Digital Materiality and the Emergence of an Evolutionary Science of the Artificial

This work used two recent empirical studies as a way of sketching out what might emerge as a basis of an evolutionary science of the artificial, and demonstrates how the basic ideas of genetics and evolutionary biology can be used as an effective mechanism to study the evolution of digital artifacts.

Abstract

Abstract An important consequence of the pervasive digitalization of artifacts is that artifacts become generative due to the unique materiality of digital technology. As result, digital artifacts evolve once created, often in ways that surprise even those who designed them. We are at the cusp of a new artificial world that is inundated with digital artifacts that are continuously evolving. As biology emerged as an evolutionary science of nature, we need a new discipline focusing on the evolution of digital artifacts. The chapter uses an empirical study as a way of sketching out what might emerge as an evolutionary science of the artificial. Through the example, the chapter demonstrates how the basic ideas of evolutionary biology can be used as a basis to study the evolution of digital artifacts.