Collectives and the Design of Complex Systems

by Kagan Tumer (Editor)

With the advent of extremely affordable computing power, the world is becoming filled with distributed systems of computationally sophisticated components. However, no current scientific discipline offers a thorough understanding of the relation of such "collectives" and how well they meet performance criteria.
"Collectives and Design of Complex Systems" lays the foundation for the study of collective intelligence and how these entities can be developed to yield optimal performance. Partone describes how some information-processing problems can only be solved by the joint actions of large communities of computers, each running their own complex, decentralized machine-learning algorithms. Part two offers general analysis on the dynamics and structures of collectives. Finally, part three addresses economic,
model-free, and control-theory approaches to designing these complex systems. The work assumes a modest understanding of basic statistics and calculus. Using an approach that integrates key theoretical principles with applications in real-world scenarios, this unique monograph surveys the latest research on the dynamics of collectives, their A.I. aspects, and critical design issues pertaining to them. Computer scientists, computer engineers, and all practitioners, researchers, and graduate students with an interest in this new and growing field will find the book an authoritative introduction and resource.

321 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2003

About the author

Kagan Tumer is a science fiction author and professor of AI and Robotics. He attended seven schools in five cities in four countries, all before reaching high school. The constant upheaval taught him two things: observe the world and the people in it because you need to understand them, and don't get too attached to any place or anyone because neither will be there next year.

Turns out, that’s pretty good training for a writer.

Along the way, Kagan worked as a cafeteria food server, registrar's office clerk, print shop copier, soccer referee, math tutor, and well logging engineer. He also worked for NASA, designing autonomous robot coordination algorithms for future missions. When it finally dawned on him that NASA wasn't going to build and send hundreds of robots to Mars so he can play with them, he decided to create his own reality in Science Fiction.

After a decade in the San Francisco Bay Area, he now lives in the Pacific Northwest. His debut novel, Purged Souls, was a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year finalist. When not writing, he ponders AI ethics, teaches AI, and mentors future scientists.