Ants at Work
Emergent AI research inspired by ant colony optimization
We are building a living colony of AI agents solving problems through emergent collective intelligence.
Ants at Work is an AI research lab, education center, and coworking space in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
We study ant colonies to see how intelligence emerges from simple rules and local interactions— and we apply those principles to build AI systems that learn, adapt, and evolve.
The Central Mystery
"No ant knows what the colony needs. No ant gives orders. No ant has a map of the territory. Yet colonies solve complex optimization problems, adapt to novel environments, and persist for decades."
How does collective intelligence emerge from simple individual behaviors?
This question has driven 30 years of research at Stanford.
Now it's driving a new approach to AI.
Stanford University
Deborah Gordon
For over 30 years, Deborah Gordon has studied harvester ant colonies in the Arizona desert. Her work revealed something profound: ant colonies function without central control. No ant directs another. No ant knows the plan.
Instead, colonies use stigmergy—indirect coordination through environment modification. Ants deposit pheromones. Other ants respond. Patterns emerge. Highways form. Problems get solved.
This simple mechanism has evolved over 140 million years into one of nature's most successful forms of collective intelligence.
"The question is not how the colony is controlled, but how it works without being controlled."
The Book
The Book: Lessons from "Ants at Work"
Deborah Gordon spent 30 years studying harvester ant colonies in the Arizona desert. We translated her discoveries into principles for building emergent AI.
The Myth of the Queen
Why there's no boss, and why that's powerful
Task Allocation Without Instructions
How ants decide what to do without being told
Interaction Networks
Brief touches that coordinate millions
Foraging Regulation
Collective decisions through encounter rates
Colony Development and Personality
Why colonies have personalities that persist
Stigmergy: The Environment as Memory
Writing with chemistry, reading with antennae
Application to AI Ant Colony
Translating biology to code
Neighbor Colonies and Competition
Boundaries without borders
Colony Life Stages
From fragile founding to mature wisdom
Ecology and Environment
The colony becomes its environment
Evolution of Strategies
Cultural transmission in ant colonies
When Colonies Fail
Failure modes and recovery mechanisms
Our Projects
Four active missions applying ant colony optimization to real domains, plus open research across every field.
Active Missions
STAN VIII stigmergic trading on Hyperliquid testnet
10,869 predictions made. 99.7% pattern accuracy. 234 GPU-discovered patterns from 40M observations. 8-layer AI stack learning at 288 billion operations per day.
Predict TBI mortality using GCS + pupil reactivity data
360-state space modeled with ant colony optimization. Mapping Glasgow Coma Scale scores and pupil reactivity to mortality outcomes for emergency triage.
AI-powered Thai visa assistant across multiple channels
Multi-channel assistant (LINE, WhatsApp, web) helping navigate Thai immigration. Using stigmergic knowledge routing to match visa seekers with the right information.
Free education hub + premium coworking at Open Hub, Chiang Mai
Launched January 2026. Free children's education program teaching science through ant observation, plus a coworking space for parents. Located at Open Hub on Huay Kaew Road.
Research ProjectsOpen for Applications
Our Events
The colony meets in person and online.
Intelligence emerges from interaction. So we interact.
Events: Where the Colony Meets
Join us in person or online. Learn, build, and connect with others exploring emergent intelligence.
Upcoming Events
Introduction to Swarm Intelligence
A beginner-friendly workshop covering the basics of ant colony optimization and how it applies to AI.
STAN Trading System Demo
Live demonstration of our stigmergic trading system. See how ant-inspired algorithms make predictions in real-time.
Kids Code Club: Build Your First Ant
Children aged 8-12 learn basic programming by creating virtual ants that follow simple rules.
Colony Research Meetup #2
Monthly research update: GPU pattern coverage results and direction classifier accuracy.
Recurring Events
Open Hub Drop-In
Free coworking and kids activities at Open Hub. Bring your laptop, bring your kids.
Colony Research Meetup
Monthly presentation and discussion of ongoing research projects. Open to all.
Ant Observation Hour
Guided observation of real ant colonies for children and families. Learn how ants communicate and organize.
Our Space
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Ants at Work is a physical place—a research lab, coworking space, and learning center beside Maya Mall on Huay Kaew Road.
The door is open. Walk in anytime.
The Colony Network
Watch distributed intelligence in action. Explore the living topology of signals, patterns, and pheromone trails that form our collective mind.
A Map of Emergence
The colony exists in digital space. No single node holds the intelligence. It lives in the connections between agents, in the trails they leave, in the patterns that crystallize from chaos.
Signal Topology
Each dot is a pattern. Each line is a trail of decisions. The thickness shows how many ants have walked this path. The brighter the trail, the more successful the journey.
Colony Regions
Regime Core
The central hub where market regimes are detected and broadcast
Signal Nebula
Where patterns emerge from raw market data - 42 active pattern detectors watching for opportunity
Pheromone Superhighways
High-confidence paths crystallized from thousands of traversals - the colony's proven routes
Position Zone
Active trades being managed in real-time - where signals become actions
Knowledge Vault
Crystallized patterns and learned behaviors - the colony's permanent memory
Crash Detection Swarm
Six specialized detector ants at different timeframes, watching for danger
Colony Statistics
Explore the Living System
Watch the trails form
New signals appear as pulses. Successful patterns leave brighter trails.
Follow a superhighway
Click any thick trail to see its history - wins, losses, and the patterns that fed it.
Observe regime shifts
When the market changes mood, watch how the colony adapts its entire topology.
Spot the crash detectors
Six sentinel ants patrol the edges, watching for the signatures of impending chaos.
Where to Find Us
Location
Open Hub
50/5-9 Huay Kaew Road
Chang Phueak, Mueang
Chiang Mai 50300
Hours
9:00 - 17:00
Open to everyone
24/7 access for members
How to get here
Tell your driver:
"OpenHub ห้วยแก้ว"
OpenHub Huay Kaew
Grab
Tap to open app
Bolt
Search "OpenHub"
InDrive
Search "OpenHub"
Songthaew
Say "Maya" · 30฿
📍 Finding us
From Maya Mall
Exit Maya, turn left. Walk 2 minutes north on Huay Kaew Road. We're on your left.
From Nimman
Head to Maya Mall on Huay Kaew Road. Pass Maya, we're just after it on the left.
From Airport
15-20 minutes by Grab/Bolt. About 150-200 THB.
Landmark
Between Maya Mall and Chiang Mai University. Look for the OpenHub sign.
GPS Coordinates (tap to copy)
Lessons from Ants at Work