This is pretty interesting. I'm very much looking forward to the results of this study. It very much reminds me of (especially in the 90's) comparisons between

This is pretty interesting. I'm very much looking forward to the results of this study. It very much reminds me of (especially in the 90's) comparisons between Artificial Life and Artificial Intelligence. AI is a top-down approach, and ALife is a bottom-up approach. AI is about knowing when and how to react to an input, and ALife is about emerging and evolving traits in response to similar inputs. Nowadays only a small subset is typically called ALife, but these days they are routinely used together. Neural Networks are a good example of where both philosophies connect relatively seamlessly. Mainly the people who study these things would suggest that AI won't suddenly become self-aware or conscious, but ALife is particularly able to demonstrate emergent traits that look like it is acting on its own accord. When Alife and AI play together, then you increase those odds by a whole lot. The subject is a lot "bigger" than this, so keep in mind this is a 1 mile wide, 1 inch deep description only. If you really want to grok ALife in its purest form, I recommend reading Valentino Braitenberg's thought experiment "Vehicles."