Symbol Emergence in Robotics: A Survey

Humans can learn the use of language through physical interaction with their environment and semiotic communication with other people. It is very important to obtain a computational understanding of how humans can form a symbol system and obtain semiotic skills through their autonomous mental development. Recently, many studies have been conducted on the construction of robotic systems and machine-learning methods that can learn the use of language through embodied multimodal interaction with their environment and other systems. Understanding human social interactions and developing a robot that can smoothly communicate with human users in the long term, requires an understanding of the dynamics of symbol systems and is crucially important. The embodied cognition and social interaction of participants gradually change a symbol system in a constructive manner. In this paper, we introduce a field of research called symbol emergence in robotics (SER). SER is a constructive approach towards an emergent symbol system. The emergent symbol system is socially self-organized through both semiotic communications and physical interactions with autonomous cognitive developmental agents, i.e., humans and developmental robots. Specifically, we describe some state-of-art research topics concerning SER, e.g., multimodal categorization, word discovery, and a double articulation analysis, that enable a robot to obtain words and their embodied meanings from raw sensory--motor information, including visual information, haptic information, auditory information, and acoustic speech signals, in a totally unsupervised manner. Finally, we suggest future directions of research in SER.Comment: submitted to Advanced Robotic

European standardization efforts from FAIR toward explainable-AI-ready data documentation in materials modelling

Security critical AI applications require a standardized and interoperable data and metadata documentation that makes the source data explainable-AI ready (XAIR). Within the domain of materials modelling and characterization, European initiatives have proposed a series of metadata standards and procedural recommendations that were accepted as CEN workshop agreements (CWAs): CWA 17284 MODA, CWA 17815 CHADA, and CWA 17960 ModGra. It is discussed how these standards have been ontologized, and gaps are identified as regards the epistemic grounding metadata, i.e., an annotation of data and claims by something that substantiates whether, why, and to what extent they are indeed knowledge and can be relied upon.European standardization efforts from FAIR toward explainable-AI-ready data documentation in materials modellingsubmittedVersio

What is “meta-” for? : a Peircean critique of the cognitive theory of metaphor

My thesis aims to anatomize the cognitive theory of metaphor and suggests a Peircean semiotic perspective on metaphor study. As metaphorical essentialists, Lakoff/Johnson tend to universalize a limited number of conceptual metaphors and, by doing this, they overlook the dynamic relation between metaphorical tenor and vehicle. Such notion of metaphor is not compatible with the polysemous nature of the sign. The diversity and multivalency of metaphorical vehicle, in particular, cast serious doubts on the hypothesis of “conceptual metaphors” which, being meta-metaphorical constructs, can tell us nothing but a dry and empty formula “A is B”. Consequently, Lakoff/Johnson’s notion of conceptual metaphor is very much a Chomskyan postulation. Also problematic is the expedient experientialism or embodied philosophy they have put forward as a middle course between objectivism and subjectivism. What is missing from their framework is a structural space for dynamic interpretation on the part of metaphor users. In contrast, cognitive linguists may find in Peirce’s theory of the sign a sound solution to their theoretical impasse. As a logician, Peirce sees metaphor as the realization of iconic reasoning at the language level. His exposition on iconicity and iconic reasoning has laid a solid foundation upon which may be erected a fresh epistemology of metaphor fit for the contemporary study of language and mind. Broadly speaking, metaphor in Peirce can be examined from roughly two perspectives. Macroscopically, metaphor is an icon in general as opposed to index and symbol, whereas, microscopically, it is a subdivided hypoicon on the third level as opposed to image and diagram. Besides, Peirce also emphasized the subjective nature of metaphor. Semioticians after Peirce have further developed his theory on metaphor. For example, through his concept of “arbitrary iconicity”, Ersu Ding stresses the arbitrary nature of metaphorization and tries to shift our attention away from Lakoff/Johnson’s abstract epistemological Gestalt to the specific cultural contexts in which metaphors occur. Umberto Eco, on the other hand, sees interpretation of signs as an open-ended process that involves knowledge of all kinds. Encyclopedic knowledge thus serves as unlimited source for metaphorical association. For Eco, the meaning of a metaphor should be interpreted in the cultural framework based on a specific cultural community. Both Ding’s and Eco’s ideas are in line with Peirce’s theoretical framework where the meaning of a metaphor depends on an interpreter in a particular socio-historical context. They all realize that we should go beyond the ontology of metaphorical expressions to acquire a dynamic perspective on metaphor interpretation. To overcome the need for presupposing an omnipotent subject capable of knowing the metaphor-in-itself, we turn to Habermas’s theory of communicative action in which the meaning of metaphor is intersubjectively established through negotiation and communication. Moreover, we should not overlook the dynamic tension between metaphor and ideology. Aphoristically, we can say that nothing is a metaphor unless it is interpreted as a metaphor, and we need to reconnect metaphors with the specific cultural and ideological contexts in which they appear

Mereosemiotics: Parts and signs

For descriptions of cognitive processes, including process models for research data provenance and simulation workflow metadata, a formal notation is developed on the basis of the foundational ontological paradigm of mereosemiotics, i.e., the combination of mereotopology with Peircean semiotics. To demonstrate the viability of the approach, this is applied to extend the pre-existing OWL ontology for a physicalistic interpretation of modelling and simulation - interoperability infrastructure (PIMS-II) by a modal first-order logic axiomatization

Peirce's semeiotics: a methodology for bridging the material-ideational divide in IR scholarship

The New Materialisms in IR scholarship seek to transcend the divide between matter and ideas, with among others such concepts as practices, or artifacts. This paper makes a start in developing a systematic methodology for the New Materialisms. It proposes Peirce’s semeiotics as one way to unpack how practices and artifacts are ideational and simultaneously material. Peircean semeiotics is a semeiotics of materialism, which creates room for material constitution and analyses practices and artifacts as signs. Peircean semeiotics acknowledges that many signs are objects and practices in the material world, and therefore underlie material constraints, while they also limit and enable the possibilities for action upon the world. Simultaneously though, as signs they convey a particular meaning to the people who surround them, not always by intent. Just as language, material things can signify by arbitrary social convention, but they can also signify by resembling the object they represent, or by being causally related to it. The linguistic model is thus incomplete to study the significative role of material reality. I will illustrate the use of Peircean semeiotics on an analysis of GDP as an inscription device and a complex sign

Multisensory processing, affect and multimodal manipulation: A cognitive-semiotic empirical study of travel documentaries

Multisensory processing represents the mirror image of multimodal meaning-making, in that interpreting multimodal discourse predominantly requires multisensory processing, even when different modes rely on the same sensory channels (Khateb et al., 2002), for example images and text in a book (Gibbons, 2012, p. 40). Remley (2017) makes a similar point when discussing the neuroscience of multimodal persuasive messages, when he asserts that “[t]he term ‘multisensory integration’ is the biological equivalent of the term ‘multimodal’ in rhetoric” (p. 9). An understanding of multisensory processing can therefore be (and presumably is) exploited at the stage of text-production as a resource for manipulative multimodal discourses, with all the ideological consequences that entails. The concept of manipulation has been a matter of discussion in critical discourse studies (CDS) and pragmatics for more than a decade. Agreement on how to define and analyse the latter has yet to be reached, although most scholars seem to agree that Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1995) can provide a useful entry point thanks to its theorisation of variable contexts and individual cognitive environments (de Saussure, 2005; Maillat, 2013; Maillat and Oswald, 2009; Oswald, 2014). Moreover, the concept of epistemic vigilance (Sperber et al., 2010) has been used to investigate the cognitive barriers that need to be bypassed in order for manipulation to work (Hart, 2013; Mazzarella, 2015). Finally, Sorlin (2017: 133) recently highlighted the need to focus not only on the cognitive aspects influencing manipulation, but also on “the psychological aspect of manipulation that often consists in exploiting the target's weaknesses”, thus pointing towards the dimension of affect as a further explanatory force. This paper begins with an overview of the concepts of manipulation and epistemic vigilance, before discussing insights from the field of multisensory processing in the neurosciences. Then, drawing on some principles from Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1995) and looking at some data from travel documentary programmes and their viewers, examples are offered of how manipulation is attempted and achieved through this specific multimodal genre in individual case studies. The focus of the analysis will be on bottom-up (i.e. text-driven) processes and the interpretation/reaction of an audience. The research draws on a novel methodological approach (Castaldi, 2021) that integrates Audience Research (e.g., Schrøder et al., 2003) and Social Semiotics (e.g. Kress and van Leeuwen, 1996, 2001; van Leeuwen, 1999; Machin and Mayr, 2012) in order to analyse media interactions in their individuality. Results suggest that the affective dimension, predominantly attended to through sonic and visual modes, plays a key role for multimodal manipulation to successfully occur

A semiotic analysis on the power of advertising in propelling social change. Tools and strategies used by brands through advertising to propel social change

The present study focuses on the relationship between advertising and social change from a semiotic point of view, more specifically, trying to understand the tools and strategies used by brands in the past to send their messages, change the world, as well as improve their market share. Santaella and Nöth’s (2010) research mix, used to analyze advertising from a semiotic point of view, founded on the philosophical principles defined by Charles Sanders Peirce, will serve as the basis for the methodology. In order to reach the objectives of the research, the analysis focuses on a case study approach. This study is meant to serve as a roadmap for all designers and advertisers, find their place and see how they can design for a better tomorrow (for the well as the brands they represent). As more people pay more attention to th brand brings than the product they sell, the study of the tools and strategies successfully by brands to build meaningful connections with their audience essential for prosperous advertising and brand strategies.O presente estudo tem como foco a relação entre a publicidade e a mudança social de um ponto de vista semiótico. A pesquisa foca-se na compreensão das ferramentas e estratégias utilizadas pelas marcas, para abordar temas da sociedade, tudo isto enquanto melhoram a sua presença no mercado. A mix de pesquisa de Santaella e Nöth’s (2010) para analisar a publicidade usando os conceitos desenvolvidos por Charles Sanders Peirce, servirá de base para a metodologia do estudo. Uma análise de case studies é utilizada para dar encontro aos objetivos da pesquisa. O estudo servirá como guia para designers e publicitários, que tentam criar para um mundo melhor (tanto na sociedade, como para as marcas que representam). Visto que mais pessoas prestam atenção ao valor que uma marca traz em vez dos produtos que uma marca vende, a compreensão das ferramentas e estratégias que as marcas usam para criar ligações significativas com o seu público-alvo torna-se essencial para uma estratégia de comunicação efetiva

Metadata Pragmatics: Toward A Unified Semiotic Framework

With the increasing focus on data sharing in the sciences and information organization in networked information-spaces, metadata has become a prominent area of research and activity. Scholars in library and information science and science studies have distinct approaches to describing and understanding metadata. This thesis reviews the accounts of metadata given by these two fields and then takes preliminary steps toward a unified analytic framework for research, based in Peircean semiotics as it has been developed within semiotic anthropology.Master of Science in Information Scienc

Pursuing a Circular Economy in the Danish Waste Sector : Scale and Transition Dynamics in Transformative Innovation Policy

The overall aim of this thesis is to advance the conceptual understanding of transformative innovation policy through empirical research focusing on the transition towards a circular economy in the Danish waste sector. Under this broad aim, the thesis is more specifically concerned with exploring issues relating to the geography of transformative innovation policy as well as transition dynamics and agency in socio-technical system change. Three overarching research questions guide the thesis. First, how does the theoretical assumption that transformative innovation policy is best pursued at the subnational scale correspond with current developments in the multi-scalar organization of Danish waste management aimed at stimulating the promotion of a circular economy Second, how can the understanding of transition dynamics and agency be developed to explicitly account for variation in the structural characteristics of sectors? And third, how do empirical insights from the Danish waste sectorillustrate and illuminate this alternative understanding of transition dynamics and agency? In addressing these questions, the thesis makes two key contributions. First, based on analysis of the spatial organization of Danish waste management, this thesis develops a novel conceptual approach to the multi-level governance of transformative innovation policy. This conceptual approach is based on a constructivist notion of scale, which emphasizes the potential transformative power of rescaling and the need to develop a dynamic and variated approach to the spatial organization of transformative innovation policy. Second, this thesis develops a conceptual approach for studying transition dynamics that takes the structural characteristics of socio-technical systems and their influence on agency into account. This approach is influenced by and illustrative of empirical insights from the Danish waste sector, which is characterized by an elaborate structural setup, currently experiencing growing misalignment due to the advancement of circular economy policies and regulation

Mattering: A Recreation of the Realism of Charles S. Peirce

Mattering' is the process and the product of Reality. It is One from nothing. Whether there is more than one universe as the string theorists argue, is beyond my ken. Fortunately I am not concerned here with epistemology but with understanding. Nor am I preoccupied with revealing Truth. Rather, my purpose is to explore the meaning and consequences of 'mattering': to be able to say that, beyond reasonable doubt, I believe that 'it' matters – that 'it' is 'mattering'. This can be made intelligible by way of reflection on the Pragmatic Maxim of the American polymath Charles S. Peirce [1839-1914] and validated with his systematic method of inquiry. Part 1 of my thesis explores and presents Peirce's work. Part 2 is an exposition of my three part hypothesis of 'mattering', that: 1. value functions as a condition of intelligibility - purpose, as the ground of 'mattering' is dependent on value; 2. power - where power is the capacity to cause - is the enabler of force functioning as actual 'mattering'; 3. 'mattering' is evolutionary realization of universal telos. For Peirce, inquiry is triggered by genuine doubt. His method begins with imagination: with the generation of a hypotheses that, if valid, will relieve the irritation of doubt. Creating my hypothesis of 'mattering' free of consideration of truth was liberating. This is what Peirce called abduction: active imagination which can be considered as reasonable, but only in so far as it can be reasoned from by deduction and induction. This is Mathematics, the first of the heuretic sciences (the branch of sciences which treats of discovery or invention) and its aim is to draw necessary conclusions; Philosophy is the next class of the heuretic sciences, followed by the Special Sciences. The first order of Peirce's second class, Philosophy, is his Phenomenology - his doctrine of categories - the purpose of which is to describe what is before the mind and to show that the description is correct. It is the beginning of discovering meaning, and involves observation of what Peirce called the phaneron (whatever is before the mind) - in my case, my hypothesis. Through differentiation, abstraction or prescision, and dissociation it identifies the three irreducible categories of reality identified by Peirce as First (possibility), Second (actuality) and Third (probability). The second order of his philosophical method is the Normative Sciences of Esthetics (aesthetics), the ideal, Ethics, going for the ideal, and Semeiotic or logic, what can reasonably be hoped for. By practicing what he preached, Peirce built the third order of Philosophy, his Metaphysics of Tychism (chance), Synechism (continuity), and Agape. [In physics, Agape arguably is gravity and the still to be discovered something that will deliver the Holy Grail: the theory of everything.] This is 'mattering'. I argue it is grounded in the values of integrity, respect and transparency, values which are expressed through the enactment (or powering) of 'mattering's' purpose or telos which grows and develops. This is, 'mattering': universal realisation of evolutionary telos. Our species, which evolved, as did the Universe, from the Universe - the process and product of 'mattering' - appears set on a trajectory of ecocide for which we are responsible. One model for understanding this travesty is Freud's scheme of Id (desire) Ego (mediator) Superego (should). If Ego, which makes choices, sides with and empowers the unmitigated, individual wanting that is Id, by ignoring Superego - cooperative imperatives for universal growth and development - Earth's evolutionary trajectory is jeopardised. We ignore the categorial values of integrity, respect, and transparency with which evolutionary universal telos is co-dependent, at our peril. The global dysfunction of Egos, especially those that have commandeered power by disempowering others, can be healed. Together, but only together, we can get back on track and reclaim Earth's and our future. This one Universe from which we evolved and with which we are evolving, can do it, and, even granted that it has been practicing longer, we too can do it: we can make it matter. It matters. It is 'mattering'