Digital Terraria Lab Simulations for Artificial Life and Machine Ethics
Vision
If we use, to achieve our purposes, a mechanical agency with whose operation we cannot efficiently interfere once we have started it...we had better be quite sure that the purpose put into the machine is the purpose which we really desire and not merely a colorful imitation of it.
- Norbert Wiener
As humanity continues to develop, adopt, and rely upon autonomous computer systems, it is imperative that these machines:
- behave ethically,
- conform to societal norms,
- and are transparently explainable.
We operate in an interdisciplinary space combining insights from computer science, philosophy, and the social sciences to place morality at the heart of algorithm development.
Our work focuses on the translation of normative ethical theories, social theories, and public policies into algorithmified approximations which we test in our digital terraria.
We provide faithfully translated, empirically validated, free, and open source blueprints of these algorithms for developers of autonomous computer systems, such as artificial intelligences.
Sugarscape
Source Code
Trendemic
Source Code
H*Land
Source Code
Latest Publications
- A Case for Embedding Moral Reasoning in Artificial Agents Engaged in Conflict (IEEE ISTAS 2025)
- Dynamic Greed in Artificial Moral Agents (IEEE ISTAS 2025)
- A Little Bit Goes a Long Way: Modeling Universal Basic Income for Noncooperative Artificial Agents (IEEE ETHICS 2025)
- Blueprint for Machine Ethics: A Digital Terrarium for Socio-Ethical Artificial Agent Decisionmaking (IEEE Access)
- The Need for Greed in Artificial Decisionmakers (IEEE ISTAS 2024)
- Replacing Sugarscape: A Comprehensive, Expansive, and Transparent Reimplementation (EAI SIMUTools 2023)
All Publications
Latest Events
- Open Research Questions in Sugarscape After 30 Years (ALife 2026)
