Argumentation and the Design of Emergent Systems

An emergent system, here, is taken to be a collection of components, which individually have some simple state and behaviour. When the collection is located in an appropriate environment, then some macro-scale emergent behaviour can be observed or otherwise detected. The emergent behaviour can also be considered to be a system with state and behaviour. Typical examples of emergent systems in research literature include flocking (swarming, schooling etc) of simple organisms and various collective insect behaviours such as navigation and nest building [4, 8]. Here, we are interested in complex emergent systems at molecular or nano-scales. These have been postulated as a potential solution to many current environmental and manufacturing problems. Drexler’s early vision [3, 2] of networks of nanites with centralised control has been superceded by a vision of independent components “controlled” only by their interaction with their local environment, exploiting nature-like self-organisation. REFS There is an increasing literature on designs for the fabric of nano-scale complex emergent systems (see the work of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, http://www.imm.org/, and the Foresight Nanotech Institute, http://www.foresight.org/). Furthermore, fabrication of conventional nano-scale products is developing massproduction potential (the International Institute for Nano-technology, http://www.iinano.org/ works on miniaturisation tools for electrical, medical and other devices; companies such as Nanorex provide computation tools and simulation environments, http://nanoengineer-1.com/content/index.php; Intel has fabrication plants for commercial manufacture of 45-nanometre transistors, http://www.intel.com/technology/silicon/45nm technology.htm.). It is predicted by the Foresight Institute that we will see experimental nano-scale robots (nanites) within the first decade of the 21st century (see www.foresight.org). It thus seems timely to consider how we might construct artificial nano-scale complex emergent systems that are acceptably safe.