Call for BICA 2018



We are delighted to invite you to submit your research articles to the Ninth International Conference on Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures – BICA 2018, organized by BICA Society as a part of HLAI-18. Please forward a link to this page to your colleagues/researchers/students in order to promote the conference. As every year, the BICA Conference is going to provide exceptional opportunities for scientific encounters and exchange of ideas in the cognitive sciences, artificial intelligence, and neuroscience, as well as being a delightful event.

To submit a paper, an abstract or a symposium/workshop proposal to BICA 2018, please go to the submission site.


 

Call for Participation

Any Researcher, young or not, is invited to join BICA 2018 by registering for participation via EasyChair. Optionally, participants-only are invited to submit a biosketch or a personal statement, even if they are not submitting an abstract for a presentation or a paper for publication. Proposals for roundtables and discussion panels are especially welcome.

Call for Keynotes and Tutorials

Invited or Self-Nominated Lecturers or Keynotes of BICA 2018 are expected to submit a title and a short or extended abstract of their lecture via EasyChair. Due to the limited time, tutorials are not favored, and if accepted, may be limited to one lecture slot. However, tutorial papers for the BICA Journal are welcome.

 

Call for Demos and Sub-Events

As mentioned above, proposals for roundtables and discussion panels, as well as for special interest breakout groups and socials, are particularly welcome and should be submitted as abstracts or short papers using the corresponding submission options in EasyChair (multiple submissions by the same participant are welcome). Proposals for technological demonstrations should be accompanied with an abstract and submitted via the designated track. We also solicit submission of short (up to 5 min) videos, that may be demonstrated during coffee breaks. Please also submit an abstract describing the video and its origin.

Call for the Overman Challenge Solutions

For the first time in this year we would like to give a $1K prize for the best (if any) solution to the Overman Challenge, defined as follows. Participants must build an artifact (a virtual agent or a robot) that in a Turing-test-like paradigm will be identified as a human more frequently than an average human participant. The finding must be significant given a sample of 30 participants or less. The evidence must be obtained and/or convincingly presented at the conference. If there will be more than one such presentation, an award decision will be made by the BICA Society Board of Directors with the help of the BICA 2018 COC.

 

Call for Papers and Talks



We solicit submissions of papers and abstracts of all categories in all domains of science and technology that directly or indirectly may help us to make an advance toward the BICA Challenge, which is to implement the top essential functionality of the human mind in a machine. Specifically, submissions in the following areas are expected.



With the scope of BICA 2017 covering all areas of BICA-related research listed below, the major thrusts will be determined by your submissions. In addition to these focus topic areas of BICA 2017, we encourage submission of papers in all areas of BICA research, especially in the following areas.



Spotlight:


The intended spotlight is on BICA models of creativity, artificial social-emotional intelligence, active human-like learning, cognitive growth by learning of big volumes of data, narrative intelligence and true intelligent autonomy in artifacts. However, the major thrusts of this conference will be determined by your submissions.



Artificial Intelligence:


  • Creativity, goal reasoning and autonomy in artifacts
  • Embodied vs. ambient intelligence
  • Language capabilities and social competence
  • Learning by reading, by observation, by reasoning and analogy
  • Robust and scalable machine learning mechanisms
  • Self-regulated learning, bootstrapped and meta-learning
  • The role of emotions in artificial intelligence and their BICA models
  • Tests and metrics for BICA in the context of the BICA Challenge


Cognitive Science:


  • Perception, reasoning, decision making and action in BICA
  • Combining natural and artificial approaches to cognition
  • Comparison of different forms of learning and memory
  • Theory-of-Mind, episodic and autobiographical memory in cognitive systems
  • Introspection, metacognitive reasoning and self-awareness in BICA
  • Models of learning and memory: robustness, flexibility, transferability
  • Natural language and its role in intelligence, cognition and interaction
  • Unifying frameworks and constraints for cognitive architectures


Neuroscience:


  • “B” in BICA: useful biological constraints for cognitive architectures
  • Bridging the gap between artificial and natural information processing
  • Cognitive and learning mechanisms informed by neuroscience
  • Neural correlates of cognitive and meta-cognitive processes
  • Robustness, scalability and adaptability in neuromorphic systems
  • Neurophysiological underpinnings and implications of deep learning models
  • Physiological mechanisms of memory formation and (re)consolidation
  • Representation of contextual and conceptual knowledge in neural systems


Social, Economic and Educational Sciences:


  • Mixed-initiative systems based on inspirations from biology
  • Agents possessing human-level social and emotional intelligence
  • BICA in learning and tutoring technologies and education
  • BICA models of self and their application to perception and action
  • Representation, perception, understanding and expression of emotions
  • Virtual characters, artificial personalities and human-compatibility
  • Agent-based modeling of intelligent social phenomena


General:


  • Mathematical basis for BICA and fundamental theoretical questions in BICA research
  • Alternative substrates for implementation of BICA: smart materials, neuromorphic, quantum and biocomputing
  • Alternative approaches to the development of BICA such as: evolutionary, system-theoretic, educational
  • Fundamental practical and theoretical questions in BICA research and technology
  • Cognitive Decathlon and Grand Challenges for BICA as components of the BICA Challenge
  • Critical mass for a universal human-level learner and a roadmap to the BICA Challenge
  • Metrics, tests, proximity measures and the roadmap to human-level / human-compatible AI
  • Leveraging the cloud, world-wide-web, and social-media: possible role for BICA in big data?
  • Interdisciplinary research opportunities and ideas for new initiatives
  • International trends in funding of BICA research


Format and Agenda


The format of the conference is a 2-day meeting including paper presentations, panel discussions, invited talks, and demonstration showcases. Workshops and other mini-events (special sessions, breakout groups, brainstorms, think-tanks, socials, contests, and more) as part of the conference will be added as needed (proposals are solicited). In addition, BICA 2017 is happening in the context of related conferences under the HLAI-18 umbrella (BICA registration allows you to take part in all of them). Working language is English. As always, we plan a rich social and cultural program included in the registration, including the joint Welcome Reception and more.