Simulated AI creatures demonstrate how mind and body evolve and succeed together – TechCrunch

Artificial intelligence is often thought of as disembodied: a mind like a program, floating in a digital void. But human minds are deeply intertwined with our bodies -- and an experiment with virtual creatures performing tasks in simulated environments suggests that AI may benefit from having a mind-body setup. Stanford scientists were curious about the physical-mental interplay in our own evolution from blobs to tool-using apes. Could it be that the brain is influenced by the capabilities of the body, and vice versa? It has been suggested before -- over a century ago, in fact -- and certainly it's obvious that with a grasping hand one learns more quickly to manipulate objects than with a less differentiated appendage.