Embedded Agency is the problem that an understanding of the theory of rational agents must account for the fact that the agents we create (and we ourselves) are inside the world or universe we are trying to affect, and not separated from it. This is in contrast with much current basic theory of AI or Rationality (such as Solomonoff induction or Bayesianism) which implicitly supposes a separation between the agent and the-things-the-agent-has-beliefs about. In other words, agents in this universe do not have Cartesian or dualistic boundaries like much of philosophy thinks, and are instead reductionist, that is agents are made up of non-agent parts like bits and atoms.
Could someone clear up the following for me:
In which universe? The "current basic theory of AI" universe?
Could we add an intuitive explanation about what is meant by "Cartesian or dualistic boundaries"?
Not clear if "agents are made up of non-agent parts like bits and atoms" is for Embedded Agency or the old frame.
A Cartesian agent setup is one where the agent receives sensory information from the environment, and the agent sends motor outputs to the environment, and nothing else can cross the "Cartesian border" separating the agent and environment. If you can eat a psychedelic mushroom that affects the way you process the world - not just presenting you with sensory information, but altering the computations you do to think - then this is an example of an event that "violates the Cartesian boundary". Likewise if the agent drops an anvil on its own head. Nothing that happens in a Cartesian universe can kill a Cartesian agent or modify its processing; all the universe can do is send the agent sensory information, in a particular format, that the agent reads.
3. For embedded agency. In the old frame agents aren't really made of anything.
Could someone clear up the following for me:
1. In our universe, as opposed to the "current basic theory of AI" universe.
2. From Arbital:
3. For embedded agency. In the old frame agents aren't really made of anything.