In The Allure of Machinic Life, John Johnston examines new forms of nascent life that
emerge through technical interactions within human-constructed environments--"machinic
life"--in the sciences of cybernetics, artificial life, and artificial intelligence. With the
development of such research initiatives as the evolution of digital organisms, computer immune
systems, artificial protocells, evolutionary robotics, and swarm systems, Johnston argues, machinic
life has achieved a complexity and autonomy worthy of study in its own right. Drawing on the
publications of scientists as well as a range of work in contemporary philosophy and cultural
theory, but always with the primary focus on the "objects at hand"--the machines,
programs, and processes that constitute machinic life--Johnston shows how they come about, how they
operate, and how they are already changing. This understanding is a necessary first step, he further
argues, that must precede speculation about the meaning and cultural implications of these new forms
of life. Developing the concept of the "computational assemblage" (a machine and its
associated discourse) as a framework to identify both resemblances and differences in form and
function, Johnston offers a conceptual history of each of the three sciences. He considers the new
theory of machines proposed by cybernetics from several perspectives, including Lacanian
psychoanalysis and "machinic philosophy." He examines the history of the new science of
artificial life and its relation to theories of evolution, emergence, and complex adaptive systems
(as illustrated by a series of experiments carried out on various software platforms). He describes
the history of artificial intelligence as a series of unfolding conceptual conflicts--decodings and
recodings--leading to a "new AI" that is strongly influenced by artificial life. Finally,
in examining the role played by neuroscience in several contemporary research initiatives, he shows
how further success in the building of intelligent machines will most likely result from progress in
our understanding of how the human brain actually works. John Johnston is Professor of English and
Comparative Literature at Emory University in Atlanta. He is the author of Carnival of Repetition
and Information Multiplicity.
Review "John Johnston is to be applauded for his engaging and eminently readable assessment of the new, interdisciplinary sciences aimed at designing and building complex, life-like, intelligent machines. Cybernetics, information theory, chaos theory, artificial life, autopoiesis, connectionism, embodied autonomous agents--it's all here!" -- Mark Bedau , Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Reed College, and Editor-in-Chief, Artificial Life
"As a young researcher in the area of artificial intelligence (AI), I have enjoyedreading this book to better understand the roadmap of 'machinic life' and AI." -- I-Hsien Ting , Emerald Insight
About the Author John Johnston is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Emory University in Atlanta. He is the author of Carnival of Repetition and Information Multiplicity.

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Memory of the World Librarian: marcell mars

2025-10-27