Scientists and science fiction writers have been thinking about AI for a long time. Most attempts at creating it have failed. So most simulations of real meat animal behaviour just don't
look very real, even if we can't quite figure why.
Some months back I went to the
Lord of the Rings exhibition. There was one exhibit in particular that described how they created the hordes of Orc warriors and large group scenes. They modelled the behaviour by assigning the individual CG characters with a simple set of rules, things like "move over or around obstacles", stuff like that.
So I came across this article today about group behaviour,
Kevin Kelly -- Chapter 2: Hive Mind, via
Typophile: A Smaller Picture, in turn via an article in
Slate.
It's really more than just about a hive mind; it's actually an entire book about memory and the funny way the brain works. Don't have time to read it now, but I have it bookmarked under "current interest". :)
