Editing Subsumption architecture (section)

==Goal==
Subsumption architecture attacks the problem of intelligence from a significantly different perspective than traditional AI.  Disappointed with the performance of [[Shakey the robot]] and similar conscious mind representation-inspired projects, [[Rodney Brooks]] started creating robots based on a different notion of intelligence, resembling unconscious mind processes.  Instead of modelling aspects of human intelligence via symbol manipulation, this approach is aimed at [[real-time computing|real-time]] interaction and viable responses to a dynamic lab or office environment.<ref name="Arkin 1998"/>{{rp|130–131}}

The goal was informed by four key ideas:
*[[Situated]]ness – A major idea of [[situated AI]] is that a robot should be able to react to its environment within a human-like time-frame.  Brooks argues that situated mobile robot should not represent the world via an internal set of symbols and then act on this model.  Instead, he claims that "the world is its own best model", which means that proper perception-to-action setups can be used to directly interact with the world as opposed to modelling it. Yet, each module/behavior still models the world, but on a very low level, close to the sensorimotor signals. These simple models necessarily use hardcoded assumptions about the world encoded in the algorithms themselves, but avoid the use of memory to predict the world's behavior, instead relying on direct sensorial feedback as much as possible.
*Embodiment – Brooks argues building an [[embodied agent]] accomplishes two things. The first is that it forces the designer to test and create an integrated physical [[control system]], not theoretic models or simulated robots that might not work in the physical world.  The second is that it can solve the [[symbol grounding]] problem, a philosophical issue many traditional AIs encounter, by directly coupling sense-data to meaningful actions.  "The world grounds regress," and the internal relation of the behavioral layers are directly grounded in the world the robot perceives.
*Intelligence – Looking at evolutionary progress, Brooks argues that developing perceptual and mobility skills are a necessary foundation for human-like intelligence.  Also, by rejecting [[top-down and bottom-up design|top-down]] representations as a viable starting point for AI, it seems that "intelligence is determined by the dynamics of interaction with the world."
*[[Emergence]] – Conventionally, individual modules are not considered intelligent by themselves. It is the interaction of such modules, evaluated by observing the agent and its environment, that is usually deemed intelligent (or not).  "Intelligence," therefore, "is in the eye of the observer."<ref name="Brooks 1999"/>{{rp|165–170}}

The ideas outlined above are still a part of an ongoing debate regarding the nature of intelligence and how the progress of robotics and AI should be fostered.