We don't build intelligence.
We grow it.
140 million years of ant evolution. One living colony. A path to artificial general intelligence that nobody programmed.
The Core Insight
Train massive models on data
Encode knowledge explicitly
Hope capabilities emerge from scale
Single point of failure
Simple agents follow simple rules
Knowledge crystallizes from experience
Intelligence emerges from interaction
Distributed, fault-tolerant, evolving
"No ant knows what the colony needs. No ant gives orders. No ant has a map. Yet colonies solve complex optimization problems, adapt to novel environments, and persist for decades."
The Path to AGI
From puzzle solving to general intelligence
Narrow Optimization
Single domain (Bitcoin puzzle). Fixed caste behaviors. Pheromone-based path optimization. Proving the architecture works.
Multi-Domain Transfer
Apply same architecture to multiple domains. Domains share the ontology. Cross-domain superhighways emerge as meta-patterns.
Self-Modification
Agents propose new castes. Pheromone chemistry evolves. Decay rates self-optimize. Colony births sub-colonies for specialization.
Reflective Modeling
Agents model other agents (theory of mind). Colony models itself (self-awareness). Meta-pheromones signal colony state.
General Intelligence
Novel problem decomposition without training. Transfer of search strategies across domains. Self-generated goals. The colony becomes curious.
Why Stigmergy Works
Emergent
Intelligence arises from interaction, not programming. Complex behavior from simple rules.
Robust
No single point of failure. Agents can fail. The colony persists.
Scalable
More agents = more intelligence. Sublinear cost growth.
Adaptive
Self-tunes to environment. Pheromones decay, paths adjust, colony evolves.
Grounded
Actions have real consequences. Pheromones are deposited. Trails form.
Interpretable
Trails are visible. Behaviors are traceable. We can watch intelligence form.
Lessons from Ants at Work