Adaptive systems can change based on input and contain internal mechanisms. Feedback loops can be positive or negative. Ecosystems and individual organisms use adaptive systems. Robots and computer programs can also be equipped with adaptive systems. The technology for self-improving and self-protective systems has not yet been developed.
An adaptive system is any system capable of changing based on the input it receives. All adaptive systems contain internal mechanisms that cause system change. In biology, adaptive systems are used by ecosystems, populations and individual creatures. Computers have also been programmed with adaptive characteristics based on those seen in nature.
An adaptive system makes its adaptations based on the feedback it receives from its environment. In a feedback loop, some of the generated output is redirected as input into the system. This input can then be used by the system to make adjustments. Feedback loops are referred to as either positive or negative, with the positive feedback loop tending to speed up or increase an output and the negative feedback loop tending to slow or decrease an output.
In biology, adaptive systems can occur on both large and small scales. Ecosystems can be thought of as adaptive in that they are able to change based on the feedback they receive. A classic example of this is the study of population dynamics. When the rabbit population increases, for example, the population of a predatory animal, such as foxes, increases with overfeeding. After a certain point, the number of predators becomes too numerous for the system and decreases again when there is not enough prey to feed on.
Many adaptive systems also operate within a single biological organism. Learning and behavior modification are adaptations that an organism makes to receive more positive inputs from the environment. Feedback to individual animals tends to increase behaviors that cause pleasure and decrease those that cause pain.
Robots can also be equipped with adaptive systems. These systems allow a robot to observe its environment and make choices based on the information received without the need for a human being to direct it in every action. Mars Rovers are an example of robots that have been programmed with the ability to make choices. Far removed from Earth and the scientists who programmed them, these machines had to make choices of their own when collecting data.
Software developers have also designed computer programs that can adapt to the needs of users. Many of these programs are used by people who wouldn’t be able to use traditional programs, such as text-to-speech technology. In the physical world, adaptive systems could create any number of self-improving and self-protective systems, such as cars driving themselves and roads doing their own repairs. While ideas for such systems are plentiful, the technology that will allow many man-made objects to behave adaptively has not yet been developed.
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