An implicit
Model is an
evolved, embodied representation of a
System’s
Environment.This is in contracts to
Explicit
Models.
This means a system is
a statistical model of its niche in the sense of coming to embody statistical regularities of its world in its physical and functional composition.Kirchhoff et al. (2018), 4
In the case of biological systems, i.e. organisms or agents,
one should recognize that the morphology, bio-physical mechanics and neural architecture of the organism all constitute an agent’s model, and that these parameters (or parts) can be tuned and augmented by selection, learning and experience.ibid.
In this sense, “an agent does not have a model of its
world – it is a model”. Friston,(2013), 213 (my emphasis)
– and therefore
Every
system is a model of its environment.
References
- Friston (2013), “Active inference and free energy”
- Kirchhoff et al. (2018): “The Markov blankets of life: autonomy, active inference and the free energy principle”