Mind Games: Can inanimate objects think?

A researcher from Glasgow Caledonian University is exploring a profound question: Can objects without life actually ‘think’?

The focus of this investigation is inert matter − substances that are not alive or don't have life processes. The research aims to answer whether these substances could have had the ability to acquire and understand knowledge before life emerged.

Over the next 18 months, in collaboration with the Royal Society, the project will combine philosophy and engineering in a unique approach. Dr Mazviita Chirimuuta, a senior philosophy lecturer from Edinburgh University, and Dr Juanma Parrilla, a robotics lecturer from Glasgow Caledonian, are leading the research. Their goal is to identify and study early or rudimentary forms of cognitive processes in inert matter.

Dr Chirimuuta will focus on understanding what such cognition might look like and how to test it, while Dr Parrilla will develop computer models using artificial intelligence to mimic this cognition in non-living matter.

Dr Parrilla shared the inspiration behind the research, recounting a memorable scene from the documentary Encounters at the End of the World, where a lone penguin left its flock and embarked on a perilous journey towards distant mountains and certain death.

He said: “The penguin's divergence from the flock posed a profound question: did it consciously elect this perilous path, or was it merely a consequence of uncharacteristic neural chemistry? Such behaviour ignited an inquiry into the nature of cognition itself.”

Dr Parilla explained that the emerging field of Basal Cognition investigates seemingly intelligent behaviours in simple life forms such as bacteria. The researchers will question whether complex, non-living chemical systems also exhibit similar behaviours.

Dr Parrilla said: “Is it possible they can possess a basic form of intelligence? To answer this, our research combines philosophy and engineering to define this proto-cognition and propose experimental measurement methods.

“We will develop artificial intelligence models to simulate proto-cognition in inert matter. By focusing on oil-in-water droplets as a model system, we hope to understand how cognition could have emerged from basic chemical principles. This involves developing AI models capable of predicting droplet behaviour at both macroscopic and molecular levels, and integrating the concept of proto-cognition into the modelling process.

“The success of this research could shed light on one of the most intriguing scientific and philosophical questions: How does the mind arise from non-thinking matter?”