Extending cognitive architectures

Abstract

New powerful approach in cognitive modeling and intelligent agent design, known as biologically inspired cognitive architectures (BICA), allows us to create in the near future general-purpose, real-life computational equivalents of the human mind, that can be used for a broad variety of practical applications. As a first step toward this goal, state-of-the-art BICA need to be extended to enable advanced (meta-)cognitive capabilities, including social and emotional intelligence, human-like episodic memory, imagery, self-awareness, teleological capabilities, to name just a few. Recent extensions of mainstream cognitive architectures claim having many of these features. Yet, their implementation remains limited, compared to the human mind. This work analyzes limitations of existing extensions of popular cognitive architectures, identifies specific challenges, and outlines an approach that allows achieving a "critical mass" of a human-level learner. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.