mark, sign" andἔργονergon "work, action", and captures the notion that an agent’s actions leave signs in the environment, signs that it and other agents sense and that determine and incite their subsequent actions.[4][5]
Later on, a distinction was made between the stigmergic phenomenon, which is specific to the guidance of additional work, and the more general, non-work specific incitation, for which the termsematectonic communication was coined[6] byE. O. Wilson, from the Greek wordsσῆμαsema "sign, token", andτέκτωνtecton "craftsman, builder": "There is a need for a more general, somewhat less clumsy expression to denote the evocation of any form of behavior or physiological change by the evidences of work performed by other animals, including the special case of the guidance of additional work."
Stigmergy is now one of the key concepts in the field ofswarm intelligence.[7]
Stigmergy was first observed insocial insects. For example,ants exchange information by laying downpheromones (the trace) on their way back to the nest when they have found food. In that way, they collectively develop acomplex network of trails, connecting the nest in an efficient way to various food sources. When ants come out of the nest searching for food, they are stimulated by the pheromone to follow the trail towards the food source. The network of trails functions as a shared external memory for the ant colony.[8]
In computer science, this general method has been applied in a variety of techniques calledant colony optimization, which search for solutions to complex problems by depositing "virtual pheromones" along paths that appear promising.[9] In the field ofartificial neural networks, stigmergy can be used as a computational memory. Federico Galatolo showed that a stigmergic memory can achieve the same performances of more complex and well established neural networks architectures likeLSTM.[10][11]
Othereusocial creatures, such astermites, use pheromones to build their complex nests by following a simpledecentralizedrule set. Each insect scoops up a 'mudball' or similar material from its environment, infuses the ball with pheromones, and deposits it on the ground, initially in a random spot. However, termites are attracted to their nestmates' pheromones and are therefore more likely to drop their own mudballs on top of their neighbors'. The larger the heap of mud becomes, the more attractive it is, and therefore the more mud will be added to it (positive feedback). Over time this leads to the construction of pillars, arches, tunnels and chambers.[12]
Stigmergy has been observed inbacteria, various species of which differentiate into distinct cell types and which participate in group behaviors that are guided by sophisticated temporal and spatial control systems.[13] Spectacular examples of multicellular behavior can be found among themyxobacteria. Myxobacteria travel inswarms containing manycells kept together by intercellular molecularsignals. Most myxobacteria are predatory: individuals benefit from aggregation as it allows accumulation of extracellularenzymes which are used to digest prey microorganisms. When nutrients are scarce, myxobacterial cells aggregate intofruiting bodies, within which the swarming cells transform themselves into dormant myxospores with thick cell walls. The fruiting process is thought to benefit myxobacteria by ensuring thatcell growth is resumed with a group (swarm) of myxobacteria, rather than isolated cells. Similar life cycles have developed among the cellularslime molds. The best known of the myxobacteria,Myxococcus xanthus andStigmatella aurantiaca, are studied in various laboratories asprokaryotic models of development.[14]
Stigmergy studied ineusocial creatures and physical systems, has been proposed as a model of analyzing somerobotics systems,[15] multi-agent systems,[16] communication incomputer networks, andonline communities.[17]
On theInternet there are many collective projects where users interact only by modifying local parts of their shared virtual environment.Wikipedia is an example of this.[18][19] The massive structure of information available in awiki,[20] or anopen source software project such as theFreeBSD kernel[20] could be compared to atermite nest; one initial user leaves a seed of an idea (a mudball) which attracts other users who then build upon and modify this initial concept, eventually constructing an elaborate structure of connected thoughts.[21][22]
In addition the concept of stigmergy has also been used to describe how cooperative work such as building design may be integrated. Designing a large contemporary building involves a large and diverse network of actors (e.g. architects, building engineers, static engineers, building services engineers). Their distributed activities may be partly integrated through practices of stigmergy.[23][24][25]
The rise ofopen source software in the 21st century hasdisrupted the business models of someproprietary software providers, andopen content projects like Wikipedia have threatened the business models of companies likeBritannica. Researchers have studied collaborative open source projects, arguing they provide insights into the emergence of large-scale peer production and the growth ofgift economy.[26]
Heather Marsh, associated with theOccupy Movement,Wikileaks, andAnonymous, has proposed a new social system where competition as a driving force would be replaced with a more collaborative society.[27] This proposed society would not userepresentative democracy but new forms of idea and action based governance and collaborative methods including stigmergy.[28][29][30] "With stigmergy, an initial idea is freely given, and the project is driven by the idea, not by a personality or group of personalities. No individual needs permission (competitive) or consensus (cooperative) to propose an idea or initiate a project."[28]
Some at the Hong KongUmbrella Movement in 2014 were quoted recommending stigmergy as a way forward.[31][32]
carrying a sign board for the "Stigmergy Society." The term refers to the social organization of anthills, in which coordination isn't achieved by a formal leadership structure but by independent action among those with shared goals.
| Biological swarming |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Animal migration | ||
| Swarm algorithms | ||
| Collective motion | ||
| Swarm robotics | ||
| Related topics | ||