Open Ended Evolution

An Introduction to Artificial Life for People Who Like AI - The Gradient

Open Ended Evolution (OEE) is a concept in Artificial Life research referring to systems capable of generating increasing complexity over time, without a predefined endpoint. Kenneth O. Stanley describes OEE as a process where systems evolve to become more complex, akin to life on Earth. Life is an open-ended system: starting from simple molecules, it produced living animals and potentially conscious beings. The goal of OEE research is to replicate this unbounded generative capacity in artificial systems.